Chasing Check Engine Lights

[daepp]

Anyone else been frustrated by trying to keep the CEL out?

My 17 year old daughter drive my old car. A 2001 MB SUV with a small V8. I put nearly 200K miles on it before passing it down to her.

The first time the CEL came on was due to a worn out Mass Air Flow sensor. The dealer wanted nearly $700 to fix it, but by using another forum I was able to find the OEM Bosch part for $105, bought a special $5 socket, and the problem was solved on the cheap!!!

However, a few months later, the CEL came on again indicating a bad cat. CA law requires that you buy OEM, so this cost me $725 installed (and there remains one more that can go bad!!!)

Last week it was a bad EGR valve. I could have done this one, but it was a busy week. Labor was only around $100, but parts totaled $160.

My biggest beef is that there is no margin or slippage built into this OBD system for high mileage car. How can they expect a 200K+ mile engine to perform like new for its entire life???

[teenerted1]

unplug the CEL ... problem solved

[imcarthur]

I went through this with my recently departed 3 Series BMW.

Ian

[ruf-porsche]

Originally Posted by daepp

Anyone else been frustrated by trying to keep the CEL out?

My 17 year old daughter drive my old car. A 2001 MB SUV with a small V8. I put nearly 200K miles on it before passing it down to her.

The first time the CEL came on was due to a worn out Mass Air Flow sensor. The dealer wanted nearly $700 to fix it, but by using another forum I was able to find the OEM Bosch part for $105, bought a special $5 socket, and the problem was solved on the cheap!!!

However, a few months later, the CEL came on again indicating a bad cat. CA law requires that you buy OEM, so this cost me $725 installed (and there remains one more that can go bad!!!)

Last week it was a bad EGR valve. I could have done this one, but it was a busy week. Labor was only around $100, but parts totaled $160.

My biggest beef is that there is no margin or slippage built into this OBD system for high mileage car. How can they expect a 200K+ mile engine to perform like new for its entire life???

Sell the MB and buy her a low mileage Toyota. No 17 y.o. should be driving around in a MB.

[rick-l]

You are not "chasing" a check engine light you are replacing worn out parts after 200,000 miles that have been pinpointed by the On Board Diagnostics saving you the expense and headache of diagnostics performed by the local vo-tech drop out.

[old man neri]

it's a 200K MB. Not going to be the cheapest thing to run.

There is probably a way to reflash the ECU to ignore certain trouble codes but they are there for a reason.

[gprsh924]

Originally Posted by ruf-porsche

Sell the MB and buy her a low mileage Toyota. No 17 y.o. should be driving around in a MB.

Why?

At 16 I traded time between the 924S and the 525i. At 21, I still do. Both are still intact. The total spent keeping both on the road is way less than the purchase price on a low mileage Toyota would have been 5 years ago. And I have only been stranded on the side of the road 4 times.

[FastCarFan]

Install a small piece of black tape directly over the "check engine" light. Problem solved.

[the]

Originally Posted by daepp

CA law requires that you buy OEM, so this cost me $725 installed (and there remains one more that can go bad!!!)

Whoever told you that took you for a ride.

Every muffler shop in California has racks and racks of aftermarket cats, and installs them every day.

For the next one, just go down to Santa Ana or Harbor Blvd, any shop will weld up a new one on your car in 20 minutes for around $150.

[ruf-porsche]

Originally Posted by gprsh924

Why?

At 16 I traded time between the 924S and the 525i. At 21, I still do. Both are still intact. The total spent keeping both on the road is way less than the purchase price on a low mileage Toyota would have been 5 years ago. And I have only been stranded on the side of the road 4 times.

The 17 y.o. is not paying for the maintenance of the MB, and due to the high mileage on the car it's going to take money to keep it running.

For what they can get from selling the MB they should be able to purchase a fairly nice car for the teenage to drive around in.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by the

Whoever told you that took you for a ride.

Every muffler shop in California has racks and racks of aftermarket cats, and installs them every day.

For the next one, just go down to Santa Ana or Harbor Blvd, any shop will weld up a new one on your car in 20 minutes for around $150.

Aftermarket converters are allowed if they are on the list on this page. http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermktcat/aftermktcat.htm

[daepp]

Well....

The car is verrrry dependable. But that damn light must be out to pass smog in CA.

imcarthur: very funny - love it!

ruf - not gonna sell it. I love that car, have two other kids that will need to drive it, and my son and I use it for off-roading with the Boy Scouts. It's an awesome 4X4.

rick-l - point well taken. I understand there's a lot of miles on the car, but it runs great. The point is that there's no easing of the tolerances for older vehicles.

old man neri - I'm not expecting it to be cheap per-se; it's just a hassle to fix all the possible problems.

the - see CA vehicle codes sections 27156 and 38391 - it's the law

Again, the car is dependable and does not "break down". It simply turns on the CEL.

[emcon5]

You need one of these: http://www.autotap.com/

[Rick Lee]

My code reader has been invaluable for my 993 and 330i. Even without a CEL you can fail smog if your readiness codes aren't reset, which you can only see with a code reader. That's happened to me twice with the 993 and it's a real project to get them reset. But I was able to do it and got through emissions in VA and AZ. When I called around to some shops, they either didn't know what to do or told me I was just SOL. The BMW reset procedure works on 993's too. I called a local shop and told him about it, told him he could easily charge two hrs. labor for it. He was very grateful. I don't know why it's such a well-kept secret, but it does work.

[the]

Originally Posted by daepp

the - see CA vehicle codes sections 27156 and 38391 - it's the law

Nope.

Just read those sections. Neither of them make aftermarket cats illegal in California. or requires that you buy only original equipment cats.

Fact remains, there are many, many aftermarket cats which are perfectly legal in California and cost a fraction of what you paid for yours.

But if want to continue to grossly overpay for a OE cats based on your misreading/misunderstanding of California law, go for it. You can consider it your own personal California economic stimulus contribution.

[daepp]

Wow - I was told by several shops - even an ugly muffler shop in a bad part of town. They all claim that some state agency like the BAR will shut them down for violating this and other new rules for 09. Do a google search - you'll see plenty of references to it.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by ruf-porsche

The 17 y.o. is not paying for the maintenance of the MB, and due to the high mileage on the car it's going to take money to keep it running.

For what they can get from selling the MB they should be able to purchase a fairly nice car for the teenage to drive around in.

+1

Tell him to drive what he can afford to drive. When I was that age, I paid for 100% of my own vehicle costs - purchase price, gas, any maintenance, insurance, etc. I drove pos beaters for years, but they were MINE. I took care of them, I respected them, I didn't beat the hell out of them, etc. And eventually when I found myself in a position where I could afford something nicer/better, I appreciated it because I'd EARNED it.

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by the

Fact remains, there are many, many aftermarket cats which are perfectly legal in California and cost a fraction of what you paid for yours.

But if want to continue to grossly overpay for a OE cats based on your misreading/misunderstanding of California law, go for it. You can consider it your own personal California economic stimulus contribution.

The Smog Gestapo changed the rules Jan 1. It looks like they changed the certification procedure and now require longer warranties.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermktcat/aftermktcat.htm

The vast majority of a non ODB cats are now illegal to sell. There are a lot of ODB cats that are legal, including one from Magnaflow that is supposed to fit "1998 to 2002 selected Mercedes-Benz passenger cars"

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermkt/devices/amquery.php

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by daepp

My biggest beef is that there is no margin or slippage built into this OBD system for high mileage car. How can they expect a 200K+ mile engine to perform like new for its entire life???

They don't want it to. MB doesn't make any money off of your 200k ML. MB makes money from you buying a new ML.

Originally Posted by rick-l

You are not "chasing" a check engine light you are replacing worn out parts after 200,000 miles that have been pinpointed by the On Board Diagnostics saving you the expense and headache of diagnostics performed by the local vo-tech drop out.

Yup. You can't expect it to be trouble free at 200k. The upside to OBD is that it can detect problems before a complete failure.

Originally Posted by gprsh924

And I have only been stranded on the side of the road 4 times.

Ummm, you do realize that 4 times in 5 years isn't good, right? I've been stranded 2x in 13 years of driving, and I've had some pretty crappy cars.

[gprsh924]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Ummm, you do realize that 4 times in 5 years isn't good, right? I've been stranded 2x in 13 years of driving, and I've had some pretty crappy cars.

I know, that point was meant sarcastically. First the shift linkage cable snapped in the 924S 2 years ago, stranding me in downtown Naperville, about 25 mins from home. Then Thanksgiving 1.5 years ago the water pump went out in the 525 (which was unfortunate because I was on my way home from school in the middle of Indiana). Then last summer the cam sensor went bad in the 924 leaving me broken down about 3 miles from home. Finally, we were at the lake house over New Years, the a radiator hose cracked while I was driving the 924 to keep the battery charged (we were storing it there for the winter). Luckily, I was able to limp back to the garage before it overheated too bad. So while the car was undriveable, I guess I wasn't technically stranded.

Ultimately, 2 of the 4 could surely have been avoided with better preventative maintenance. 20 year old hoses break and BMW water pumps break above 115K.

ETA: My dad and I are the only two who really drive those two cars. In the last 5 years the mileage break down has probably been 80% me in the 924 and 20% him. The 525 is closer to 50-50. He has broken down zero times. Luck definitely has something to do with it.