CEL on then off/ Should I take it in?

[Sammy Kooner]

Hey guys new to the forums, but thought this would be the best place to get some advice.
I got a 2011 Ram, and I moved to a new city for school. A week ago the CEL went on, but there was no performance issues with the truck asides from the ECO not being activated. I scheduled an appointment with the local dealer to have it looked at. Yesterday the light went off, and the ECO is being activated again, from what I can tell it drives as normal. Do you think I should still take it in? The dealer is charging $100 diagnostic to look at the code and the last thing I want to do is pay the $100 and find out it was nothing.

 

[CincyCuda68]

Get yourself a scanner, they can be had pretty inexpensively at any parts store. Then you can scan and decide if it’s something that you want to do or take it to the dealer.

 

[PoMansRam]

I've been rocking a $29 OBDII/CAN compliant code reader for years. It's never let me down. I've lent it out more than I've had to use it myself thankfully. It will tell you the pending codes, etc..

 

[22hemi13]

Did you get gas. I’d bet that’s a gas cap. But yeah get it scanned

 

[huntergreen]

Do your auto parts store so read codes for you ?

 

[Sammy Kooner]

Did you get gas. I’d bet that’s a gas cap. But yeah get it scanned

Wasn't the fuel cap, light came on about 3 days after I filled up, I'm going to see if I can take it into another mechanic and get the diagnostic done for cheaper.

 

[baum]

like other say find a local autoparts store that will scan for free. dont it many times.

I was told that if a cel is on solid its ok to drive, if its blinking then stop driving it

I have had them come on a few days later from a gas cap as it didnt get fully tightened at first.

 

[SYKRAMMAN]

Yeah like others have said, don’t waste your money at a stealership cause their going to tell you that you need all kinds of crap that you don’t. Most auto parts stores will scan it for free or spend the money on a code reader.

 

[Flip-er]

Go to a auto parts store and have scanned