My Check Engine light has come on. Gas Cap was not loose. It came on right after twenty 80 mph miles on the freeway, during which at one point I thought the engine was a bit laggy, so I turned off the AC and radio, for ten minutes and noticed no further symptoms of missing ability to accelerate. I've read that Check Engine light is somehow about the emission system. I think I'll bring it to Art's in Berkeley first thing Monday am.
86,200 miles Many thanks for your reply, bisco! Oh, and I meant to add I don't plan to drive it an inch more than the 1.8 miles to Art's. And since I need a car Monday, I'm looking at giving Hertz $55.
Thank you very much for the reply, edthefox5! I'm sorry I forgot to mention that I did immediately check the fluids and oil under the hood. As I did just 2 days ago, and as I just re-checked now (less hot) 2 hours later. All are PERFECT. (Thank goodness, my ex killed an engine by running it w/o engine oil.)
I could have saved myself $114 by going to an auto parts store (I wasn't willing to do the extra driving) to scan the code. I think I'll do that next time though, since Art's has a One hour minimum labor charge when there's a check engine light. It's a $500 repair...but one under 15 year/150K mile warranty ("for California cars"), so I'll take it to the dealer. (It has been so long since I've been there, I can barely believe they are booked until Friday.) Code P1121. "The water flow control valve is not reaching the commanded position. There is a TSB indicating the water flow control valve should be replaced." So this was that once in a million taking it to the dealer directly would have been better.
For $160 you could have bought a Scan gauge and pulled the code yourself plus it reads a lot of engine parameters.
