My check engine light came on last night, after about 10-15 mins of putting gas in it. I looked in my lexus book, and it said it may come on because the gas cap isn't securely put on...

I still was a little worried about it today, so i took it to Auto Zone to get it checked out, and the guy said that it was coming up that it could be the oxygen sensor, or the catalytic converter... that I should take it to a mechanic to get it further checked out, and they would be able to tell me exactly what it is. SO i went and waited an hr and spent 50 bucks, for them to tell me that its basically all the above.

BUT then i was doing a lot of research, and people were saying that it might just be the sensor, and its making the error for the cat come up.

And another person was saying that when it if reallllyy cold out, that it sometimes reads off a false error for the cat conv. ( and its been EXTREMELY COLD )


I am going to wait a couple days, and HOPEFULLY i just didnt close my gas cap all the way, and the light goes of..

BUT what should be my next move, if that isn't the case?

Should i try and replace the Oxygen sensor first?


Any help or advise would be extremely appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Lex

 

see which o2 sensor it is and replace accordingly.
i had a CEL. for only 1. but since im rich, i replaced all of em.
CEL was still on, so i changed out the cat. now CEL is gone

 

Thanks for the help. Its Bank 1. The mechanic was telling me that I have two cat converts and they are connected.. How much did it cost you to have the one cat conv changed?

thanks for the help.

 

Cat convertors are about $150/each where i am. Did they reset the CEL and did it come back on again with same codes? Sometimes CEL can become tricky and multiple problems. Have a good mechanic know what they are doing before assuming various parts need replacement

 

Thank you so much for that advice! If the CEL doesnt go off in a day or two, I am going to Reset it, and see what happens from there.

Thank you!

 

reset CEL forst n see which codes u come up with bank 1 bank 2 might be an afsensor b1 s 1 or af sensor b2 s1 before replacing a kitty :-)

 

yeah def reset your ecu and see what happens. i'm getting crazy codes on my car since it's only been pulled in and out of the bay at the shop i work at since june of last year. haven't driven it anywhere so the car is freaking out plus it is pretty cold now too. sure enough everytime i reset the ecu it is fine again.

 

Did you pump gas with the car on?

 

Did you replace your cat with aftermarket or OEM since you live in SoCal?

 

Check to see if you have any exhaust leaks first.

 

Hey so it actaully went off by itself last night. I was super excited. Im hoping that its going to stay off, and i just didnt put on the gas cap correctly. Thanks for all the info everyone <3