OK, so we had close to 30" of snow here recently, and my car has been sitting since Friday night (been driving the wife's Subie all week).

Dug the car out, started up and went to work today. No problem. Stopped to get gas, and away I went. No problem.

Half way to work, on the highway, car started to vibrate. Didn't feel like a mechanical issue though. Felt more like I was driving over a washboard. But only felt like that above ~40-45 mph. Initial thought was just snow/slush built up in the wheel wells, but after a few minutes my CEL came on, and stayed on. Got to work, parked the car and shut it off. Turned it back on a few minutes later, and the CEL was still on.

Motor sounds fine. Car seems to drive fine (other than the washboard feel, but I can't drive it again till lunchtime to find out if it's still doing it).

So, is there a way to manually get a CEL code, without a code reader?

Is the "washboard" feel something related to a known CEL issue?

I'd prefer not to take it to the dealer, if possible, as if I can get the code myself, I can most likely fix it myself. Just need to know how to get the code.

Car is an 02 IS-300 5-speed, with about 94k on the ODO.

Any help on how to pull the code would be appreciated.

 

It's OBDII you will need a reader. You can buy one pretty cheap these days ($35). Or take it to Autozone and have they read it for you.

 

Was hoping to read it manually, but I guess a lunchtime trip to Autozone is in order...

 

a code would help, but an improperly tightened or malfunctioning gas cap would result in a CEL. One possibility.

 

Did get fuel this morning.... Hmmmmm...

 

Yes this was SIL's problem, suggest you check gas cap first !!!