Why would a 2000 Hyundai Elantra's check engine light stay on while the car runs fine?

Answer 1

Take it to Auto Zone and have the codes read for free. had a 95 Elantra, love it went great, cheap on gas. But one day the check engine light came on and then never left. It was always on, no apparent problems though then and 3 month later the car took fire. Total loss. Dont know if related but that's my story.... I had a 2000 Elantra. The check engine light came on and nothing was wrong with it. A couple of months later the light was still on and the exhaust manifold cracked. There was a recall on 2000 exhaust manifolds for this car. I have a 2001 Elentra and the "check engine light" came on for no apparent reason. I did some research on the web and saw that there were two common problems with the Elentra First if you didn't tighten the gas cap enough. This problem would go away after the enxt fill up. Unfortunately, this was not my circumstance. Second The other problem was if you "topped off" the tank. This can cause a small amount of gas overflow which will trigger the check engine light. This situation will clear itself in a few weeks. Well, I thought about going to the dealership but I knew they would want to fix something! So I waited for 2 or 3 weeks and the light went away all by itself. If I had gone to the dealership, I was not under warranty, I know this would have cost me lots of bucks for nothing. My check engine light comes on ramdomly, sometimes after fueling and the cap PUT BACK ON CORRECTLY AND NO GAS SPILLAGE, sometimes for no apparent reason. It's orange, not red, and has stayed on as long as a month, then turned off for longer. Never any engine problem. I know there's a recall on the exhaust manifold but I didn't get it fixed because dealers are too far unless an emergency, and last time there, they "discovered" $500+ of work I don't need. If the check engine light comes on within a couple of days of pumping gas and the color of the light is orange then most probably it is because the gas cap was not tightened fully. You should tighten the gas cap until you hear atleast 3 clicks. In this situation the light may or may not go off. If the light does not go away even after 3 days or the next tank of gas then you can manually reset the EMS chip by disconnecting the battery for about 5 mins. If the engine check light is red in color, you are in trouble. Do not drive any further and pull over. To diagnose you will need a OBD code reader or take it to a mechanic. == ==