check engine light

Is it necessary to reset a check engine light after a suspected problem is
remedied (will the light reset itself)? How is the check engine reset?

 

Depends on the year. Pre-'96 it is reset by puling a certain fuse. '96 and
up it is reset using an OBD-II scan tool.

What car have you got? Year? Model? Engine?

 

This is a 98 Accord with a 4 cyl. engine.

 

Up through at least model year 2000, it can be reset by pulling the fuse.
Look for a 7.5 amp fuse marked backup or backup radio and pull it for > 10
seconds.

The light will eventually go off by itself if the problem is fixed, but it
has to go through a number of drive sequences without encountering the
problem before it decides everything is good again - possibly several weeks
of driving.

 

That's true. And in some markets the fuse is Backup/Hazard.

But I discourage fuse-pulling because it erases the evidence without
recording it. The old MIL-flash code is only a rough approximation of the
actual error. It has neither the precision nor definition of the OBD-II
readout.

 

True, there are additional codes to be gotten with the scanner, but
diagnostic procedures once you have the code are pretty much the same. At
the worst, you sometimes have to check a couple additional things if you go
by the blinking light.

Though there are more codes, the codes themselves are still not the be-all &
end-all of diagnosis. You still have to actually find the problem either
way & you still need the FSM and sometimes an actual mechanic with
specialized tools to do it.

It's becoming moot (MIL light decoding) with the Honda's of the past 6 or 7
years, because the pins you have to short to get them out are pretty well
buried in the scanner interface anyway. Nissan seems to be doing more to
keep the blinkin' light technique alive. It seems pretty clear Honda has
moved on.