serious problem or not a serious problem

Recently my "Check engine" (malfunction) light came on in my 1997
Accord LX (194,000 miles). Took the car to a mech and was told that it
was the emmission control sensor and that it would not affect the
overall engine performance or give me any serious problems with the
car. The light, he says, is only advising me that there is an
environmental emmission problem only. He turned off the light, however
it just came back on (4 days later). Question; is this a serious enough
problem (engine wise) to have the sensor fixed or not?

 

You need a new machanic.

Yes, many of the problems that bring that light up are trivial, but
not all of them. Pull the code and see what's the problem.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq.html#retrieve

 

I am assuming the "emission control sensor" is the oxygen sensor. You
car should have two of them, one before the catalytic converter, one
after. The first one is essential for proper engine performance, the
fuel injection system uses the output of this sensor to regulate air /
fuel mixture. If it is broken, the engine will still run, but it will be
running rich, pollute more and likely use more gas. Running rich can
also cause more gas to make its way into the oil, causing more wear on
the engine.

The second oxygen sensor is there to measure the effectiveness of the
catalytic converter. When the second oxygen sensor throws an error code,
it is usually because the catalytic converter is no longer up to spec or
because the second oxygen sensor is broken. If the cat is bad, you will
be polluting more than you should, and depending on what is wrong with
the cat your performance and fuel economy might suffer. If the second
oxygen sensor is broken (and if nothing else is wrong) there should be
no ill effects.

Depending on where you live, you might not be able to pass inspection
with this kind of problem, in which case you will need to fix the
problem eventually. Since your mechanic didn't tell you exactly what the
problem is, I'd have it fixed sooner rather than later.

 

I probably should have been more ( a lot more) clearer an what the
mechanic did say. He said it was the second sensor and that I would
have no problems with the engine. This was after he ran the diagnostics
test. I was looking for second opinions when I asked the question
because as I said the light came back on. You verified everything he
told me, thanks. I am going to get the sensor fixed but not right now.
Again thanks for the very clear response.