If you are like me, nothing strikes fear in your heart like your vehicle’s check engine light. This little icon of impending cost and mechanical disaster can be a very troublesome sight especially if you really know nothing about cars. When my check engine light turns on, I almost want to park the car and start walking.

Even though I have done some research into the problems that might make a check engine light ignite, I still get a little leery about driving with this flashing beacon of impending doom glairing in my face. The whole thing is really distracting. My own aversions to the warning light aside, there might be little worry associated with the check engine light.

The automatic light turns on whenever the computer in your vehicle tells it to do so. I knew that the computer would be behind the whole thing. I have a bone to pick with computers, too. That’s a whole other story. The check engine light is linked to a type of diagnostic system in your car.

It’s almost as if you are riding around with a mechanic sitting in your motor. If something “smells funny” then the mechanic turns on the check engine light. However, the mechanic in your motor is a little fussier than the mechanic in the garage. More often than not, I have found that the check engine light was on due to something that was easy to fix and relatively inexpensive.