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How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not properly tightened to a more momentous failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it marvelous to get the decent code reading and diagnosis. The central cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is consistently between $88 and $111. The marvelous news, Coggin Ford Jacksonville offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to assist represent the cause of your check engine light.

Is it safe to drive your Ford Escape with the check engine light on?

If the check engine light is twinkling, this means that there is a hazardous issue and it is recommended to service your Ford Escape swiftly. This question is not very prevailing because it all depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be safe to drive. This is commonly indicated by a dependable glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the car, it could be an indication of a more unhealthy problem. Call the experts at Coggin Ford Jacksonville by dialing 9047478996 so you can describe the issues. Or lessen your speed and bring your Ford to our certified mechanics as soon as available.

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most regularly misunderstood lights or indicators in your Ford Escape is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in assorted contrasting ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your vehicle. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored vehicle performance since the 80s and do a variety of things for your Ford Escape. Some of these include shifting automatic transmissions controlling engine speed, ignition timing, and implementing stability control, just to name favorable. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of other things. It can be as plain as your gas cap being loose or as relentless as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your Ford Escape, contact Coggin Ford Jacksonville. Our Ford service department can help you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or diagnose why your check engine light is flashing. Contact Coggin Ford Jacksonville today!

Check Engine Light Service Ford Escape

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Ford Escape and suddenly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Ford owners, your heart sinks a little because you have little idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the estimate of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t indicate you have to pull the car over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your Ford Escape checked as soon as available. Ignoring that warning could end up causing major damage to expensive engine parts.

When your Ford Escape's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it can’t honest, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is typically labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that identifies as the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic scan tool that is used by our Ford auto repair mechanics at Coggin Ford Jacksonville. There are also a number of relatively cheap code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you elect for that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an effective experienced to pick the issue and repair it.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a Ford Escape?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as effortless as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a unhealthy problem that could cause unhealthy damage to your engine and come with a gargantuan repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A steady glow typically means something less unhealthy but a flashing check engine light indicates that your vehicle’s engine is in unhealthy trouble and service is fundamental rapidly. If your check engine light is flashing in your Ford Escape, we exceedingly recommend not to drive the vehicle and schedule Ford service today. Below is a list of the most fair reasons your check engine light can come on:

  • Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, acknowledged as the O2 sensor, measures the amount of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns faster and your vehicle will be fewer fair when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I don’t replace your O2 sensor? A faulty sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause damage to your catalytic converter and your Ford Escape's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to illustrate the right fluctuate of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A bad O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.
  • Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your Ford Escape’s exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is usually caused by neglected maintenance, which is why Coggin Ford Jacksonville offers a complimentary multi-point inspection with every Ford service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your Ford Escape will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your car may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause different problems from overheating.
  • Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be replaced. The mass airflow sensor in your Ford Escape is what determines how much fuel is necessary to run your engine efficiently by measuring the amount of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to confident changes, like altitude. If your Ford Escape is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a sudden change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a bad mass airflow sensor.
  • Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or different item can wreak havoc on your Ford Escape if it’s not installed properly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even avoid the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound natural, bring your Escape to Ford and have our team of certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed correctly and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, notably aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts initial place might cost a little bit more but could save you money from having to get low work and damage caused by low installation work corrected.
  • Your Ford Escape has a vacuum leak. Every Ford Escape has a vacuum system that performs a generous variety of functions. The vacuum system also helps lessen damaging emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can dry out and crack, notably if they’re exposed to impressive heat or extreme cold.
  • The battery is low or dead. The battery in your Ford Escape is every exciting. Without a car battery, your car won’t start, light up the road ahead, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s car batteries last much longer than they did a few decades ago, and they don't certainly require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Ford you drive, but check our current service coupons and specials.
  • New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are necessary for your Ford Escape. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel fluctuate in the combustion chamber of your vehicle. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run. The spark plug wires deliver the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are bad or old, you will experience low performance and reduced power. In some extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause clogged catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, first-rate to more expensive repairs.
  • One of the most sufficient and countless cause is that your Ford Escape gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your Ford Escape serves multiple purposes. It prevents gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What happens if you have a bad fuel cap? If your gas cap is old or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump. Luckily, to replace a gas cap isn't expensive. If your check engine light turns on suddenly after you put gas in your Ford Escape, initial thing you should check is to make hopeful the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your Ford Escape will ordinarily shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is serviced. For example, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will turn itself off. Likewise, if your catalytic converter is going practical, and you did a lot of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your Ford Escape light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you travel to work over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Coggin Ford Jacksonville so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

Ford Escape Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are plentiful likely causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are several present causes consisting something as obvious as a loose gas cap. Contrasting present reasons for a Check Engine Light are damaged oxygen sensor, faulty head gasket, faulty emissions control part, dirty mass airflow sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, or defective spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Ford Certified Technicians and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and repair it as basic to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Ford issue was fixed.

Every Ford Escape was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the vehicle on its hard systems. The sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending data to the electronic control unit. If the electronic control unit detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light lights up telling you that there is a problem. However, that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what totally is wrong nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Coggin Ford Jacksonville provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Immensely Qualified Service professional.

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

It could be anything from a detrimental sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced. If you check engine light is flashing, we advise that you pull over and contact Coggin Ford Jacksonville to help embrace if your vehicle is safe to drive in or if we advise a tow truck. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy subsequently. Since any check engine code has its own level of severity, it is difficult to predict how many miles you can drive with the warning light on.

Ford Escape Check Engine Light

A flashing light implies that the problem is alarming and if not taken care of swiftly may result in major damage to the automobile. If the check engine light in your Ford Escape starts flashing, that means that the problem needs sudden attention and your Ford should be delivered in swiftly. This glaring light constantly hints a harsh engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be dumped into the exhaust system. There it can expeditiously enhance the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where break is achievable, requiring an expensive repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can entirely be the cause. A destructive, traditional or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If the problem is ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a exceptionally expensive repair. If your check engine light is flashing, please contact our team of automotive experts at Coggin Ford Jacksonville immediately by calling 9047478996.

Ford Escape Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that little light on your vehicle’s dashboard suddenly illuminates, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear right away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just other name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, also noted as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Escape. There are hundreds of different codes that your check engine light can represent. While that sounds daunting, with a little patience, tackling principal diagnostics will give you practical knowledge about your vehicle and will also allow that Check Engine Light to do what it is really supposed to do: be your guide. Regrettably, discernible and convenient vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of conceivable OBD codes, there are also hundreds of conceivable reasons for the light, including:

  • Old Battery
  • O2 Sensor
  • Bad Spark Plugs
  • Transmission issues
  • Computer output circuit issues
  • Fuel and air metering systems problems
  • Ignition system faults
  • Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
  • Emissions controls issues

This is why it is curious for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. If the engine light comes on due to a perilous concern, you risk damaging your car added by not repairing the issue right away. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out quickly by a certified Ford technician. Call Coggin Ford Jacksonville at 9047478996 today or schedule your check engine light service online today!