Hi

Can anyone tell me about the check engine light, i have a 305 with a computer controlled quadrajet.... I had taken the gauges panel out too change the lightbulbs and noticed that the bulb for check engine was missing, i put a new bulb in here also and now i`m wandering on how it works. On european cars the light will stay on, telling you that somethings wrong.
But how does it work on my pontiac, It`s an 83

If the check engine light lights up due too a fault, will it stays on after the engine is stoped and then restarted or will i have too pull the stored codes from the ecm.

Hope that anyone can tell me....

Kind Regards

Stig A

 

The check engine light (CEL, sometimes called SES for service engine soon) is activated by the ECM when it detects a fault in the emmisions system by grounding one side of the bulb (the other side is fed from a switched B+ source).

The light will only stay on as long as the key is on, during the time the fault was detected.

The code is stored in the ECM until (usually) 50 on/off key cycles. That'll vary on the exact .BIN file, and can be changed if you like to cook your own files.


Just my opinion, having owned them and had to work on them, but... if you haven't learned to hate the computer controlled carb yet - you will.

Unless you're shooting for total originality, you MIGHT want to look into a TBI setup if yours fails or gives you major grief. It's not a very hard swap since they're very similarly laid out setups.

 

Hi dr.fiero

Thank you for your answer, I just rebuild the carb and the car is running great.
I`d was just wondering how the SES light works on my Pontiac.

Many Thank`s and Kind Regards
Stig