# Does the check engine light turn off automatically?



## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

It' should turn off on it's own if nothing is wrong anymore.

I'm not sure on what the reset is for ecms these days. Used to be 60 miles.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Should go away after a couple drive cycles if the condition that flagged the CEL is no longer present.

You could also buy a $20 code reader or $10 bluetooth OBDII adapter on Amazon & clear the code yourself.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Depends on the code. Most codes will turn off when sufficient cycles have occurred with the condition that set the code no longer present. There are a few codes that are "safety" related that require a manual reset.


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## Ma v e n (Oct 8, 2018)

The control module turns OFF the MIL after 4 consecutive ignition cycles that the diagnostic runs and does not fail.

The DTC clears from the ECM after 40 consecutive warm-up cycles, if no failures are reported by this or any other emission related diagnostic.


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## RichLo1 (May 31, 2018)

or just go to a parts store and borrow their code scanner for free and reset it yourself, or have them do it.


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## Jondaytona (Apr 26, 2018)

Typically the best start to any job relating to electrical would be to disconnect the battery first. Then, by the time you have the job done, the ECM will be reset once the battery is re-connected. In this case, the engine light would have stayed off until it goes through a system check and then re-appear if the problem wasn't fixed.

BTW, I haven't heard of any parts stores having the type of scan tool that will actually reset a DTC in order to keep the MIL off. They only read the present DTC's.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Jondaytona said:


> Typically the best start to any job relating to electrical would be to disconnect the battery first. Then, by the time you have the job done, the ECM will be reset once the battery is re-connected. In this case, the engine light would have stayed off until it goes through a system check and then re-appear if the problem wasn't fixed.
> 
> BTW, I haven't heard of any parts stores having the type of scan tool that will actually reset a DTC in order to keep the MIL off. They only read the present DTC's.


Most that I have used/borrowed have the ability to do so, but the guys that work there won't do it for you because they're told not to by management. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## Jondaytona (Apr 26, 2018)

jblackburn said:


> Most that I have used/borrowed have the ability to do so, but the guys that work there won't do it for you because they're told not to by management.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


Aaahhh, is that it? I thought the scan tools were so cheap they weren't capable, at least the ones I've seen at AZ....lol


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## RichLo1 (May 31, 2018)

Yea, I didn't know about the management telling them not to b/c I always just do it myself. Never ran into a borrowed parts store scanner that couldn't erase.


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## CantThinkofaGood1 (Feb 13, 2019)

Thanks for all the suggestions the light turned off this morning!


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