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CEL - There and Gone Again

5K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  ramcares 
#1 ·
OK, this has happened twice now, and I admit to being stumped. Monday morning on the way to work, the check engine light (CEL) came on, along with a chime to alert me. OK, all gauges in the green, nothing appears amiss, I continued on to work.

I got in that afternoon to come home, still there.

I go in to work on Tuesday, still there.

I get in the truck to come home, no CEL. WTH?

Like I said, this is twice it's done this. The other time was about a month ago. Same thing, it stayed on for about a day and then went out. I always thought CEL's stayed on until cleared. That's the way the one in my Mustang is, anyway.

I also got another CEL about 2-3 months ago, but I was able to take it in immediately. The dealer told me there was nothing wrong, that it came on because there was an update for the PCM that needed to be installed. Never heard of that before, either. Nice to know they can do that, but it's a bit unnerving that they can light up the CEL by remote control like that.

Anyone else seen this?

Truckr
 
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#2 ·
i am currently experiencing a similar problem. Do you notice it come on any time around gas fill ups? As for the light turning on and off this indiates you have an intermittent problem, which is why i suggsted the gas cap. There is a possibility it isnt necesarily completly sealed and it is throwing an evaporative leak code. CEL's are based on the computer cycle. If the computer runs its cyce and finds an error code the CEL comes on. Now im not sure on the exact numbers but just to make it celar we will use the numnber 30. If the computer finds an error code and the CEL comes on, and then the compuer runs 30 more cycles without finding the same error code it will disable the CEL. Therefore this is an intermittent I hope this was usefull info.
 
#3 ·
After a certain number of restart cycles if the problem is no longer present the check engine light will go out. This can happen with intermittent faults. Even with the light out the codes are still in the system. Just have your ECM scanned and you will see what caused the light to go on.
 
#4 ·
Yep... what he said.


If it's a glitch in the software, or a loose wire... or other random BS... the light will go out on it's own after few re-starts.

The ED guys know this well, since the original software was DUMB !! Basically we were getting chronic CEL's for the O2 and SCR sensors because the software was too sensitive, and wasn't seeing the sensors move enough.
 
#6 ·
Updates... It went out, came back on, went back out again. Very, very odd. I checked the gas cap, it was tight. Nothing else amiss that I can detect. I'm going to assume the PCM retains some sort of history, so I may schedule an appointment to see if they can tell me what the codes were for, at least.

The truth is out there...
 
#7 ·
Does it happen when your gas tank is around 1/4 full? I am having an issue with a Cel light turning on when I get to about 1/4 tank. I fill it up with maybe just $20 to get it at more than 1/4 and once I cycle the truck on about 3 times the code goes off. I checked the code and it gives me a P0463 code. I have looked around and seems to be a pretty common thing. I have an appointment to drop it off at the dealer in about a week
 
#8 ·
I had mine come on for a ew days. Took it to dealer and they scanned it and told me it was the coolant bypass hose. It went out the next day. I will get it fixed next oil change. It hasn't come on since then.
 
#12 ·
This is my issue code P-26AB
I had the CEL light came on and off and on and off , every time I went to the dealership the light will go off and they claim they can't find a solution unless the light is on upon arrival. , so I checked the code finally stayed on ( not at the dealership )and i received the P-26AB the light stayed on for 2 days and I decided to take it to the dealership. once there, they checked the car and told me to wait inside. After about 2 hours , they came in and gave me the invoice. The invoice stated I needed 2 left 02 senors. This was causing the CEL problem . They were charging 560.00 in total. Claiming the sensors were over 100 each. Yet everywhere online I see them for 70 and under including from Mopar websites with the provided part # given to me from the dealership. After searching this code I see it's the coolant bypass valve. which is what this thread is about.

Any suggestions here, I'm I getting the runaround are they just wanting to milk me from my hard earned money.?

is this coolant bypass valve covered under warranty? I have the powertrain at 100k but my bumper to bumper is done for. I have 43kmi 2014 ram 1500 V6 penastar

any advice appreciated, The CEL has made the truck sluggish , eco mode not lit up , and wasting gas at a fast pace.
 
#13 ·
If they're changing O2 sensors when the truck is throwing a code for for coolant bypass valve I would have a strong conversation with them. I would want to know why they're changing those parts instead of the bypass valve. Is the truck still throwing the P-26AB code after the work has been done? Did you authorize them to do the work or were they just supposed to diagnose the problem?
 
#15 ·
I would at least write the dealership a stern letter and one to FCA about the dealers actions. If it's work that's not covered by warranty I wouldn't go to the dealership, but a trusted local shop. Contacting Ram couldn't hurt.
 
#18 ·
Hi Bmcgough3,

I'm sorry to hear about this! I would recommend scheduling a service appointment to have the technicians see if there are any stored codes. Please let me know if you would like assistance in setting up an appointment with your local servicing dealership. I'd be happy to help in any way I can!

Erica
FCA Social Care Specialist
 
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