Having a check engine light blinking on your dashboard is what every car owner or driver is afraid of. There’s no way a driver can feel comfortable driving his car with a check engine warning light on it. Anytime he looks at his dashboard and sees the light, it gives the driver a dark feeling.
However, resetting the check engine light is a way to make the warning light go away but how can you do it without disconnecting the battery?
How to Reset Check Engine Light Without Disconnecting Battery
To reset a check engine light without disconnecting the battery:
1. Drive the Car for Some Miles
“One of the ways to reset a check engine light without disconnecting the battery is by driving the car for some miles and completing a drive cycle, the check engine light will go off on its own.”
While driving the car, you must ensure to drive at some certain speeds such as 50 mph, 20 mph, as well as 70 mph. The driving must also be done in the city as well as in the highway. The light will go away on its own.
However, the check engine warning light can only go away on its own during this drive cycle if the problem that caused the light to come on has been fixed. If the light refuses to go off, you can drive the car for a few days.
If the light is still there, you can make use of other methods written in this article to clear the light.
2. Turn the Engine On and Off Three Times
Depending on the kind of vehicle you drive, you can turn the car on and off three consecutive times and see if the light goes off.
If the light refuses the go off, it’s either the method doesn’t work with your type of car or what caused the light is yet to be fixed. In this case, I would suggest you try other methods discussed in this article.
3. Tighten Your Gas Cap
Since having a loose gas cap can cause a check engine light to come on, check if your gas cap is loose and tighten it.
“Tightening a loose gas cap can cause the check engine warning light to go off on its own without disconnecting the battery“.
3. Pull Off the Engine Control Fuse
Another way to reset a check engine light without disconnecting the battery is by pulling off the engine control fuse and then putting it back. If this method doesn’t work, use an OBD scanner to do the reset. This method is however not recommended as not all cars comes with this fuse.
4. Use an OBD Code Reader or Scanner
Apart from disconnecting the battery for 5 minutes to clear a check engine light, using an OBD-II code reader and scanner is one of the fastest ways to clear the warning light.
You have to have an OBD code reader or scanner which you can use to clear the codes that caused the light to come on. If you wish to use an OBD scanner to clear a check engine warning light, follow the procedures below
- Plug the scanner into your car in its position usually under the driver-side dashboard
- After the scanner is plugged in, turn the key to the on position and press the “read” button.
- This time, the scanner may ask you to start the car, depending on the car, go ahead and start the car
- Now, wait for the reader to read the codes
- After it has finished reading the codes, click on the “erase/clear code” to clear all the code on the scanner
- Once the code is cleared by the scanner, the check engine warning light on the dashboard will disappear.
Nonetheless, it is important to note that clearing any warning or error code with a scanner when the problem has not been fixed is a total waste of time. This is because, after driving for a few miles, the warning light will come back on again.
As a matter of fact, I’ll suggest you always clear the error code that caused any warning light on your dashboard first before fixing whatever issue code gave you.
This is because sometimes, cars can go haywire and cause code to come on for a fault that is never there. Clear the error and if the warning light comes back on again after clearing, then you are sure that something is really wrong with the car.
Let me give you an example, a few days ago, as I was traveling with my car on a highway, I had a power steering light come on my Lexus IS 350 and the steering became strong. This happened after a few minutes I hit a pothole.
I managed to get to my destination with it, but I decided to reset the warning light and see if it will come back. Lo and behold, it never came back on. I’ve driven the car for more than 700 miles, on different journeys, and on different days, yet, the P/S warning light has not come back.
Now, imagine if I had not cleared the error first, I would have spent a huge amount of money replacing the steering rack that was never spoilt. So always clear the code first before concluding.
Benefits of Reseting a Check Engine Light Without Disconnecting Battery
Resetting a check engine light without disconnecting the battery can help save the settings you already have in your car.
For some cars, once you remove the battery and reconnect it, the infotainment system and power window switch won’t work except you set it back.
For my Lexus IS 350, anytime I disconnect and reconnect the battery, the power window switch from the driver’s side will not be able to work except I reset it. Imagine having to do this anytime I disconnect the battery.
Conclusion
Before resetting the check engine warning light without disconnecting the battery, ensure the problem that caused the light in the first place is fixed, if not, the warning light will come back on. All the methods explained in this article works fine.
All you have to do is to choose the method that best suits you. However, I recommended using the first method or the last methiod which involves completing a drive cycle and using an OBD-II scanner to reser the warning light.