How long have you drove with CEL on?

I drove all the way in my 355 from middle Tennessee to Southwest Oklahoma on a CEL light. It was just a bad O2 sensor. Never gave it much thought.

 

thats usually the case

 

Funny (or not so funny) story:

Over the past two weeks, the TPMS light (tire pressure) in my MINI Cooper would illuminate on cold mornings. I looked at the tire, and it seemed just fine. By lunchtime, the light would be off.

I called MINI and said, "I can't believe the sensor is THAT sensitive to temperature-driven pressure changes, it MUST be defective" They said, "sir, check the tire pressure manually". I said "ok, but please schedule an appointment for replacement"

Next day, same situation.

Next day, same situation.

Next day, same situation.

Next day? Tire was flat. Slow leak from a nail puncture. Boy, did I feel like a dummy. Mrs. JRR said I *was* a dummy.

We're so damn skeptical that a warning light might actually be warning us of something important, that we're conditioned to just ignore them. Maybe I'm doubly skeptical, because I assume Ferrari sensors all suck and destined fail anyway. Moral of the story: the light is on for a reason. Don't ignore it.


p.s. the only 'upside' was that Luca and I got another chance to use our tire-plug kit and little ciggy-lighter pump. For him, the chance to play 'pit crew' was worth the hassle of a flat tire.

 

I tend to ignore "Check Engine Lights" ---- I'm always reasonably certain that the "engine is still there" --- LOL

 

So THAT'S why Daniel got into the Ferrari parts business...

 

Ignore them at your own risk! They are there for a reason and the sensors have a job to do for ignition and fuel mapping. Yes sometimes it's benign but fouled plugs, melted cats, poor performance, and even poorer fuel consumption is the result. Get the perfect storm brewing and you could do worse. They are generally easy to check but sometimes require an electrical engineering degree to fix. My favorite kind of repairs aka bread and butter. Trust the force Luke.

 

Is this a "caution" or a "solicitation" --- LOL

 

Mine came on periodically only on the highway then went out every time, they never came on once when I burnt a hole in my exhaust or blew up my cat, even after I drove for some time.

I should of looked a little more carefully.
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My theory is the Ferrari CEL light is a reminder based on time/mileage and isn't hooked up to anything other than the clock and odometer. All of our ferrari's are constantly working on parts prepping them for failure and multi- thousand dollar repairs. If you took off my cats, manifolds, checked my head gaskets and clutch, gearbox and electrical box I'm sure all of them would be a disaster even though the car runs awesome- the light comes on, and the first thing the mechanic looks at he says this is the problem- your cat is completely melted and burned up a couple of valves, he fixes it and the car knows it can turn off the light to let either your checking account or credit card availability build up again.

I miss the old days of CELs on other brands of cars....my dad drove his 1985 528e BMW with so many lights on it was always christmas in the car- drove car like that from about 150,000 miles until he sold it with 232,000 miles still running strong. A friend back in high school had an '89 Trans Am GTA that had the CEL come on at about 65,000 miles. His fix was a small strip of black electrical tape over the light, and he drove the car like that until it was a rattling mess at over 200,000 miles, and sold it to some other guy. Ahh, the good old days before OBD plugs during state inspection- when the guy would just lean in and see if any lights were on....if they were covered by black tape, well you were A-OK. Things were so simple then

 

last time the lights went on and stayed on for me, I followed through. Ran the codes and with the brotherhood help pulled and replaced the O2 sensors. They were orange brown and clogged in places. The replacement was easy, inexpensive, car runs great and it's one less thing to worry about for a while. I'm still in my first year so I want everything 'tight and right' since the potential of the alternative is still a frightening thought. An ounce of prevention is so much easier (and cheaper) IMO.

 

I wouldn't ingnore them. Better to check and find out it was a false alarm as opposed to ignoring it while something serious is about to erupt

 

If oil pressure and water temperature are ok, it's commonly ok to drive it home in a reserved manner. You really should know why it's coming on, so you can decide whether to continue driving it or not. Sometimes-usually-it's bs, but occasionally it's something important, like a deteriorating cat, or a hot cat, which is an indication of something more serious. If you have OBDII, buy a reader-they're cheap-so you can read your fault. That's the way you'll really know. You can keep your reader in the glove box and amaze and mystify your friends with your technical knowledge. Also, it may save you a flatbed fee sometime.

 

A quick question- on those readers, if they spit out codes is there a way to know what the code is like an online list, or do people generally post the code on f-chat and someone else has the answer? I saw them at the pep boys auto parts store the other day....no CEL on my car, but you never know....

 

i just pull the codes then search them on fchat. most common codes have been posted here and discussed.