When you’re driving down the road, and your check engine light comes on, your mind automatically jumps to the worse possible conclusion. You’re worried about some expensive component that you’ll need to replace right away.
But often, it’s something minor – it can even be as small as a blown fuse. Before you start freaking out, check the little things, and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Can a Blown Fuse Cause a Check Engine Light?
Every electronic component in your vehicle draws power, and to protect each circuit, the manufacturer installs a fuse to keep a power surge from destroying any expensive parts or starting a fire. But if something trips one of those fuses, you’ll often get a check engine light since the circuit is working the way that it should.
While you can spend a ton of time trying to track down which fuse to check, not every fuse box is appropriately labeled, and checking all of your fuses is quick and easy.
If you replace some fuses, be sure to disconnect the battery and let it sit for about 10-minutes before reconnecting it! This will reset your check engine light, which might be needed to clear the code from the system.
How to Check Your Fuses
If you have a test light or a multi-meter, you can check all of your fuses in less than 5-minutes. Begin by tracking down your fuse box and removing the cover. You’ll notice that on top of each fuse, there are two small metal surfaces – this is where you’ll be connecting your test light or multi-meter probes.
You can pick up the best Multimeter on Amazon here.
If you’re using a test light, find a good ground for your test light and check both sides of each fuse. Both sides should light up the test light – if you find a fuse that only lights up on one side, you have a blown fuse.
If you’re using a multi-meter, you need to set it to check for continuity. This is the button with an Ohm symbol “Ω” – you can also use it to check for resistance. From there, hook up one lead to each metal post on the fuse. If you’re getting continuity and have less than 1 Ohm of resistance, the fuse is good to go.
If you don’t have a connection or you have excessive resistance, then you need to replace the fuse.
Beware of a Deeper Problem
Sometimes you’ll replace the fuse and never have a problem again. Other times the new fuse will blow as soon as you install it. If this happens then, your circuit is either shorting out or surging somewhere. You’ll need to identify the underlying cause to fix the problem.
Don’t upgrade to a bigger fuse to try and hide the problem! This can lead to all kinds of unwanted results, like broken components and engine fires.
Can Autozone reset check engine light?
Autozone does offer free testing and “check engine” light diagnostics for 1996 model year vehicles and up in all of their stores nationwide except in the State of California where they will loan the scan tool for you to scan your vehicle.
Autozone does not do code resets for legal reasons. Oreilly Auto Parts does the same as they will run diagnostics but will not do a reset.
The best option would be to visit a certified mechanic or dealership for a check engine light reset.
Summary
While nobody likes the unknown, check engine lights don’t always spell doom and gloom. Often all you need to do is replace a few small components to get your car running like new again!