HELP!!!! Service engine light came on
 

so after 1 week having the car and driving it around in short distances i finally decided to take her on a longer drive so today was my first time putting gas on her(2nd if you count the dealers) i was down to 1/4(**fyi i did about 260mi or son on 3/4) anywho
i put chevron 91 octane
drove her thru LA stop and go traffic for 60 mi

i got to my destination
it was a great and awesome drive

so now heres the problem ok so abou an hour or so i decided to move the car to a better parking spot

first thing i notice as soon as i started the car the range indicator was flashing with a warning on it for about 2-3 seconds like its telling me i need gas(it was showing 340+mi to go) next thing you know i notice the service engine light was on....i was like wtf


i went thru the manual to see if i can find anything
the only thing i could find is that if the fuel cap is loose i could set it off
and it says just retighten it and after a few trips it should go away
i drove back home hich is another 60 mi withe the service engine light on it never went away



anyone else experience this? should i worry and take it to the dealer?

My dad had a similar experience with one of his car. In NJ, all gas stations are full service. So, the guy at the pump didn't tighten the gas cap enough. Car threw the service engine light. I tighten it and drove it for 50 miles. Light went away and never came back.

Did you pump own gas or it was full service? Other than the gas cap issue, I really don't know what else it could be.

i pump my own gas and i could have sworn i heard the cap click 2-3 times
just drove back 60 miles and the light was still on when i got home
ill check an start the car again right now to see if its still there
if not i might have to bring it tomorrow :(
im scared as i dont want this to be a major issue :(

Best of luck, man. Hopefully its just something minor!

At least it's not the check engine light. I think it is just minor and bring it to thye dealer tomorrow. I don't know if your dealer is open on saturday but i know that av nissan in palmdale is open on saturdays. the gas cap if it's loose will make the check engine light on not the service engine soon. good luck

just turned on the car right now ...still there :(
i thought check engine and service engine was the same one ?????

I'm pretty sure that there is only the service engine soon light and not a check engine light. There is an AT CHECK light however.

Marc look at your manual because i am pretty sure service engine and check engine are totally different...

can you snap a picture real quick?

Mmmmm, I wonder if you got some ethanol enriched 91, that the motor didnt like?

Yes, there are two warning indicators, a 'Service Engine Soon' or 'SES' light, and a 'Check Engine Light' or 'CEL'

SES lights are generally used for minor things, such as the fuel cap, etc.

I'm sure there is no need to panic or drive like mad to the dealer immediately, the CEL usually is the hard core indicator.

Since you're worried, and would probably want peace of mind at ANY time, I would recommend getting a cheap OBD-II reader so you could pull the code now (and in the future), so you can see what the code is before you take it to the dealer.

Like G.I. Joe always told us.. 'knowing is half the battle.. '

i was going to take it to the dealer but i heared they charge $90 just to check it
so im going to go with restting the ecu myself by just disconnecting the battery for a few hours

if its still on after the fact or if it comes back again then ill probably take it to the dealer
wish me luck

i read something about that it could be the gas
the dealer did put shell and i put chevron could be soemthing with mixing the 2

I'm not sure that Chevron offers the nitrogen enriched gasoline. I thought it was only Shell at the moment?

Do you top off your gas after it clicks? Have you ever thought of filling up your gas tank again? I remember one time I had no choice but to put this non-top tier gasoline into my car. I only put in about 10 bucks or so of their highest octane gasoline, only so I could drive to the next gas station. I felt so bad for my poor Civic because it sounded like it was going to die. I immediately drove to the next gas station and filled up with the good stuff. All of the problems went away.

Your car is under warranty.. and an SES light is something they should check out for you.. AT NO COST..

You didn't do anything to make it turn on, so they should scan it for free, and if something does arise, cover it under warranty.

I wouldn't disconnect the battery.. that typically will not make the light go away, unless it was something very very very minor.