how to get "service engine" codes

ok, i admit that i dont know a lot about cars in general. but i have a 2000 chevy s-10 2.2 with 77,000 miles. about two months ago the "service engine soon" light came on, and then went off the next day. this happened about once a week until last week. since then it has stayed on constantly. it drives the same, except lately it is very loud when over 70 mph.

so to make a long story even longer. is their a way that i can find out why my light is on without paying someone $75 , just to hook it up to a computer?

thanks.

you can either spend the 75.00 for someone to scan it or buy an obd II tester and scan it yourself. i bought a cheap tester for 120.00. but if your not a car guy your better off spending the 75.00 for a mechanic to scan it or find a friend that has a scanner. you cant get the codes with out some type of scanner.

thanks busa_4 for the info. the reason i was asking is because my friend has an impala, and he said that you could turn the ignition off and on 5 times, and a LED light would flash a morse-code-like signal. i was hoping an s-10 might have a similar trick.

i dont think you can do that with obdII. i know for sure you can do that with obdI.

ok, i admit that i dont know a lot about cars in general. but i have a 2000 chevy s-10 2.2 with 77,000 miles. about two months ago the "service engine soon" light came on, and then went off the next day. this happened about once a week until last week. since then it has stayed on constantly. it drives the same, except lately it is very loud when over 70 mph.

so to make a long story even longer. is their a way that i can find out why my light is on without paying someone $75 , just to hook it up to a computer?

thanks.

I don't know if you have AutoZone stores where you live but around here they will down load your trouble codes for free (they typically use an Actron reader like you can buy). Check around at the bigger chain stores and see if they provide this service.

Good luck...

Mike

Have you found your problem.. MySdime 2.2 did the same thing awhile back. It ended up being the Secondary Air Injection pump. The unit went bad and one of the vacumm lines came off making it sound like a hopped up lawn mower.

yeah auto zone , pepboys , any carquest, advanced auto they all do this for no charge.

Autozone has a key they will give to you to make the engine service soon light blink they tell you what the code is after you insert key into the module under the dash by the parking brake. I hope this helps

Autozone has a key they will give to you to make the engine service soon light blink they tell you what the code is after you insert key into the module under the dash by the parking brake. I hope this helps
does that work on obdII??

Have you found your problem.. MySdime 2.2 did the same thing awhile back. It ended up being the Secondary Air Injection pump. The unit went bad and one of the vacumm lines came off making it sound like a hopped up lawn mower.


I think my s-10 is doing the same. Did it make a loud fan noise?

You can use a (key jumper wire) only on OBD1 Systems pre 1996 after that most all cars are OBD2 and a scan tool or code reader is the ONLY way to get codes out of the computer