service vehicle soon light comes and goes

[Dave9]

What does the service vehicle soon light mean? It comes and goes. Does it mean someting is wrong or does it just come on at a certain milage to get a check up.

Thanks

[Hoags]

What year is your car?

When the SES light comes on it usually means that there is some type of issue going on. When the light comes on there is a diagnostic code for the problem. Depending on the year of your car the On Board Diagnostic system records the code if your car is a 96 or newer the codes are stored. You can stop at an Autozone parts store to have the codes read and they can tell you where your prob. is. However, I think that they will only read the codes if the SES light is on, I'm not sure of this you may want to stop by one of their stores and ask.

As for why the SES light is comming on could be for any number of reasons from a loose gas cap to a major mechanical problem. You may have to wait untill the light stays on.

I hope this helps to answer your question.

Welcome to the Forum.

[Jackie21]

Originally Posted by Dave9

What does the service vehicle soon light mean? It comes and goes. Does it mean someting is wrong or does it just come on at a certain milage to get a check up.

Thanks

Hey,

I have a 2000 grand am gt and that light came on in my car too. If the light only comes on when you put in gear, it might have to do with the headlights or day time running lights. That light came on when i put into gear and that was the problem. Hopefully this can help you or anyone.

Jackie21

[Ridenour]

Like Hoags said, it can be for a variety of reasons. Is your car displaying any symptoms? If it comes and goes, it's more likely some sort of sensor malfunction - anything from emissions / EVAP system, to wheel sensors, to intermittent misfires. But just be sure to next time, as soon as it comes on, go get it read and find out what the code is. If it's coming on and off in your case, and you don't have any problems, my guess is it's just the gas cap issue - the grand am gas caps are notorious for having leaks/evaporation problems, and the computer throws a code when it detects evaporation, but often times, getting more gas, or putting back on your gas cap more securely can solve it.

[cgjawz]

it's not usually this easy, but I had a similar problem. I was doing some work on the car and needed to unhook the battery. Ever since I re-hooked up the battery, it quit. Coincidence? Well, maybe. Could have just reset the computer I suppose. There was nothing notably wrong with the car though in the first place.

[Ridenour]

^ ^ Yes. If it had a simply stored code such as a one-time EVAP freak-out, or something of the sort, then disconnecting the battery for a few hours would clear it, and it wouldn't come back unless the problem occured again.