check engine light turns itself off?..

[sixleggedinsect]

i have had a lot of poor battery connection problems with my escort over the last few years, and a lot of check engine warnings that traced back to the bad ground(s).

a week ago i started the car and it ran very rough for five minutes, followed by a flashing check eng light. the light stayed on and solid for a week (living in hte middle of nowhere and very busy.. car seems to purr, so i figured id get around to it soon..).

yesterday the light just wasnt on anymore.

i seem to recall that the only way to clear the codes without a reader is by disconnecting the ground for a little while. is this true? if so, that suggests that my problem is the bad ground thing coming back (although it looks pretty good right now), and that the connection was poor enough at some point to reset the computer.

any advice? im assuming that reading the codes will do me no good now with the light off. true?

thanks in advance,
anthony

[mightymoose_22]

I believe the code will clear itself if a particular number of cycles run through the computer without the error being reported. It could also be a burned out CEL bulb

[AzTumbleweed]

I say MightyMoose is right. I was messing around with my MAF Sensor once and the light came on. A couple days later it went out by itself because the problem no longer existed. Be glad

[jamesmetairie]

About 1.5 years ago when i bought my 1999 sedan(95,000 miles then) the light would come on occasionally. Since then i use a bottle of the cheap walmart brand fuel injector cleaner at least every other tank. Have not seen "cel" since i don,t know when.

[Davescort97]

You're right! Dirty injectors will cause an overly lean condition or misfire. I've always thought that the most obvious and most simple solution to a problem should be looked at before a more complex solution. I use fuel that has 10% ethanol. The alcohol keeps everything clean in the fuel system. I would suggest that before using it you should check your owner's manual to see if it is OK to use. Some earlier model cars have plastic or rubber parts in the fuel system that will be affected by ethanol.

[Jacfourteen]

Originally Posted by mightymoose_22

I believe the code will clear itself if a particular number of cycles run through the computer without the error being reported. It could also be a burned out CEL bulb

This is true, if the problem is not detected for a certain # of cylces the cel resets. An if you think the cel is burned out then turn the key to run w/o starting the cel should illuminate, if not then its burned out.