Just call me Grease Monkey

No… Not Greasy Monkey, just greasemonkey.

My Truck’s inspection sticker expired in February… (oops).  In early March, my check engine light came on the week I was going to go get the inspection taken care of (oh great!). The error codes pointed to a sensor in the air intake (Mass air flow sensor), and there was a chance that it might just need a good cleaning. So I bought the proper cleaning spray and went to work pulling things apart, cleaning then, and putting it all back together.

No dice. The Check Engine light is still on.

If the check engine light is on, it’s an automatic “Fail” for the inspection… So what do I do? I learn that unplugging the battery’s negative terminal will reset the computer in the truck, so I do that. Now the check engine light is off! YEAH!

I drive to the inspection place the next day. FAIL. Apparently when you unplug the battery the vehicle’s computer needs to be driven through a “drive cycle” (apparently about 100 miles) to recalibrate the sensors & whatever else it keeps track of.  The Inspection report listeds half-a-dozen sensors as “Not Ready”, which put me in the FAIL catagory.

Ug. I was told to drive the truck 100-200 miles & come back within 2 weeks. (DOH… I barely drive 60 miles in a week.) So we drive the truck a little more than usual those 2 weeks. In the middle of all this, the check engine light comes back on… AHHH!

I get it diagnosed again (for free at AutoZone) & it’s the same sensor, in addition to the IAC valve (Idle Air Control). Needing to try to conserve our emergency stash, I decide I’m going to replace the parts myself lastnight.

It wasn’t too bad. I was able to swap out the Mass Air Flow Sensor in the AutoZone parking lot (so I could return the old one for the Core Charge). Then I went home & looked up online so I could find out where the IAC valve was even located & what would need to be done to replace it. Luckily it was an easy process. Unfortunately, I had to disconnect the battery again. I guess I”m going to have to drive another 100-200 miles for the computer to reset before I can actually get the truck inspected. (Assuming that those 2 items were the only components causing the error codes in the first place).

It is actually kind of rewarding to be able to figure things out & work on them yourself.

I need to do this more often.