Rough Idle + Service Engine Soon Light on 1998 SC1

Last week I noticed my 1998 SC1 (with about 155000km on it) was idling a bit
rough at stoplights. Nothing too big, just a little rougher than usual.
Then last night the "Service Engine Soon" light came on. Based on this
wealth of information, does anyone have any similar experiences or advice?
Should I take it in based on this, or just keep an eye on it?

Thanks!

 

Get the code read asap and get back to us. Autozone reads them for free
but pushes parts that may not be the fix onto you.

 

....what's 155,000 km, something like 96000 miles? Could be a few thing -
get it checked out ASAP - even if the light came on and the engine ran
smoothly, you still need to find out what threw the code. With the engine
running roughly, I'm a little nervous that you may not be getting complete
combustion and the catalytic converter is going into overtime (and may be
running very hot). The dash temp gauge doesn't report exhaust or converter
temps, so while I don't want to sound like an alarmist, I would like to
suggest you get the car serviced NOW. If the rough running becomes worse,
turn the car off immediately and call a tow truck - seriously.

 

You should get this fixed promptly. If the engine is misfiring, it can
damage the catalytic converter through overheating.

If it's running rough, presumably it is a misfire code you're getting,
though it would be best to get the code read out. Most likely causes of that
would be a bad spark plug or plug wire.

 

Just an update.....I started it up again this afternoon, and the light went
out. Strange, but I definitely will keep an eye on it.

When I say it's idling "rough" it's just barely noticeable to me, since I
drive it everyday, I notice small things. I don't think it's rough enough
to be a misfire, but who knows...?

Thanks for the info, I'll look into getting it looked at on Monday.

Brock

 

Curious...if the light is now out, would the code still be able to be read??

B

 

The code will move from "pending" to "stored" and should stay there
until it is cleared.

 

....a plus of OBDII is that it stores codes (and rpm's and top speeds, etc) -
sounds like Blah knows the tech jargon of how the process works when he
refers to "pending to stored" in his reply.