Service engine light came on.....
 

I was driving my car and all of the sudden the sevice engine light soon came on. I noticed a complete loss in power, I had to floor the gas pedal for the car to move, and it barely did. I pulled into a parking lot and I shut the car off. I turned it back on and I was able to drive it back home normal but the light is still on. It stayed on for couple of days and this morning it went away. Now the car is driving fine but i am still nervous. This happened twice in two weeks. I called the dealer but before I go I wanted to get some input from experts because I have no knowledge about cars at all. What could cause this problem??thanks for all the help in advance.

you should have gotten the code scanned while the light was on. It may still be in the computer as a Pending Code, but it seems as if the problem corrected itself...maybe a sensor critical to the computer shorted momentarily. Most auto parts stores have scanners they'll loan you to scan your computer for free...they may or may not help you. Since your light is not on, there will be no active codes...only possibly a pending code.

My suggest to you is to not bring it to a dealership yet.

1. Did the vehicle's performance change at all when the light was on VS off.
2. Did you notice at what conditions the light come on, or is it just randomly. Condition - ie. rain, snow, hot/cold days.
3. How long does the light last for? 1-2 days. 2-3 weeks. Or even after couple start ups, it goes away?

Like ccernst suggest. When the light DO come on, bring it to an auto part store for scanning a code. This is free, and most of the time, they scan it for you. They dont want to to break their equipment. It gives out a code. They might even search what kind of code is this, and tell you. If not, just copy it down, and search it from the internet.

Post up the info, and see what we can help.
If it is something simple, bring it to a small shop, replace necessary parts, they will reset the light, and you are good to go. Dealership usually charge 50 dollars just to scan the code. Sometimes, one code can show up with different problems. Dealer techs sometimes spends 1-3 hrs looking for this "problem". 3 hrs of work = 300 dollars, just trying to find the problem. Yes, engine sometimes can be not so fun, for the customer at least.

IMPORTANT, make sure fuel cap is tight tight tight!!!!!

I have seen customer come into dealer as soon as they have engine light ON. Pays 50 dollars, leaves 2 mins after. All we did was tighten gas cap. Light goes away.

Wow, where to start. First of all you haven't told us which car you have. Can I assume you have the special edition Japanese turbocharged first gen Outlander? Perhaps you did a 4B10T swap and something went wrong? Serously, which car do you have?

It sounds like the problem people are having with the crappy VW turbo diesel that they used to use in Europe, where the turbo would die randomly and there was no permanent fix for it.

You drove a car that had a check engine light on and an obviously serious engine malfunction for days. I wouldn't be surprised if it caused actual physical engine damage that they would deny your warranty claim because you drove it for so long after.

So I am not the only one with this problem? Happened to me last week (also twice in same day). I was too far from any service, and to wait for assistance was not an option... Engine light is now off (it stayed on for whole day). Dealer said it could be software problem...

By the way I have european 09 C-Crosser 2.2 HDI.

Failing O2 sensor? Had similar symptoms on my Honda CR-V. Only permanent fix was to fit a new sensor.

BTW, an intermittent fault like this is very unlikely to cause actual physical engine damage. However, I would recommend getting it checked ASAP.

ok, I can't beleive I didn't mention the car make. I drive a Mitsubishi 2007 outlander xls. So, thanks for all the responses. To keep you guys up to date, I took the car to the dealership yesterday and this is what happened. they told me that the air filter was severly clogged. therefore, the car couldn't breath. It caused the loss of power. my pcv valve went as well as my o2 sensor. I needed a fuel filter and an injector service. they also cleaned the throttle body. they cleared the codes and i am back in business. my total bill was $490. I dont know i felt it was too much but what can i do.

The car probably went into a `type of limp`mode when the maf detected it wasnt getting enough air flow. 500 probably isnt too bad of a bill. depends on how much the pcv valve and 02 sensor was. I know on my old cobalt the 02 sensors where in that 100 range. Considering all the other things that they said they did, I would think that you didnt get too ripped off by the stealership. :)

I was driving my 07 outlander During the recent snow storm tha it NYC this past wednesday when sudently my speed went from 40 to 5 miles/hour and the check engine lights, the asc indicator lights, and the traction control light skid indicator came on. I needed to floor the gas in order to have the car move at about 2 to 5 miles per hour, I also had a problem putting the card in reverse gear.
I had no other choice but to park the car.
The next day when I went back to get the car I warmed it up and drove to the dealer at a normal speed ( 20 to 30 m/hour). the check engine light was still on.
The dealer check it out, and they told me that the problem was that the ESC (electronic stability control sensor was frozend). They reseted the light and now it appears that all is ok.
The problem is that now I am scared to drive the car.

Does anyone out dare experienced this type of problem with the Outlander 2007?

sounds really odd...we dipped down to -4F and haven't had anything like that. Can you go/call back and ask what codes were pulled?