Q: I have a 2011 Camaro. The lights come on when I turn the ignition but goes off except the service engine light

asked by on December 16, 2017

When I turn the ignition on, all of the lights come on. But, then goes off except for the service engine light. But it goes away when I crank up the car.

My car has 78000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

This is typically normal as the vehicle’s computer goes through a series of systems checks when you turn the ignition to the on position. Once the computer is done performing these checks, the check engine light will turn off, signaling that the vehicle is ready to start. If the check engine light remains on after the vehicle starts, this may signal something larger may be wrong. Generally, the check engine light comes on when something fairly serious is going on with the vehicle. This can happen for many different reasons such as a faulty mass air flow sensor, a faulty O2 sensor, a bad catalytic converter, bad spark plugs or spark plug wires and many other reasons. Due to the wide range of possibilities for the check engine light to come on, the best and most efficient way to narrow down the scope of what may be causing this is to have the vehicle hooked up to a scanning tool to download any potential fault codes that may have registered in the computer. This will allow a mechanic to determine more specifically what to look for in diagnosing your vehicle. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to take a look at your vehicle to determine what may be causing your check engine light to come on.

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