Check Engine Light

Yes. I have a bad cylinder in the engine of my Saturn Outlook and it was detected by the check engine soon light.

I'm not trying to be rude, but...

We could guess and point you in the direction of what "we" think is most common (401, 171 , 174, 30x, etc etc), but...

Your van is already trying to tell you exactly why it won't pass emissions - that is what is behind the service engine soon light being lit up.

Take your Windstar to any one of the dozens of places that will read the diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) for free, and use that as the basis of researching how to correct what is triggering or causing those codes.

Less guessing, and more definitive action to what is unique & specific to your current problem(s).

See "Related Questions" below for more

Black smoke usually indicates fuel not being completely burned. The choke being stuck, clogged egr valve or the engine needing a tune up are the three places to start troubleshooting.

P0300 is caused by a detection of random cylinder misfires. Start by checking/replacing the distributor cap, considering ignition tend to be the most likely and easily resolved problem causing this.

O2 (Oxygen) sensor.

HO2S (Heated Oxygen) sensor.

ECT (Engine Coolant Temp) sensor.

MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor.

MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor.

CKP (Crankshaft Position) sensor.

CMP (Camshaft Position) sensor.

ECL (Engine Coolant Level) sensor.

EOP (Engine Oil Pressure) sensor.

EVP (EGR Valve Position) sensor.

KS (Knock) sensor.

PFS (Purge Flow) sensor.

TPS (Throttle Position) sensor.

VSS (Vehicle Speed) sensor.

I'm sure I missed several more.

you have to cyphin the old gas out if you have a full tank but if you have a low tank put new gas in and plush it out and then you have your third option you have to unhook you gas line to drian you gas out which i think is the safest way possibleDO NOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE UN TILL EMPTY AND REFEULED

Please ask a new question and include the year, make, and model.

Check Spark plugs

Check plug wires

Do a compression test

The check engine light (service engine soon) comes on and stays on when a problem is detected by the self diagnosis system of your vehicle. Generally, the problem is in the emissions or something that is affecting the effectiveness of the emissions, but other causes can trigger the light to come on, too. To determine the cause, the vehicle will need to be taken to a parts store or a shop that has an OBD2 scanner, or for 1995 and earlier models, an OBD1 scanner, While a scanner will not give you the magic answer, it will give you a code that narrows down the problem area.

The check engine light (service engine soon) comes on and stays on when a problem is detected by the self diagnosis system of your vehicle. Generally, the problem is in the emissions or something that is affecting the effectiveness of the emissions, but other causes can trigger the light to come on, too. To determine the cause, the vehicle will need to be taken to a parts store or a shop that has an OBD2 scanner, or for 1995 and earlier models, an OBD1 scanner, While a scanner will not give you the magic answer, it will give you a code that narrows down the problem area.

Possible lead wire for the fan shorting out. These problems may or may not be related. As the first contributor said, there might be a wiring problem in the fan switch to the fan motor circuit. Look for a wire rubbing on something else and look for the insulation on the wire to be damaged. Or the switch itself may be bad. I've seen them fail in the shorted (always closed) mode which will make the fan run all the time. This is probably not good on the fan motor as they are not meant to be used continuously. I can't recall right now what that switch looks like, but if you can get the wiring plug off the back of the switch and can get to the terminals that it plugs onto, you can put an ohm meter across the terminals. (do this with the engine off and stone cold) If the needle deflects, the switch is probably shorted (IE; bad) and needs to be replaced. OR, you can just try to CAREFULLY unplug the fan from the switch while the engine is running and the fan is running. If the fan stops, you can pretty much conclude the same thing...bad switch. NOTE: I don't really recommend this procedure. Fans can hurt you! Try to do this from UNDER the car if you can, so you can keep your fingers and clothing ETC away from the spinning fan. Also, this test presumes that the fan is still running all of the time. As to the Check Engine Light, be sure your fuel tank cap is real tight. If it's loose, it can cause the CEL to come on. Failing that, take the car to Auto Zone or Checker or wherever and have them put a code checker on the car's computer. They usually do this for free! It should give you some idea why the light is on.

i had that code show up for my 2002 and it was running really bad and it ended up being my catalitic converter. I took it to a local shop in my town and he told me it was my cats and he told me that if you have 80,000 miles or less you can get it fixed for free becasue its a federal law that the factory has to replace it for free becasue they should'NT go out and I took it to an olds dealer and that's what it was and it was fixed for free. hope that helps

it could also be a faulty ingnition coil

If the light is on, it will need checked and diagnosed.

You can not. Replacement of the oxygen sensor is the only way.

All "p" codes have four numbers in them. P340 doesn't mean anything. Should be Pxxx

I think the answer you are looking for is 0340 and it means that you need a new camshaft sensor, crank sensor, or timing is off on your car. The entire circuit for these sensors sends off this code, so it could also be a plug for one of these sensors. Good luck. Remember if the sensors don't fix it than they are doing their job and your cam is out of time.

it can be of all stupid things a improperly fasstened gas tank cap

what does the code PO222 on a dodge 5.9 mean

The check engine light (service engine soon) comes on and stays on when a problem is detected by the self diagnosis system of your vehicle. Generally, the problem is in the emissions or something that is affecting the effectiveness of the emissions, but other causes can trigger the light to come on, too. To determine the cause, the vehicle will need to be taken to a parts store or a shop that has an OBD2 scanner, or for 1995 and earlier models, an OBD1 scanner, While a scanner will not give you the magic answer, it will give you a code that narrows down the problem area.

To reset the computer on a 2002 Ford Taurus disconnect the negative battery cable. Leave the battery cable disconnected for five to ten minutes. Reconnect the cable and start the car. The computer should be reset.

It's difficult to tell, but sometimes a bad battery, or even a connection, will light lights, ect, but the minute you throw a big load (such as the starter motor), everything dies. Leaving it sit for a while will sometimes allow the light & things work. Check all batteries, connections & wires. Side terminal batteries sometimes corrode where you can't see them, sometimes the side terminals are loose inside the battery. Top post batteries can get a hard corrosion that requires the post & clamp to need a file to cut it. Sometime, one weak cell in a battery can cause a hard cold start, while the vehicle still starts fine when cold. Diesels take a lot of amps to start cold.

The 6.2 like most diesels has 2 batteries - a) because it takes a lot of amps to run the glow plugs and b) it has a much heavier starter to turn the diesel over (draw is typically about 175 amps on a gas motor -can be 400 + for a diesel).

Your Suburban should have a volt guage - watch closely as you wait for glow plugs to cycle, the voltage will drop noticeably as they go on and off - the KEY indicator is "IF the voltage returns to close to the normal voltage after the glow plugs finish cycling, then both the batteries and wiring are pretty good, BUT if the cycling of glow plug system really knocks down the voltage, then trying to engage the starter will be the last straw.

This tells you that you likely have 1 or both batteries going bad.

When a battery is more than 2 yrs old it can start to sulphate and lose progressively more and more of its reserve capacity - this can go on for a long while in a gas vehicle if the motor starts right up and the alternator is good.

In diesels however, the demands are far higher and yu don't get away with this for long. My 85 6.2 Suburban (350,000 miles) had batteries changed about every 3 - 4 years.

light means ther is a sensor gone bad what you got to do is there is an on board diegnostic on the passenger side lower floor panel there is a blue clip turn every thing off and install a jumper wire then turn key till the check engine light comes on again and count the times it blinks 1 long blink and the how ever manny short blinks mean two digit code like 16 or like thatthen ask a parts store for the code meanings Pull the codes from the computer, match the code to the troubleshooting procedure, follow the procedure to find the source. Repair the source, light will go out if that was the only problem. There are "monitors" or self test the computer runs the car through, if a problem occurs, it may not run all of the self tests until that problem is taken care. Therefore, another problem may exist. It is emission related.

P0700 is transmission code present. You need to have the transmission computer checked for codes to know what the problem might be.

A yellow engine or 3 plugs on each three sides of a rectangle.

Check gauge? Never heard of a check gauge light. If you are referring to the check engine light it is on because there is a problem with the emissions system. You need to have the ECU scanned by a professional.

Passenger side before the catalytic converter.

When the light comes on, your car has stored a trouble code. I would have the codes extracted(PEP BOYS/AUTO ZONE) to determine the problem.Sometimes it can be minor, but there can be 30+ different codes.