The Monty's "Service Engine Soon" light came on yesterday morning, just as I was about to pull into the parking lot for my weekly temple shift. Of course, these situations always freak me out a little. Even though I have AAA, I have visions of being stalled in traffic, or on the side of the road, which considering my family history, is not outside the realm of possibility (ex. every family trip we ever went on).
Knowing that there was nothing I could do about it a the moment, and that my mechanic's shop was closed, I went in and worked my shift. Afterwards, I drove home through town, because if I'm going to break down, I'd rather it NOT be on the freeway. I managed to get home without incident, and then, while texting back and forth with the family, I remembered that I had purchased a little gadget last year, that supposedly would help me read error codes off the car's computer. It was about $12 on Amazon, and I figured what the heck. SO I've had it all this time, but I had never had cause to use it before. Despite all that, I figured it all out without too much effort. You take said gadget, and plug it in under the dashboard. Then you connect it to a free app on your phone, using bluetooth. After all that, and with a little help from the internet, it ended up working, and returned a couple of error codes.
I do feel somewhat accomplished, considering that I was able to at least diagnose the problem myself (with confirmation from a couple of guy friends). But first thing Monday, I'm making an appointment at the mechanic, because that part I can't do myself. Hopefully it won't be too expensive. And hopefully the Monty will be back tackling the freeways soon.
Knowing that there was nothing I could do about it a the moment, and that my mechanic's shop was closed, I went in and worked my shift. Afterwards, I drove home through town, because if I'm going to break down, I'd rather it NOT be on the freeway. I managed to get home without incident, and then, while texting back and forth with the family, I remembered that I had purchased a little gadget last year, that supposedly would help me read error codes off the car's computer. It was about $12 on Amazon, and I figured what the heck. SO I've had it all this time, but I had never had cause to use it before. Despite all that, I figured it all out without too much effort. You take said gadget, and plug it in under the dashboard. Then you connect it to a free app on your phone, using bluetooth. After all that, and with a little help from the internet, it ended up working, and returned a couple of error codes.
I do feel somewhat accomplished, considering that I was able to at least diagnose the problem myself (with confirmation from a couple of guy friends). But first thing Monday, I'm making an appointment at the mechanic, because that part I can't do myself. Hopefully it won't be too expensive. And hopefully the Monty will be back tackling the freeways soon.
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