Volkswagen Atlas Check Engine Light

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most normally misunderstood lights or indicators in your Volkswagen Atlas is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the vital onboard diagnostics system, and displays in a wide range of different ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your vehicle. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored vehicle performance since the 80s and do a wide range of things for your Volkswagen Atlas. Some of these essential duties include controlling engine speed, shifting automatic transmissions ignition timing, and implementing security control, just to name a few. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of different things. It can be as simple as your gas cap being loose or as hazardous as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your Volkswagen Atlas, contact Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale. Our Volkswagen service department can support you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or diagnose why your check engine light is flashing. Contact Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale today!

How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not correctly tightened to a more serious failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it good to get the correct code reading and diagnosis. The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is typically between $88 and $111. The good news, Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale offers entirely free multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help determine the cause of your check engine light.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a Volkswagen Atlas?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as simple as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Also, the check engine light could still be a warning of a meaningful problem that could cause serious damage to your engine and come with a hefty and expensive repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A steady and continuous glow usually means something less serious but a flashing check engine light reveals that your vehicle’s engine is in meaningful trouble and useful service is needed instantly. If your check engine light is flashing in your Volkswagen Atlas, we remarkably recommend not to drive the vehicle and schedule Volkswagen service today. Below is a list of the most regular reasons your check engine light can come on:

• Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or other item can wreak extreme havoc on your Volkswagen Atlas if it’s not installed properly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even limit the car from starting. If these issues sound familiar, bring your Atlas to Volkswagen and have our team of skilled certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed properly and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, particularly aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts first place might cost a little bit more but could help you save substantially from having to get poor work and damage caused by poor installation work corrected.
• New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are necessary for your Volkswagen Atlas. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel combination in the combustion chamber of your car. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run smooth. The spark plug wires deliver the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are bad or old, you will undergo a conspicuous poor performance and decreased power. In some extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause blocked catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, leading to more expensive repairs.
• Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be replaced. The mass airflow sensor in your Volkswagen Atlas is what determines how much fuel is necessary to run your engine efficiently by measuring the amount of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to certain changes, like altitude. If your Volkswagen Atlas is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a sudden rapid change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a vital sign of a defective mass airflow sensor.
• Your Volkswagen Atlas has a vacuum leak. Each Volkswagen Atlas has a vacuum system that performs a wide variety of functions. The vacuum system also helps lower harmful emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can dry out and crack, particularly if they’re exposed to intense heat or extreme cold.
• Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your Volkswagen Atlas’s exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is normally caused by constantly neglected maintenance, which is why Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale offers a free multi-point examination with each Volkswagen service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your Volkswagen Atlas will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your car may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause other dangerous problems from overheating.
• One of the most typical and frequent cause is that your Volkswagen Atlas gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your Volkswagen Atlas serves different purposes. It prevents unpredictable gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What hits if you have a defective fuel cap? If your gas cap is old or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump and be more expensive. Luckily, to change a gas cap isn't expensive. If your check engine light turns on immediately after you put gas in your Volkswagen Atlas, first thing you should check is to make sure the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.
• Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, known as the O2 sensor, measures the amount of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns more instantly and your car will be less efficient when it comes to fuel economy. So what hits if I don’t change your O2 sensor? A defective sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause significant damage to your catalytic converter and your Volkswagen Atlas's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to determine the explicitly correct combination of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A defective O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.
• The battery is low or dead. The battery in your Volkswagen Atlas is each important. Without a car battery, your car won’t start, light up the road in front, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s car batteries last much longer than they did a few decades ago, and they don't really require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Volkswagen you drive, but check our current service coupons and specials.

Volkswagen Atlas Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating, exceptionally to see that little light on your vehicle’s dashboard suddenly illuminate, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear right away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just another name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, again known as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Atlas. There are hundreds of different codes that your check engine light can accurately represent. While that sounds daunting, with a little patience, tackling basic diagnostics will give you advantageous knowledge about your vehicle and will again allow that vital Check Engine Light to do what it is really supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, obvious and useful vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of imaginable OBD codes, there are again hundreds of imaginable reasons for the light, including:

• O2 Sensor
• Fuel and air metering systems problems
• Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
• Ignition system faults
• Computer output circuit issues
• Emissions controls issues
• Old Battery
• Transmission issues
• Bad Spark Plugs

This is why it is vital for someone who does not have a lot of prevailing automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. Call Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale at 6234007146 today or schedule your check engine light service online today! If the engine light comes on due to a serious concern, you risk damaging your car further by not repairing the issue right away. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out instantly by a proficient certified Volkswagen mechanic.

Volkswagen Atlas Check Engine Light

A flashing light indicates that the problem is very serious and if not taken care of quickly may result in major and significant damage to the vehicle. If the check engine light in your Volkswagen Atlas starts flashing, that means that the problem needs attention quickly and your Volkswagen should be brought in expeditiously. This blinking light ordinarily signifies a severe engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be dumped into the exhaust system. There it can quickly raise the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is likely, requiring an pricey and major repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can explicitly be the cause. A damaged, old or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If the problem is completely ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a very expensive repair. If your check engine light is constantly flashing, please contact our team of automotive experts at Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale expeditiously by calling 6234007146.

Check Engine Light Service Volkswagen Atlas

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Volkswagen Atlas and suddenly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Volkswagen owners, your heart sinks extremely because you may have definitely idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the cost of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep, serene breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t mean you have to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your Volkswagen Atlas checked promptly. Ignoring that warning could end up causing considerable, considerable damage to costly engine components.

When your Volkswagen Atlas's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it can’t appropriate, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is generally labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that can swiftly identify the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic scan tool that is used by our Volkswagen auto repair mechanics at Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale. There are also a number of relatively inexpensive code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you pick that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced professional to determine the exactly correct issue and repair it.

Volkswagen Atlas Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are countless potential causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are various typical causes including something as simple as a loose gas cap. Other generally typical reasons for a Check Engine Light are faulty head gasket, damaged oxygen sensor, dirty mass airflow sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, defective emissions control part, or faulty spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Volkswagen Certified Technicians and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and totally repair it as necessary to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Volkswagen issue was completely fixed.

Every Volkswagen Atlas was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the vehicle on its critical systems. The fast sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending essential data to the electronic control unit. If the electronic control unit detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light illuminates telling you that there is a problem. Nonetheless, unfortunately that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what explicitly is wrong nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Highly Certified Service professional.

Is it safe to drive your Volkswagen Atlas with the check engine light on?

This question is not very simple because it all depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be secure to drive. This is ordinarily indicated by a steady glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the car, it could be an indication of a more serious problem. If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a serious issue and it is advised to service your Volkswagen Atlas rapidly. Call the experts at Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale by dialing 6234007146 so you can describe the issues. Or decrease your speed and bring your Volkswagen to our certified mechanics as soon as imaginable.

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly. Since any check engine code has its own level of severity, it is typically difficult to predict how multiple miles you can be secure in driving with the warning light on. If you check engine light is flashing, we recommend that you pull over and contact Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale to support determine if your vehicle is secure to drive in or if we recommend a tow truck.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your Volkswagen Atlas will normally shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is fixed. For example, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will promptly turn itself off. Likewise, if your catalytic converter is working correctly, and you did a lot of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your Volkswagen Atlas light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Larry H. Miller Volkswagen Avondale so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.