you drive your car, and suddenly from nowhere, your check engine light starts flashing on your dashboard.
what to do now? will my car get damaged if i keep driving it? how much will it cost? there could be a lot of questions that may be running through your head.
luckily, we will cover everything you have to know about a flashing or blinking check engine light in this article. let’s begin!
what does a flashing check engine light mean?
a flashing check engine light signals an emergency and requires immediate repair. the more you drive with a blinking check engine light, the more damage you may cause to your engine. it is often caused by a misfire due to fuel or spark problems.
the engine control unit monitors all sensors in your car while you are driving and with this information, it calculates how much fuel should be injected into the engine and at which angle it should fire the ignition.
if one of the values from a sensor is faulty for a short amount of time, it will trigger a trouble code. if the engine control unit is getting the wrong value from the sensor several times, the check engine light will appear on your dashboard.
if this problem is severe from a misfire, it will start to flash the check engine light instead. this is to notify you that a problem that may damage the catalytic converter is happening right now.
causes of a flashing or blinking check engine light
- misfires on one or several cylinders (most common)
- faulty spark plugs/coils
- faulty engine sensors (coolant, air temperature, exhaust temperature sensor, etc.)
- faulty egr valve
- faulty/bad injectors
- faulty crankshaft/camshaft sensor
- exhaust emission problems
- boost/overcharging problems
- internal engine problem (rare)
- evap trouble codes
a flashing or blinking check engine light is most often caused by misfires. however, it is not as simple as that because many different things can cause misfires.
related: will the check engine light reset itself?
how to diagnose a flashing check engine light?
so now, when we know what could cause this, where should we begin to pinpoint the problem?
you must understand that every time your check engine light is constantly lightened up or blinking, it will store a trouble code in the memory so you will have a chance to see what was causing the problem.
therefore it is a terrible practice just to guess which parts could cause the check engine light and start to replace parts. this will, in almost all cases, just make you waste your money.
a much better and more efficient method is to check what the engine control unit is trying to tell us. this can be done with a diagnostic scanner.
you may think that a diagnostic scanner is too expensive for this small problem, and in that case, you can borrow one from a friend or just take your car to a repair shop and let them read the codes for you.
after you have received the engine control unit’s codes, you will most likely find a trouble code related to a misfire. check for more related trouble codes to continue the 2022年世界杯淘汰赛 on that trouble code.
for example, if you get a misfire trouble code and one related to an ignition coil, you should definitely continue the 2022年世界杯淘汰赛 on that ignition coil.
if you get misfires on a specific cylinder – check the spark plugs, ignition coils, and wirings. if you get misfires on several cylinders, there is most likely an issue with a too lean or too rich mixture.
dennis
2009 honda crv engine light flashes and oses power in the mornings about 5 mins of driving then if i stop for 10 mins the flashing is gone and the machanic can't find no codes
santam
hello mate,i have a nissan murano .has done 112000 ks and when i went uphill it showed a flashing engine light and turned itself off once i crossed the inclined area.what should i do ?it is driving fine now.plz let me know .thanks.
jill
hello, i have a 2017 ford escape. while accelerating, the cel came on and was flashing. car would vibrate and run rough if i went 55 or faster. did this for about a minute or so, then the light went out and accelerated fine. haven't had a problem since but am taking it in to be looked at. my hubby also noticed a turbo oil leak. could these issues be related? why would cel go off and car drive fine after a minute?
fernando
hi i have a 06 civic coup just changed the spark plugs and now the car engine light is blinking and when i give it acceleration it dose nothing not even in park or in drive or reverse,what can i do next to fix that it's never happened before.
raphael obas
i drive honda cross tour my car check engine has always been on, but i entered a bad road with much water last week and immediately i left the area, my check engine flashing, i had to pull over to a safe place. switched off the engine and after a min, i switched it on again and the flashes stopped but the check engine is still on, wat could have been the cause and any way out?
sifiso
hello, please help me...i own an audi a4 b8, 1.8t and i find myself spending a lot of money on my car but the engine light is still on...the mechanic told me my catalytic sensors are malfunctioning but i don't have to worry i can still drive my car but this engine light is making it uncomfortable to drive my car and just after it came back, now i have a airbag light on and i never had a problem with that too. i'm so frustrated and angry now with this car, can you please tell me what can i do because at this point i can't even trust audi dealership as this is an ongoing problem and audi just charges for every little thing. to summarize, my engine light (orange) and airbag light is (red) on (but not flashing), the car is no longer smoking as i had finished repairing that
ani ejike
i drive camry 2.2 1999 when you remove the battery for some hours and put the battery wire back on again and start car and drive for at least 50 km the check engine will come on and then after a day or two my odometer and speed meter will just stop working and the car will have to struggle to change the first gear after it the first gear it runs normal after one or two hours the odometer and speed meter will come back on with check engine light! please help a brother.
musty mohammed
thanks for all the write up. my opel vectra b always flash the check engine when i am on a high speed and when slowing down the engine offs by it self. pls solution to this issue
kevin ll
hey magnus, i have a problem with my volkswagen 2009 golf tsi , engine light blinking during cold start or in the morning and it’s disappearing after 30 seconds. i scanned it with the obd and get a code misfiring cylinder no.1 and no.4, i already change the coil and the spark plug but the code still appear the same, is there any possibility the fuel injectors went bad?
mike from swaziland
hey magnus ,,, i’m in big trouble i drove mitsubich grandis 2006 model suddenly flashing engine light and did not rav losing power misfiring and i plug on the diagnostic it says throttle body/ pedal sensor permanent. but then i other new coils pack of 4 plus brand new throttle body when i replace the throttle body and coil the car did rav ‘ then after couple of minutes the engine started flashing again and the car did not rav what could be wrong sir please help thanks in advance
lynn
hey magnus, i just wanted to say thank you for your willingness to help people with their car problems... and for free! you don't find too much of that these days! it is much appreciated!
brandon
i have an 2003 honda civic 1.7 5 sppeed when you first start the car the battery light is on an the check engine will flast an can rev the car up 7000rmps but when the battery light turns off the check engine will turn to a solid an i loose rpms an car wont rev very high an theres power to the obo2 plug but cant pull nothing from the ecu
tara
i have an 06 nissan altima 4 cylinder, the check engine light came on while driving and it was blinking but when i pulled over and turned the car off and retsarted it the check engine light was off. a week went by and then while driving the car shut off and would not start. any ideas of what it could be? i've never had spark plugs replaced or had the timing replaced.
daisy d
i drove a brand new dodge van, when i parked it, i turned off the van but left key on to listen to the radio, in less than a minute engine light began to blink, then it stood on constant. i turned key all the way to the left, and turned van back on and engine light was gone. can the key turned to the right caused the engine light to blink?
fap
2010 honda crosstour with 82,000 miles. twice at 65-70 mph the check engine light flashes. car drives fine. dealership has checked for codes and there are not any. sparkplugs were replaced at 70,000. any ideas? dealership recommends drive it until they can catch the check engine light blinking.
ibrahim
good day, my name is ibrahim, i was coming from office yesterday and i discovered my check engine was blinking , i need your advice on what to do.
falgun
i drive a toyota camry 2010 le, 2.5 ltr. check engine sing appeared. machine read: cylinder no. 1 misfires. sometimes it starts flashing. when it flashes, the car doesn't picks up instead of accelerating. but it becomes static gradually by releasing the accelerator. or by stopping at the signal light point. mechanic first changed 4 plugs. it did not resolve the problem. then he changed the coil. but problem did not go. now i am taking the car to the toyota dealer's service station. i am afraid how much they will bill me. although initially i am going to take it for diagnosis purpose.
ezekiel
have you gotten it fixed and what did you fix ? i am encountering the same exact problem with the same car
christiaan
good day my car is not starting i took a wire from the fan to the egnitio and the wire touched the cars boddy while the egnition was on and it made a short now my engin light is blinking the engin turns but does not start. opel corsa 1.4 itsa 2006model
jamal mrayed
i have kia opirus v6 2700 cc the check light starts blinking and when switch the engine off and restart again the car drives smooth and the blinking disappears and reappears again after a while with lose of engine power . on checking with scanner i was informed that miss fire was diagnosed in almost all engine units and i was advised to replace all spark plugs which i did. the car drove few miles and same symptoms reappeared with check light flashing and loss of power, injectors seem to be ok as i was told by the mechanic . i would be thankfull if you would shed some light on what could be the problem. thanks
susan
my 99 beetle sounded like the battery was dead i replaced the battery the starter and alternator are good the battery lite blinks and my car sound like the battery dyi g what is wrong with it susan
saleem
my car is in suddenly off engine light blinking
robert
05 trailblazer a code came up po300 misfiring ok i change two coil packs n all 6 spark plugs .started it up n still running rough no codes came up like before but when you floor it check engine flashes let off gas it stops n goes off.n it smells bad when running could it be my catalytic converter stopped up causing it to do that
chris
did you ever find an answer to your problem?
daniel
i have an old chevy 2008 impala that i use to tow an18 ft boat and use it only for that. the engine light has come on and it has been that way for months. scanner shows code po172. once in awhile light goes off for a day then comes back on. now that it is warmer the engine light does not come on for the past week and i have been using it a lot around town for errands. the engine code is still showing up on the scanner and i have not erased it. the engine light comes on when i start the car and then goes off. afraid to get stuck somewhere with the boat so i think i am going to put a hitch on both or one of the rav 4’s. do you think i should still use the chevy if the light comes on again.
leslie
have a 2002 hyundai elantra car have been having problems with suddenly shaking then stopping and now has a sulfur smell idles rough and check engine light is blinking?
van
i have an 02 dodge durango 4.7 l , it has recently popped a code po302. cyclinder 2 misfire. i have replaced the ignition coil module on cyclinder 2 & the throttle position sensor. however, after 3 - 4 days of driving it reappears again. what else could it be?
magnus sellén
@van did you check the spark plugs on the affected cylinder? it could also be a wiring problem or a faulty injector (not very common though). i would check and replace the spark plug if you haven't!
zed deiranieh
hello i would like to know how i can fix my car i have a 2009 lexus es350 and it has about 156,000 miles and today i was driving over 100 and on the freeway and i was also turning them the check engine light came on and check vsc light too then shortly after the check engine light was flashing and the car started to become weaker and i think it’s a misfire . please let me know how i can fix this thanks
amy c.
my engine light was on my 4 cylinder 2001 honda crv. i took it to goodyear and they scanned at and said there were misfires on cylinders 2, 3 and 4. the car was driving fine though (4 hour drive on the way to the shop). they replaced spark plugs and wiring and then the engine light began flashing. they scanned it again and it's saying there's random misfiring now. i had to drive it home from charlotte, nc to atlanta, ga and now problems with the car or engine temp... any recommendations on what to do next?
magnus sellén
@amy c random misfires are often caused by a faulty fuel mixture. common things for a lean mixture is an intake leak/pcv valve problems. it can also be caused by low fuel pressure in the pressure rail. however, i would begin with checking for intake leaks and make sure that the pcv valve is in good condition.
haitham el youssef
hi in our country the rain made lakes in all our roads so i drived in some water lakes on certain road and the water was minimum 50cm high and it entered my car honda accord model 1988 and when i reached my home it suddenly turned off and would turned on again because the check engine is blinking and there is other devices next to the engine are blinking noise sound. so what shall i do?
magnus sellén
you should absolutely read the trouble codes with a scanner and see what it says. most likely you can erase the codes and keep driving as there was maybe bad connection in the wirings caused by the water.
sara b.
my 2004 ford freestar has had the check engine light on for a couple months now. but tonight i entered onto a freeway and the light began to blink. i felt a difference in the driving and exited the freeway immediately to pull over. as soon as i got off the freeway it stopped blinking. but now i feel jerking.
thomas m. ruiz
friends, i have a 2005 subaru legacy sohc 2.5l engine that went bad. i was told by the store selling me an engine that i could put a 2.0 sohc in and it would fit and work perfect. i replaced the motor and the 2.0 fit perfectly! now the bad. however my check engine light is flashing! i took it to my auto pros (a different shop) and they put a factory obd machine on it and said they were stumped as there are no obd codes! they said the car runs fine as they checked it out. however no obd codes. a big, helllp! any feedback master of the mechani internet universe?
magnus sellén
either the instrument is not working together with the engine control unit if you replaced it, or there are stored trouble codes but the code scanner could not read these. i would recommend using a subaru code reader if possible. some scanners can't read manufacturer codes! :)
erastus paulus
did spark plugs affect engine flashlight for opel corsa hatchback?
hemant kandalgaonkar
i have a grand i10 sportz optional 2017 and the car is been serviced in the month of july 2020,i didn't drive my car for more than 3 weeks now and today when i start my car i found the check engine light flashed for few seconds and the moment i accelerated it went off i checked all the wires it is in perfect condition after 30 min again i start my car to check if i see the same situation but this time i didn't see the check engine light flashing on the dashboard.can you advise what i could be and do i need to take my car to the service center for check.