GMC Repair: GMC , engine light , rough idle, 4x4 gmc, gmc suburban

Question
I have a 1997 4x4 GMC Suburban 1500 5.7ltr Vortec with 120,000 mi. Yesterday my girlfriend dropped her son off at school and when she got back in the truck to go home she noticed that The truck was running rough and the check engine light was on. The school is less than 1 mile away. We had just went on a 150 mi round trip the day before with no problems. I tried to disconnect the battery for a few minutes and the check engine light went off but it still ran rough. Once I drove it the light went back on. I would hope that I can save a few bucks by fixing it myself with the proper diagnostic. Do you think I need to have it checked on a machine?

The engine has ran fine in the past and I have had no other problems with the exception of replacing the transmission last year. All other repairs have been made by the dealer. I just recently moved and my regular mechanic is too far away for this problem. Trying to save money!

Please help if you can.

Thanks, Lou

Answer
The check engine light of which is part of your computer system of the vehicle illuminates when there is a failure of one of the many electronic sensors and wiring of the vehicles electronics.

You will need to have the system tested using a scanner in order to extract the FAULT CODE that is stored within the computer when a fault occurs. There are up to 30 different codes within the computer and a scanner will be able to extract the exact code #.

Have you had any work performed on the vehicle of any kind prior to this problem ?. If you have, Take a physical look within the area of where the work was done and you may be lucky and see a loose wiring connector or a loose vacuum line.


Let me know.

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