Nissan Repair: Nissan Frontier, nissan frontier, warning light

Question
I have a 2000 Nissan Frontier Crewcab 6 cylinder with about 44K miles on it.  Reciently a warning light came on that says "service engine soon"  What can a non mechanic person look for before taking it in to a shop to try and find the problem? The engine is running good and it dose not seem to have any problems.
Ron

Answer
Hi Ron -

You have dozens of sensors in the engine that monitor engine operation. If any one of these sensors detect an abnormality, it sends a signal to the computer to turn that light on. These are called OBD codes, and require that the car be taken to the shop or dealer and have it read by a special device.

The good news is that it is rare that the fault is something damaging to the engine, however that light will stay on until it is reset, or problem fixed. Most states will not allow you to re-register the car if the light is on.

So, although it is probably OK to drive around as such, you should go and check it out eventually, and have that light cleared.

Hope this helps -
aloha
calvin