So recently as of 9.57pm - the CEL came on - never has before but i suspected it would as it has been rough recently ... Symptoms are -
Rough idle ( goes from 900 / 1500 when in park and at start up and one time while stopped it physically pulled forwards without any gas from me ) it seems like it had lost power since i purchased it last year ( june 8th ) I've maybe thought bad CAT or something along the exhaust lines ( i recently had oil , coolant , air filter changed out and replaced and the car ran okay) also even with a new battery the electric on the inside sometimes dims without reason then resurges ( new as in less than 3 months) i just don't know what it could be and i don't really have money to do $$$+ worth of work ( i will get graduation money within the next few weeks about june 19/20) is there any place i could look as to start because I've never had this problem before and have only done minor work on my own.

 

Also it has 163xxx miles and wasn't perfectly maintained before me ( ive tried to keep her in decent running shape but I'm a full time student) with the recent coolant , oil ect i had him prices me new ac delco plugs ect and i would've gotten that done but could jever get the $ for it so i had to put it on hold

 

Since the cel came on ,if get a code reader you should hopefully have some code pull to tell you & get you closer to a resolve. I have one of them CarMd it comes very in handy. Ask AutoZone/ect if they have one to read for you or to even see if they one to rent

 

LIke mentioned previously...

You can go to most any auto parts and have them plug in there code reader... that will tell you whats going on..(Its free)

 

Now how does that work and where does it hook up ect?
And is it okay to drive my car if im real gentle with it untill i get this figured out?

 

The OBD connector is just under the driver side dash by the center console. 'Usually' it's okay to drive a bit with the CEL lit even though the car may not be running well but depending on the problem you might possibly foul spark plugs. If it's misfiring though you can damage your catalytic converter. Hard to say for sure without knowing the code.

Reading the codes only takes a minute or so. Hook up the scanner and turn the key to on and it will start pulling the code(s)

 

a good rule of thumb....


when the CEL comes on, before you do any work whatsoever on your car or waste time trying to figure out what the problem is, go to the parts store and have them get the codes pulled. write them down and then report back or google search the codes and that will help a lot more than trying to guess as to what the issue is.

 

Hey so i had the code check out and its an evap code - p1441 - he said i could drive it'll just be bad mpgs is that good or? And does anyone know what to do with the evap code - how to handle it ect he said it was probably the purge solenoid ? Can i do that myself or? And btw its the 3800 series 2 (v6)

 

unhook battery
take your gas cap off, put it back on, be sure to click it 3-5 times.
10 mins later hook battery back up

if code comes back, replace gas cap and repeat the procedure above.

if code comes back after that...replace solenoid, its super easy to to do.

you can probably pick up a evap solenoid at a junkyard for just a few bucks.

it sits on the front of the engine by the front valve cover and oil cap and would take about 2 mins to replace.

 

Check for vacuum leaks also