8.1L check engine light but no symptoms

[markus53]

Greetings all -
My check engine light is on. The coach drives normally. No loss of power. No overheating. Nothing out of the ordinary.
What would you put on the short list to check?
And how urgent?
SWMBO wants to take another trip this month before the weather gets *really* bad.
Thanks, in advance, for any advice you'd be willing to share.
Markus

[CactusTwo]

Could be as easy as a loose gas cap....which I have had before, but should find someone with a diagnostic reader tool or buy one for yourself. I bought a Creader Pro 129E for my Buick via the Amazon website and really works and clears codes

[rvtips]

What does [ SWMBO } stand for?

[astrnmrtom]

There are a number of reasons you can get a check engine light and still have the vehicle drive normally. If you can, drive it to any big chain auto parts store - Oriellys, Autozone Pepboys etc, and they will read the codes for free. Depending on the issue, if it is intermittent, the light can go back out after so many restarts. As mentioned, a loose gas cap can do it, or some sensor is reading a value that's "out of range", but isn't bad enough to put the computer into limp mode, or to effect how it runs. An example is one side of the engine (bank) running a little lean, or some marginal voltage in a coil. There's no way to know without reading the codes. Think of it as you engine's computer telling you it might be coming down with something, but isn't sick enough to to stop it from working. On one of my vehicles, I had the light come on because it was low on brake fluid.

If you can't get it to a place to read the codes those same stores will "loan" you a reader. They will require a deposit or a hold on a credit card that's refunded when you return the tool.

Hope this helps.

[markus53]

As expected, it turned itself off.