Is this really against the law?

[VortecJeep]

Took the wife's DD to TwilightZone to have the Check Engine Light read. It was an O2 sensor. I asked the guy to reset the light and he refused. He first said it was against the law. I told him he is the first person to ever refuse to reset a check engine light for me. Then he told me the company got sued for resetting one.

Does anyone know if it is truly against the law for them to reset it? I have had it done multiple times in the past, the last time being less than a month ago.

I guess I'll go disconnect the battery to reset it. Then, I'm going to buy a code reader before the dumb@sses we keep electing make those illegal too.

 

[Chuckman]

Ahh, somebodys paying attention!!!
Dont know, just disconnect it and move on.

 

[RenegadeT]

If its throwing a code good luck getting it thru inspection. If the inspection station finds it was recently reset it, they'll tell you to come back after X-amount of time/miles/starts, then your original problem might come back.

 

[y2kcrawler]

Yea its illegal. In NC anyways.. Thats why I moved to SC.. no Inspection!! My check engine light has been on for a while now, its either the O2 sensor or the fact that my speedometer isnt working at the moment.. oops.

 

[catfishblues]

Change the O2 sensor. They're cheap, and it should help your fuel economy. As for it being illegal, I don't think so. Against their rules, yes. I got the same story at an Advance a few years back, so it may be just what they tell folks to get them off their back. Buy a nice scanner. It'll come in handy in the future. I've got one that will reset and let me check codes and rediness monitors. I can reset it, then drive around until 5 of the 7 monitors are set, (all they need to inspect,) and then drive it in. I'd fix it, but I'm still getting 35mpg, and fixing it would require possibly replacing the EGR valve and cleaning the EGR passage through the head. Not a fun task!

 

[cj777]

That's wierd. Autozone just reset the 02 sensor error in my camry last week. He even volunteered to do it without me asking.

 

[VortecJeep]

... Buy a nice scanner. It'll come in handy in the future. I've got one that will reset and let me check codes and rediness monitors. I can reset it, then drive around until 5 of the 7 monitors are set, (all they need to inspect,) and then drive it in...

What scanner do you have?

 

[97tjguzzy]

i work at advance auto while im at school, and according to company policy we are not supposed to reset it...that being said I have done it many times.

 

[catfishblues]

What scanner do you have?

Similar to this one. Same brand, but mine is the step up. It will do earlier OBD checks, too. Old Wranglers, Ford, and even my 87 Suburban. I paid a good bit for it, but so far it's been quality. I haven't regretted it yet. I got mine at O'Really auto. They do sell cheaper ones that check the readiness monitors, if you don't need the OBDI capability.

 

[y2kcrawler]

i work at advance auto while im at school, and according to company policy we are not supposed to reset it...that being said I have done it many times.

Ha ha ha...you rebel! at least your honest! Thanks for hookin us joes up!

 

[rattlecanpaint]

If it's illegal to reset it how do you turn the light off after you've fixed it. Just tell them you fixed it yourself and need the light reset. That being said it's not illegal to reset them, if the fault is still present the light will come back on, which will make you fail NCSI.

When reseting the light you reset the "readiness codes" which is basically the car going through all the tests it's supposed to, to check the emission system and make sure nothing is wrong. You have to have a certain amount of readiness codes set (tests, done and passed) for the inspection machine to run you car through the inspection process and pass it.

Odds are, the light will come back on as soon as the engine warms up and the engine controller starts paying attention to the o2 sensors. (It doesn't pay attention to them untill the engine has reached operating temperature.) Like was said above, O2 sensors aren't that expensive, you're better off to just replace it.