Check engine light
 

I haven't been on the blog for quite some time.

I am the original owner of a 95 SE, 5-speed, with less than 112,000 miles on it (Canadian car).

I was on a day road trip yesterday and had a situation where about 40 miles after the trip after I had stopped for a half hour or so, the CEL came on and remained on for another 35 miles. I took the negative battery cable off and left it off for awhile and the CEL remained on.

When I got home 75 miles later and parked the light went off and remained off when I started the car back up.

I haven't used the car today so I don't know whether it will come back on.

IIRC, there is such a thing as a "ghost code" with these vehicles.

Could that be a situation like this

I replaced an oxygen sensor years ago, sometime before 2002, and had a CEL in late 2006 and had to replace an EGR solenoid.

Those are the only 2 times the CEL has come on before.

If the CEL remains off should I take it in to see if throws any codes?

If the CEL is on, it has "thrown" a code ... you simply need to determine which code and make the necessary repair/replacement.

If you don't have a scan tool or code reader of your own, your local franchise auto parts store will read the code for free.

Ghost codes are probably referring to things like the knock sensor which don't actually trip the check engine light. Next time you get a code I'd get it read before you decide to reset it. What if your car decided to no longer start up because of the code you no longer have to look at and you can't get the CEL to trip again because you can't get the car to run

Your car has some kind of issue. As others have said, have someone at an auto parts store read the code, then report back.

code readers and scanners are cheap these dayd. Might as well buy one. I bought a BAFX scanner on Amazon. I've used it several times. It cost 22$.

Get a code reader. They can be found for as little as $20

No code reader for $20 in British Columbia and auto parts stores don't read codes.

My local shop which gave me the following advice wanted Cdn$58 plus tax to read the code.

I phoned the garage I deal with and they told me to ensure that my gas cap was on securely. I had bought some gas earlier in the day at the start of the trip, but my tank was just over half full.

The gas cap was not on securely when I checked it. Took cap off and put it back on properly. No check engine light since.

If you can order the reader in the link it would be worth it to keep it on hand. I bought one like that years ago from Harbor Freight for $59. The price has dropped over the years to now $15.49.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/TSV-Scann...d420194871d999