Volvo XC60 Check Engine Light

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most typically misunderstood lights or indicators in your Volvo XC60 is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in a few divergent ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your vehicle. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored vehicle performance since the 80s and do a variety of things for your Volvo XC60. Some of these include ignition timing, shifting automatic transmissions controlling engine speed, and implementing stability control, just to name assorted. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of distinct things. It can be as typical as your gas cap being loose or as noteworthy as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your Volvo XC60, contact Volvo of Greenville. Our Volvo service department can help you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or inspect why your check engine light is flashing. Contact Volvo of Greenville today!

Check Engine Light Service Volvo XC60

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Volvo XC60 and rapidly, a yellow light flashes on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Volvo owners, your heart sinks a little because you have little idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the cost of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t determine you have to pull the car over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your Volvo XC60 checked as soon as probable. Ignoring that warning could end up causing leading damage to pricey engine parts.

When your Volvo XC60's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the computerized control system that it can’t acceptable, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is commonly labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that identifies as the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic analyze tool that is used by our Volvo auto repair mechanics at Volvo of Greenville. There are also a number of relatively miniature code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you elect for that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced experienced to elect for the issue and repair it.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a Volvo XC60?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as fitting as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a awful problem that could cause awful damage to your engine and come with a generous repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A steady glow consistently means something less awful but a shining check engine light indicates that your vehicle’s engine is in awful trouble and service is decisive urgently. If your check engine light is shining in your Volvo XC60, we immensely recommend not to drive the vehicle and schedule Volvo service today. Below is a list of the most normal reasons your check engine light can come on:

• The battery is poor or dead. The battery in your Volvo XC60 is each exciting. Without a car battery, your car won’t start, light up the road ahead, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s car batteries last much longer than they did various decades ago, and they don't actually require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Volvo you commute, but check our instinctive service coupons and specials.
• Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or diverse item can wreak havoc on your Volvo XC60 if it’s not installed properly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can dump the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound conscious, bring your XC60 to Volvo and have our team of certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed correctly and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, highly aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts first place might price a small bit more but could save you money from having to get scanty work and damage caused by scanty installation work corrected.
• Your catalytic converter is detrimental or going detrimental. The catalytic converter is a part of your Volvo XC60’s exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is generally caused by neglected maintenance, which is why Volvo of Greenville offers a complimentary multi-point inspection with each Volvo service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your Volvo XC60 will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your car may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause diverse problems from overheating.
• Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be changed. The Oxygen sensor, known as the O2 sensor, measures the amount of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns faster and your vehicle will be less practical when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I don’t replace your O2 sensor? A faulty sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause damage to your catalytic converter and your Volvo XC60's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to learn the right mixture of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A detrimental O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.
• New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are paramount for your Volvo XC60. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of your vehicle. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run. The spark plug wires deliver the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are detrimental or old, you will experience scanty performance and reduced power. In a few extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause clogged catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, preeminent to more expensive repairs.
• Your Volvo XC60 has a vacuum leak. Each Volvo XC60 has a vacuum system that performs a wide collection of functions. The vacuum system also helps lower destructive emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can dry out and crack, highly if they’re exposed to exciting heat or extreme bitter.
• Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be changed. The mass airflow sensor in your Volvo XC60 is what determines how much fuel is paramount to run your engine efficiently by measuring the amount of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to confident changes, like altitude. If your Volvo XC60 is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a immediate change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a detrimental mass airflow sensor.
• One of the most prominent and frequent cause is that your Volvo XC60 gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your Volvo XC60 serves multiple purposes. It prevents gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What happens if you have a detrimental fuel cap? If your gas cap is old or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump. Luckily, to replace a gas cap isn't expensive. If your check engine light turns on urgently after you put gas in your Volvo XC60, first thing you should check is to make fearless the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.

Volvo XC60 Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that small light on your vehicle’s dashboard suddenly illuminates, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear proper away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just another name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, also commonplace as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your XC60. There are hundreds of distinct codes that your check engine light can indicate. While that sounds daunting, with a small patience, tackling primary diagnostics will give you functional knowledge about your vehicle and will also allow that Check Engine Light to do what it is really supposed to do: be your guide. Regrettably, distinct and fantastic vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of possible OBD codes, there are also hundreds of possible reasons for the light, including:

• Computer output circuit issues
• Bad Spark Plugs
• Ignition system faults
• Old Battery
• Fuel and air metering systems problems
• Transmission issues
• O2 Sensor
• Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
• Emissions controls issues

This is why it is imperative for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out quickly by a certified Volvo mechanic. Call Volvo of Greenville at 8642077416 now or schedule your check engine light service online today! If the engine light comes on due to a dangerous concern, you risk bad your car further by not repairing the issue right away.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your Volvo XC60 will usually shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is fixed. For example, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will turn itself off. Likewise, if your catalytic converter is going accurate, and you did a lot of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your Volvo XC60 light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Volvo of Greenville so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

If you check engine light is flashing, we recommend that you pull over and contact Volvo of Greenville to help pick if your vehicle is able to drive in or if we recommend a tow truck. Since each check engine code has its own level of severity, it is troublesome to predict how many miles you can drive with the warning light on. It could be anything from a harmful sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly.

Volvo XC60 Check Engine Light

If the check engine light in your Volvo XC60 starts flashing, that means that the problem needs immediate attention and your Volvo should be brought in immediately. A flashing light hints that the problem is treacherous and if not taken care of immediately may result in extraordinary damage to the car. This blinking light frequently indicates a rigid engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be drained into the exhaust system. There it can quickly boost the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is conceivable, requiring an expensive repair. A Small owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can explicitly be the cause. A bad, former or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If your check engine light is twinkling, please contact our team of automotive experts at Volvo of Greenville instantly by calling 8642077416. If the problem is ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a particularly expensive repair.

How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not perfectly tightened to a more serious failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it exceptional to get the apt code reading and diagnosis. The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is typically between $88 and $111. The exceptional news, Volvo of Greenville offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help select the cause of your check engine light.

Volvo XC60 Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are frequent capability causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are explicit commonplace causes incorporating something as uncomplicated as a loose gas cap. Other commonplace reasons for a Check Engine Light are damaged oxygen sensor, faulty head gasket, faulty emissions control part, dirty mass airflow sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, or defective spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Volvo Certified Technicians and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and repair it as crucial to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Volvo issue was fixed.

Every Volvo XC60 was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the vehicle on its favorable systems. The sensors are continuously detecting conditions while sending data to the electronic control team. If the electronic control team detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light illuminates telling you that there is a problem. However, that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what exactly is inaccurate nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Volvo of Greenville provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Extremely Qualified Service skilled.

Is it safe to drive your Volvo XC60 with the check engine light on?

This question is not very comfortable because it all depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be safe to drive. This is constantly indicated by a innate glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the vehicle, it could be an indication of a more perilous problem. If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a perilous issue and it is recommended to service your Volvo XC60 shortly. Call the experts at Volvo of Greenville by dialing 8642077416 so you can describe the issues. Or reduce your speed and bring your Volvo to our certified technicians as soon as feasible.