Can I Drive My Jeep With The Check Engine Light On?
Check engine light is an unavoidable part of every Jeep, in fact, for every vehicle. Whenever the Jeep engine faces any issues, it turns on the check engine light. Sometimes, the reasons are serious that you need to fix soon. Often, the engine might show you the light for some silly reason.
That’s why people asked, “Can I drive my Jeep with the check engine light on?”
If your check engine light gets turned on because of some minor faults (such as a loose gas cap) in your jeep engine, you can drive your jeep with the check engine light on without any problem.
On the other hand, if it is on due to serious issues, you are recommended not to drive your jeep. Otherwise, you may have to face severe consequences.
About The Jeep Check Engine Light
The check engine light is a diagnostic tool in your jeep that immediately signals by turning on if something has gone wrong. It is also widely called a malfunction indicator lamp (MIL). If there is any minor or major fault in your jeep or engine, the computer system signals immediately on the jeep’s dashboard by turning the check engine light on.
From identifying minor issues such as loose gas caps to major instances like a poor condition of a catalytic converter, you can easily know about your jeep engine’s overall health. As a result, you can take the necessary steps to prevent any further deterioration.
If you want to know whether the Jeep engines are waterproof, give it a read.
What Happens If You Drive with Your Check Engine Light On?
When the check engine light of your jeep gets on, it warns you that there might be some problem with your engine. Although it doesn’t tell the exact reason, you may have a look at it or have it checked by a professional. But if you drive with your check engine light on, you may face overheating issues, poor engine performance, mileage shortage, damaged spark plugs, and more.
Watch this video and see what happens and why you get the check engine light.
Mileage Shortage
If you drive with your check engine light on, overheating issues and misfiring may occur, which ultimately can have a detrimental effect on the fuel efficiency of your jeep engine. At a minimum, you may face mileage shortage as well as problems related to acceleration.
Overheating Issues
The best thing you can do after noticing the engine light turned on is to get the engine checked and repaired. Overheating issues may occur if you instead stick to driving with the check engine light. Overheating will decrease the performance of your Jeep as well as lead to a higher level of emission.
Spark Plug Deterioration
If the spark plug is the main reason behind turning on the check engine light, further driving may worsen the condition. Even if the problem is in some other areas, the spark plug can still be damaged if you drive with your check engine light on. This might lead you to provide extra cost and effort.
Catalytic Converter
Even after a constant warning from the check engine light, if you ignore or forget to look at your catalytic converter and drive with your check engine light on, this crucial component of your jeep may get permanently damaged. At times it will be irreparable and may also lead to dangerous accidents.
Poor Engine Performance
Last but not least, driving with the engine light on may lead to poor engine performance. Eventually, the engine may face a misfire and fail to generate power to go forward. It happens in the worst situation when the engine spark plug is damaged, or the fuel is very low or gets contaminated.
How Long Can I Drive with Check Engine Light?
If the check engine light is solid (or constant), you can drive around one hundred miles with the check engine light on. But if the check engine light is flashing (or blinking), it indicates some serious malfunction, which may damage the catalytic converter. In this situation, you should get your Jeep checked by a professional mechanic on an emergency basis.
You should avoid any more driving before the problem gets fixed. Otherwise, the engine will lose power and get damaged. If you ever notice the blinking engine light, you should park the Jeep and see if there are any serious issues. In that case, you should never drive the jeep more than a few miles.
What to do If My Check Engine Light Is On?
If your check engine light is on, you may try doing the following things:
- Check Gas Cap: The very first thing you should do if your check engine light is on is to check the gas cap. Sometimes, problems arise when the gas cap loosens. If that’s the case, tighten it properly.
- Shut Off Engine: Some vehicles have color codes for check engine lights meaning different colors in the check engine for different problems. Usually, the red color indicates a severe problem and urges you to shut your engine off immediately before it leads to low pressure and overheating issues.
- Control Speed: If the check engine light blinks, you should act instantly as soon as it comes to your notice. Besides, if your jeep has performance issues, you may reduce the speed and lessen the load on the engine before it causes any further damage.
- Inspect The Entire Engine: The check engine light may be on because of damaged engine parts or a fuel leak. In that case, you must inspect the entire engine and find the exact reason. Otherwise, you will damage the engine.
Whenever you find the damaged part or the reason for blinking the engine light, you should sort that out first. It might be fuel leaks or other damaged engine parts. That needs to be replaced soon, or you need to replace the faulty parts.
People Also Asked
Can I Drive My Jeep Wrangler with The Check Engine Light On?
Yes, you can drive your Jeep wrangler with the check engine light on. It’s better to inspect the engine and find out the reasons and sort it out before you drive the Jeep Wrangler. Besides the engine light, if your Jeep Wrangler has an engine clicking noise, you need to sort it out accordingly.
Is It OK to Drive with My Check Engine Light?
It depends on the reasons why the check engine light is on. If it’s for minor issues, such as a loose gas cap, you may continue driving for that. If the reason is major, for instance, the fuel leak, or damaged spark plug, you need to sort it out first before driving further.
How to Turn off The Check Engine Light?
You can turn off the check light by solving the issues. You need to sort out if it happens for loose gas caps or any minor issues. Or restarting the engine may solve the check engine light issue.
How Far Can I Drive with Check Engine Light?
You can drive up to 100 miles for minor engine issues, but with major problems, you should never drive more than a couple of miles. It’s better to go to the nearest garage and solve the issues accordingly.
Closing Words
Can I drive my jeep with the check engine light on? Yes, you can. However, the best practice would be driving slowly to the nearest garage or restarting the engine. If the engine light is on for minor issues, it will get turned off within a while. Otherwise, it will blink, and you need to find the reason to solve the issues.
