Check engine just came on

[greenlawnracing]

Driving home from the dealership, just stopped for gas. My check engine light came on about an hour ago. They are having trouble getting my satellite radio activated, so I’m not getting any messages on the app. I can scan it when I get home, but is there something obvious that I did as a new owner? All I’ve done so far is get gas and drive at 400 miles.

 

[Richard320]

There are so many codes, there's no way to know what you could have done to irritate it bad enough to throw a code and trigger the light.. My suspicion is going to be something along the lines of "lost communication with...." since the radio and that are acting up.

 

[OldMarine]

Sometimes the check engine light just means open the hood and check for an engine...sorry, in all seriousness, we/you need a DTC to know what is acting up.

 

[greenlawnracing]

Just got home from a LONG journey.

Scanned it with an old scanner...P0C0B? No DTC definition?

 

[SD Rebel]

You won't know for sure unless you scan with a better reader to get more detail. Call the dealer in the morning and schedule an appointment.

Based on that code, it's a generic power inverter module fault, not reading to factory spec., shouldn't be a big deal. Did you notice your devices plugged into your USB power supply not working correctly?

 

[greenlawnracing]

You won't know for sure unless you scan with a better reader to get more detail. Call the dealer in the morning and schedule an appointment.

Based on that code, it's a generic power inverter module fault, not reading to factory spec., shouldn't be a big deal. Did you notice your devices plugged into your USB power supply not working correctly?

Well that’s good. I was afraid it was e torque related after googling it.

Everything seemed to work fine, but now that you mention it I wonder if that’s about the time I unplugged my phone.

 

[SD Rebel]

Well that’s good. I was afraid it was e torque related after googling it.

Everything seemed to work fine, but now that you mention it I wonder if that’s about the time I unplugged my phone.

It still can be your e-torque

Though not likely, most yellow engine lights are either emissions and/or sensor related. Most are relatively minor. On my last truck, it had a yellow light due to a fuel tank sensor going off. After finding out it wasn't serious or needing to be replaced right away, I had the dealer note it and then cleared the code myself. I wanted to hold off fixing it since I was really busy at the time since it required them dropping the tank to replace the sensor. It would come on every few thousand miles, after confirming it was the same error I would just clear it. Since it was emission related, it had a 7 year warranty, but I got it fixed just before trading the truck on my RAM.

Though I'm sure you won't have any reason not to fix your engine light error code right away. They will probably just replace the inverter.

 

[FastBlackRam]

Up to you but you could try just resetting to get rid of the light. Then see if it comes back. I had my light come on and I reset it. It came back two more times and I reset it each time. Now I haven't seen a check engine light in well over a year. Some will rag on me but I have never had a code checked.

Bring your truck outside with visibility to the sky. Disconnect the negative terminal on your battery. Let sit for a half hour. Reconnect negative terminal. Let sit for an hour. Start her up and the CEL should be gone and all your functions back to normal. Some have said they lose some functions like camera and others but I have always seen no loss if you wait the hour before turning back on.

 

[SD Rebel]

Up to you but you could try just resetting to get rid of the light. Then see if it comes back. I had my light come on and I reset it. It came back two more times and I reset it each time. Now I haven't seen a check engine light in well over a year. Some will rag on me but I have never had a code checked.

Bring your truck outside with visibility to the sky. Disconnect the negative terminal on your battery. Let sit for a half hour. Reconnect negative terminal. Let sit for an hour. Start her up and the CEL should be gone and all your functions back to normal. Some have said they lose some functions like camera and others but I have always seen no loss if you wait the hour before turning back on.

He should be easily able to clear his error codes with the OBDII reader he used to find his code. A $15 OBD II reader on Amazon will save you from having to do the battery removal thing.

Just clearing the code is most certainly an option, the issue seems minor and likely a temporary thing that activated his code in the first place. After clearing, he can then see if it pops back up right away. I would still find out what it is, it could be a simple inverter or something more serious. At least get the dealership to note it so it's under warranty.

 

[brian42]

I would only clear the code if I wasn't taking it to the dealer.

It's only a month old so there's no way I'd clear the code. Take it to the dealer and let them fix it and clear the code.

Even if it's something simple it's now documented, is fixed to OEM standards (at no cost to the owner), and is on record.

When my truck was under the basic warranty I didn't do anything myself. I took it to the dealer to sort it out and made sure every concern was documented.

 

[greenlawnracing]

Hell it’s not a month old, it’s not even 24 hours old! I picked it up yesterday at 2 PM. I did clear it and, drove a 20 minutes this morning. It has not yet come back on yet. We shall see

 

[Scram1500]

Buy a new scan tool, they are very inexpensive now. It wasn't until owning a 5th gen that I needed to purchase a scan tool. The service center experience is so horrible it's in my best interest to stay away as much as possible, at least for small things that are easily fixed

 

[brian42]

I did that with all my other vehicles as I bought all of them used and well out of warranty.

With this truck I was not going to mess with something that I could get fixed for free. Even if it seemed like an easy fix I took it in because I had no idea how hard it was to replace something or if it affected a computer.

At this price point I wasn't going to sink any more money into the truck for repairs when the dealership is going to do it for free (even moreso for a Limited).

Annoying intermittent brake squeal - 3 sets of brake pads and modified calipers.
"What's this?" - professional touch-up paint job.
"Does this look right?" - all front body panels re-aligned.
"I was wondering about this here" - New CHSML (3rd brake light) and rear window
"Do you see that on the steering wheel?" - new steering wheel
"Gas tank is hard to fill sometimes" - new filler neck and gas tank

I could have lived with most of these as they were small issues (or so they seemed when I took the truck in) but ended up with things better or completely replaced.

Some were expensive items and some were not, but all of them would not have turned out as good as they did if I did it.

I'm the last guy to say "take your truck to someone else" as I did all of the work on my last truck for the 11 years I owned it. I die a little bit every time I hand my key fob to someone else but if I get certified work for free I'm going to do it. Plus now it's all documented so if any of those things go wrong down the line I can point back to when I took it in before, told them about it, and they did nothing about it.

Just my .02

 

[greenlawnracing]

Well it came back on today, this time a different code. P0A78, Drive Motor A Inverter Performance. Unfortunately while looking at the Picture I took of the scanner, I’m realizing that a second code was present that I never captured.

this occurred shortly after I got gas, and I noticed it right after a brief acceleration on the highway as I was trying to be compliant with the break in procedures. It disappeared the next time I drove the truck.

I had stopped and started the truck once as I ran a quick errand after I got gas before the light came on.

Called the dealership and made an appointment. Certainly frustrating.