I thought the CEL not coming on on the car was good thing but the guys up at the emissions station tell me differently. My car only failed because the CEL did not turn on with the key. The Anti-lock brakes light and the one between the two also are not coming on. I have a strong suspicion that the CEL was on at one time and rather than fixing it someone did something to disconnect it. If this is not the case, what else could cause it? There are no current DTC's and it had misfire codes when we bought it.

Brief history on it. I picked it up from a guy who bought it from an estate sale. I was told it had been sitting for some time. There are no leaks and it ran and drove well. I went to title it and they told me it had not been through emissions since 2011 and I needed to have it pass before they could title it. My husband put it on the code reader and it had 2 DTC's regarding misfires. There was oil in two of the plugs, my husband cleaned them, tightened everything down and after a week we have no more oil trying to drown the plugs. He cleared the codes and they have not come back. We have driven it for a week and the Cat and Evap have not repopulated according to the reader. We can have 2 systems not populating and still clear emissions. The only thing that caused the fail is the light not coming on with the key. Please HELP! I really, really want to enjoy driving her more!

 

maybe the bulb? that could be a possibility, even tho i believe its pretty low.

 

I would also suggest bulb, or socket or wiring to the bulb (perhaps deliberately removed?).

It's part of the ECU checks to make sure the CEL is on (or it thinks it's on) before the car will crank. So if it's starting OK then there is no issue with the actual CEL function.

 

My husband took apart the dash today to check everything and the three lights that were not coming on had no bulbs in them. He switched out another bulb to check it and it came on and shut off when the engine was started! I never thought I would be so excited to see a CEL come on! I'm holding off until Monday to take it through emissions again.

 

Yep, bet one of two things:

- The CEL light was on at some point, and the owner at the time didn't like it!
- They borrowed that bulb to fix another

Glad it was an easy fix

.

 

Interesting to hear that the ECU couldn't tell that there was no bulb there (no load at that socket). Glad to hear it is all worked out now. Yes, the CEL check is required for Arizona emissions, and I recently learned that two of the ECU monitors can read "incomplete" and still pass! That is a nice bonus for our cars here.

Welcome to the forums hkmcmast. When you have time, post up in the Intro section for a proper welcome. You can also put your vehicle info (and your name if you want) in your post signature. Maybe a photo or two? Have fun in the new Jag, and here at the Forums. See you on the road (I live in Mesa too)!

 

not sure if thats one the things that is different between US and EU spec cars but not true in my case either. i have a similar situation though ive yet to get into the dash to see the cause of it my CEL doesnt post when keyed on either and starts no prob