Check Engine Light on; any way to diagnose other than dealer?

[AlexMo]

Just came on a few miles ago; just wondering, because of all the smarts in this car, if there are any "driver diagnostics" available to look up the code, I have made appointment with dealer however, and hope if it is anything major it will be covered under factory warr. Thanks!

[murphy]

Just came on a few miles ago; just wondering, because of all the smarts in this car, if there are any "driver diagnostics" available to look up the code, I have made appointment with dealer however, and hope if it is anything major it will be covered under factory warr. Thanks!

Somewhere on this forum is the instructions to activate Engineering Test mode.  That mode allows reading out some of the error codes.

 

Here they are:

 

Energi Engineering Test Mode

 

Hold the left OK button and start the car.

Watch the upper left corner of the left display for the letters ET to appear in yellow.

After the letters appear release the OK button.

Use the down arrow to scroll through the screens.

Press and hold the OK button or shut the car off to exit engineering test mode.

[AlexMo]

I tried that, nothing showing in the history. Most auto parts stores, however, have a scan tool, and the one I went to cleared my error, which was from the fuel door open sensor; I also cycled it a few times, and VOILA! No more check engine light, no more needless trip to dealer-land. I do think the fuel door circuitry is a bit over-complexified but clearing dumb errors like this should be easier, certainly if they are sharing the innerds of the "Engineering" sanctum, there should be some way to clear errors there as well.  I certainly don't want a bad fuel door sensor masking the presence a hole in the oil pan!

[murphy]

There is a fuel door sensor because the fuel tank is pressurized and if the door is open the tank can't be pressurized.

[jsamp]

I tried that, nothing showing in the history. Most auto parts stores, however, have a scan tool, and the one I went to cleared my error, which was from the fuel door open sensor; I also cycled it a few times, and VOILA! No more check engine light, no more needless trip to dealer-land. I do think the fuel door circuitry is a bit over-complexified but clearing dumb errors like this should be easier, certainly if they are sharing the innerds of the "Engineering" sanctum, there should be some way to clear errors there as well.  I certainly don't want a bad fuel door sensor masking the presence a hole in the oil pan!

 

If the error comes back, it is likely the magnet on the gas door has fallen out of place.  It is a common problem.  There's a couple of threads on here about putting it back in place (recommended to glue it in place).