check engine light at idle

[halo2148]

I have a 94 318i and I've noticed that my check engine light comes on when i'm sitting at a stop light or if the car is at idle. When I accelerate the check engine light goes away. I had a new alternator put in last week and some hoses replaced. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

[stu328i]

does the ligh go away when the vehicle is in motion? or will it go off when the engine is revved in neutral?

[Big Empty]

getting a code reader and telling us the number will solve your problem ten times faster.

[halo2148]

it goes away when the vehicle is in motion and also when the engine is revved in neutral.

[RascalKing]

Do the pedal trick, and see what it tells you. Then report back to us and we can help.
I'll bet though that its a vacuum leak

[halo2148]

what's the pedal trick?

[Big Empty]

turn the ignition to on (the stage before turning the car over) stomp the gas pedal to the floor 5 times. the CEL should dissappear then illuminate for one second. THen you count the flashes after that.

for example
long flash, flash, flash flash, flash flash, flash flash flash flash would indicate code 1224. the long flash denotes the ending of a code, and the beginning of the new one.

[Optical Toxin]

turn the ignition to on (the stage before turning the car over) stomp the gas pedal to the floor 5 times. the CEL should dissappear then illuminate for one second. THen you count the flashes after that.

for example
long flash, flash, flash flash, flash flash, flash flash flash flash would indicate code 1224. the long flash denotes the ending of a code, and the beginning of the new one.

does this work on OBDII?

[Big Empty]

i don't think so

[RascalKing]

Doesn't work on OBDII. For OBDII cars, just go to Autozone and ask them to borrow an OBDII scanner, or come out to your car and run your codes for you. The input for the scanner is Over By the Dash.

[Big Empty]

another thread said they aren't doing free scans anymore