Check engine light?

[crystalmyth]

2005 Camry SE 4-cyl here. Check engine light came on today. Car seems to be running smoothly. No rough idle, temperature gauge precisely where it should be. Checked gas cap to make sure it was tight, and the light is still on. My mother is getting me a new gas cap tonight (I have class and work and naturally this couldn't have happened during my break but on my way TO class, lol) to see if that's the problem.

But in the meantime, I'm panicking. The last time I had anything light up on my dash, I cracked a cylinder head. Granted, that was in a 1997 Saturn, but still. It'll instill fear.

Everyone's telling me not to panic, that it's probably nothing.

So...what should I do in the meantime until I can have the codes read?

[BlackG5]

pull the negative battery for 30 seconds and voila... it'll go away for a bit, depending on whats wrong... just stop by advance auto parts or autozone, they'll read the codes for free--then google!

i just had to replace my gas cap... i think its hilarious. american car owners replace headgaskets, water pumps, and transmissions--- I replace a $5 pcv and a $13 gas cap

[gdanaher]

In the mean time you can check the fluids under the hood just in case you really are in the habit of cracking heads, and then watch the temperature gauge. The mil usually indicates an issue with the emission system, so if it hasn't been missing, and you would notice it, it is more likely to be an issue with an O2 sensor or something along those lines. The code will tell you where to look.

[crystalmyth]

Thanks y'all! I'm not in the "habit" of cracking cylinder heads. At least...I hope not, lol. I had that Saturn, with the engine problems and a subsequent near-rebuild on the transmission. Then I had a Saturn Ion with a crap CVT transmission. So I decided to stop messing around and got what I knew was reliable. This is only my third car...and my first reliable one, lol. Here's hoping it doesn't prove me wrong!!I loves my Batmobile! LOL...yes, that's its name!

[AlmightyCamry777]

I work for a large fleet with Hondas, toyotas, ford crown vics, GMC, Chevy and Ford trucks you name it and that CEL comes on even in brand new vehicles and often for no reason. A lot of times you don't have time or can't fool with it ("We need the truck NOW!") and can see no apparent reason for the light being on (engine is running normally). so i do a check of the fluids like gdnaher said .and if your oil and water are good, continuing to run with a CEL light on for a little while, is unlikely to result in damage to an engine that is still running more or less normally anyway.

A long time ago i bought a cheap code reader for my own use for $30 from harborfreight.com (they don't sell the cheap one anymore they are more like $90) but has paid for itself several times over (it flashes the code 3 times in a series of three, then shuts off the CEL automatically. If there truly is nothing wrong then the CEL will not come back on otherwise you have a code to work with, the scanner comes with a small book of the codes and this information is also widely available via google).