check engine light on

[kulkarni_ash]

Hello
I have 2001 toyota corolla with 107,000 miles on it.
2 days ago check engine light came on all of a sudden when driving .
what do i do, is it required to take this car to the dealer to get it fixed or do i ignore it and drive it for few more thousand miles.
Also what do the dealer normailly do , how much do they charge to check the car .
can i take it to a local mechanic , are they able to fix the problem

Ashish

[NRM]

If you bring it to an Autozone or Kragen, they can pull the codes through your OBDII connector, and you can look up the code online to see what is wrong. From there you can decide whether to fix it on your own, get someone else to fix it, or bring it to the dealership. It could be as simple as a loose gas cap to bigger more extensive problems.

[rated_w]

make sure your gas cap is tightened. if it wasn't tightened enough, the CEL will turn on .. mine is on currently because of this hahaha.. too lazy to reset it. but it may be something else.

[kulkarni_ash]

Hi Guys
thanx for the reply's. recently i did a oil change at walmart and the mechanic there did not bother to fit the oil cap(on top of engine) properly and after 2 days the check engine light came on, I did go to autozone to get the error code, which i got as A0171 so the guy asked to get the fuel filter cleaned.
Then i came home and opened the hood of my car and saw the oil cap loosely fitted and some oil had jumped out also,
so then i fitted the oil cap and now the check engine light has gone...
I planning to go back to walmart later today and let them know what happened...

Ashish