My Ford escape with 115,000 miles on it has been sitting for four months while we were snowbirding in Florida. We got home and I drove it a few times (a total of about fifty miles). Yesterday the emission control light came on and stayed on.
Any suggestions as to what would cause it, and will I hurt the engine if I drive it with the light on?
Also, even if the light goes off, a code will have been stored in the ECU. You will still be able to retrieve the code to find what caused it for a number of starts after it has been extinguished.
If it's on solid it probably won't do any immediate damage but should be checked soon. If it's blinking, take it in immediately. Hard to say what the problem is, the codes need to be read and diagnosed from there. Places like Autozone will usually read the codes for free but then you gotta know what they mean. It could be as simple as a loose gas cap.
2008 Ford F250 Super Duty, Lariat, 6.4l PSD, Super Cab. Long Bed
2006 Jayco Jay Flight 27.5 RLS Fifth Wheel
Like zedd said, it could be something simple like the gas cap, but you need to pull the code to see what's going on. Some auto parts stores loan code readers for free. Once you get the code, just google it and you'll get the info you need.
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