Check engine light (help)

[TRM02]

Hey I need everyone's help I got my 1997 240sx but the check engine light is on...The guy that I got teh car from said, "his mom backed into the car the check engine lights been on since".  there is a "thing" on the disturbuter cap wich is broken and that is the reason why the check engine light is on.  Does anyone know anything about this?  and if so how much would it cost to fix?  thanks again.

hmm how hard did she back into it?? thats retarded... try resetting the ecu take off the negative battery cable for a hour or so and it should reset.. i think dont do this till u get more confirmation of that being how to do it.... but it might go away.

[gfisch]

I dont see how baking into it could cause a check engine light to come on. Id take it to a dealer or a mechanic with the right equipmemnt and have them look up the ecu error code. First definately try to reset it though. if it doesnt come back on after running it for a while, then you should be OK.
You might be able to do it yourself, but I dont know how. I know that my friend was able to determine the error code buy couting the # of pulses on some wire when the car was started and looked it up. That was in an escort though, not sure if thatll work on a 240. anybody know??

Greg

[HippoSleek]

OUCH - that avitar is horrible!! :o

That story about being backed into is so odd that I would believe it.  I'd bet that a sensor wire or something popped loose and is throwing the code.  I'd check the connection for the MAF, dist, and o2.  If you can't check it out yourself, take it in and have them determine the code/problem.  OBD II sucks!

I had the same problem before with the same car, because I was installing the left head light, and took out the intake and forgot to put the wire back in(the one that's next to the intake)and the light went on.  I looked into Super Street, and they told me how to do it for a Civic, and I they said they had one for Nissans on the previous month, so I looked and it said to take out the ECU and twist the screw that's on the side, and it will reset.  I didn't have any time to do that, so I waited a week or so(I just drove with the light on).  One day, I got off work, I turned the car on, and it just turned off when I started the car, pretty funny, so I never reset the ECU.  Some people on the internet also say to disconnect the battery when the car is on, and it will reset, but I wouldn't do that.  

[ProfileGsr]

i think an hour is over kill

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from nismos14 on 9:43 pm on Dec. 2, 2001
... try resetting the ecu take off the negative battery cable for a hour or so and it should reset.. i</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>