Diagnosis Check Engine Light: P0170

[wissboy]

Hi everyone,

The check engine light turned on on my car (P0170 Powertrain: Fuel trim bank1). I do not have any clues on what that means; I do not know a lot about cars in general. The engine runs very well, no major problems with the car; everything is fine. I have a MAZDA PROTEGE 98. I am a student who does not have a lot of money to fix that car because I had it for free.

Now, I have a couple of questions:

1) Can the engine stops by itself because of that code and create a real danger for my life if I do not fix the problem.

2) If eventually I would decide to fix the problem it would cost how much roughly? I just want an estimate, will it be closer to $1000 or to $50 for example.

Thank you very much for helping me guys!

[Raider9864]

Well first and foremost, cars cost money, there is no getting around it.

1. Not likely, but in the long run premature failure of other parts is possible.

2. Who knows. That code can be quite a few different things. A good scan tool with freeze frame data would help the most in this case.

I'd say bite the bullet and take it to a reputable shop in your area. Unless of course you have a friend that works on cars.

[wissboy]

Thank you Raider

When you say "in the long run" do you think I can handle the car like that for about 6 month?

[yunvmyegt]

whats p0170 lean? i forget? ive had a few with bad egr's with that code i think, also check the egr ports in the tb and to the intake.....

[wissboy]

What are EGR?

[yunvmyegt]

lol really? and im done....

[MATT91GT]

^lol this is what EGR is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EGR

[Raider9864]

Thats why I recommended taking it to a shop. You can make the long journey to Delaware and I'll check it out for you. Lol

As for the 6 months...who really knows. You could see a decrease in gas mileage, runability issues, etc. The only way of telling is to drive it the 6 months and report back.