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Malfunction Indicator Light

3971 Views 14 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  mtonne
Carnival LX has less than 400 miles on it. Hadn't even put gas in it yet and I've got what the manual calls the "Malfunction Indicator Light" lit up. It came on 3 days ago. Apparently this could be an indication of an emissions issue? Anyone else had this happen?

(Mine is not one with the fuel line issue.)
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Could be that one of the sensors in the exhaust is bad, especially if it's driving fine - no surging, rough idling, etc. If the engine is running okay then I wouldn't panic too much but you should get it into the dealer to have them look over it. If you have and ODB-II scanner, you could preemptively pull the code and talk to the service department to determine your risk level.

If you do notice anything weird going on with the engine, then you may want to get Kia to tow it to the dealer depending on how far the dealer is away. If you have any doubts, get it towed.
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Ah, we usually call that a "check engine light". You just have to swing by any local Autozone or similar store and they'll use a $40 tool to plug into your car and tell you the specific code that your computer is generating. You'll google search that code for your car but since ours are so new, it may not give many results. Odds are, it is some engine monitoring sensor that needs to be replaced.
Make sure your gas cap is on tight.
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Yep the cap is all the way on.
Update. The error code indicated that it was the gas cap. Reset the light and it hasn't come back on yet.
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Glad you got it sorted. Do you know how they cleared the CEL code and if it's something consumers can easily do?
Just ran by O'Reilly's and they popped an OBDII reader in. They cleared the code for me. Altogether it took less than 5 mins.
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Just ran by O'Reilly's and they popped an OBDII reader in. They cleared the code for me. Altogether it took less than 5 mins.
Yeah, tried that with Autozone and they don't allow the people to clear codes anymore. They even disabled the "clear code" button on the OBD-II readers. But anyone can do it if they buy a $40 reader from Amazon.
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You’ve inspired me to get an ODB2 reader from Amazon. So many choices though. :)
You’ve inspired me to get an ODB2 reader from Amazon. So many choices though. :)
Innova makes good ones. I got this one and am very happy with it:
Innova 5210
I like that it connects to an app that also shows possible repairs and costs.
I got it because that was what the store had when I needed an immediate answer over the weekend in the white mountains in NH, so I didn't do an extensive research, but it can really become overwhelming. There are many options at different price points. Just make sure you don't pay more for stuff you either don't need or won't understand.
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Carnival LX has less than 400 miles on it. Hadn't even put gas in it yet and I've got what the manual calls the "Malfunction Indicator Light" lit up. It came on 3 days ago. Apparently this could be an indication of an emissions issue? Anyone else had this happen?

(Mine is not one with the fuel line issue.)
I have the same exactly. Even when they fixed it returned back. So frustrating. Mine is EX by the way
Mine hasn't come back on yet.
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