“Check Engine” Lights and Transmission Drain Pans

The “check engine” light came on in my car last week. This is not good news for anybody with a car registered in California, because cars here need to pass a smog check every two years. And any car will automatically fail the test if the “check engine” light is shining. Unfortunately, the “check engine” light is sometimes triggered when a car has transmission issues. And transmission issues are not my favorite. Thankfully, I have six months before the car registration is due, which gives me time to figure this out. But for those of us with older cars? When that “check engine” light comes on? It’s kind of a nightmare.

In the past when that light has come on, I’ve taken the car to my local oil change place and had them drain and refill the transmission fluid. It’s a simple procedure which fortunately has always taken care of the problem. Drain the fluid, refill, drive away, and in a few miles, the car’s computer resets and the “check engine” light goes off. I was so hopeful!

The first sign that maybe this would not go as planned? The young worker who greeted me told me that they would be unable to do what I asked, that my car would need a transmission flush. A flush, by the way, is more expensive. Also, I had avoided the flush for years because I had read that the procedure could blow unhealthy particles around the engine of my old car, and who wants that? So I said, no thank you, and actually, since you’ve done it before, the drain and refill, it seems like something you could do for my car.

Again, he told me I was mistaken, that a drain and refill was not possible for my car; it must be a flush. Finally, since I continued to insist, he relented, and went inside and checked my vehicle history. Much to his dismay, I was correct. They’d done what I asked two times before. But this time, he said that I should really get a flush

“NO, thank you,” I said.

He disappeared into the shop. While I was getting out of the car, a  second worker who was waiting for my keys said, “You are right. You do not want a flush with this vehicle. A drain and refill is fine.”

Ha! I thought. “Please tell him that,” I said, “Because he doesn’t seem to believe me.”

So all was well. I took my phone and sat at the outside picnic table and did my Wordle and Strands.

Until.

A different serious looking employee came out and sat down at my table.

There had been an issue with the drain and refill procedure. A very small bolt on the transmission drain pan is a pain to undo and somehow something happened and they would not be able to fix my car after all, because I now needed a new drain pan. They called all over town and there were no drain pans available in the area. They would pay for the pan, of course. One would be delivered in the morning, and my car would be ready then.

I was thirty miles from home.

I frantically started going through my mental rolodex. Who could I call late in the afternoon on a Tuesday to help me get home?  But then, the serious looking employee who delivered the bad news about my drain pan turned out to be the manager. He asked where I lived.

“About thirty miles away up the hill,” I told him.

“No problem,” he said. “I’ll take you home.”

And he did.

The shop had a car parked neatly in the lot that could be used for just that purpose.

He also assured me that if I could not find a way back to the shop in the morning, that someone would be happy to come get me and bring me back.

I saw my good neighbor later that evening; we had a neighborhood moon viewing party, to watch the Super Harvest Moon rise. She had to give us a ride because the moon viewing spot is a few miles from our homes, and remember? No car. She reminded me that there actually is a bus that comes through our little town in the morning, and it costs next to nothing, and it will drop you anywhere in Auburn. Even the oil change place.

So the mishap with my transmission pan ended up being a gift, in that it showed me that it is indeed possible to take the bus from my little town to the larger town where I work and do most of my grocery shopping. It’s not necessarily a speedy way of getting there, but it works. It’s an option. Which is just good to know.

I collected my car the next morning and hoped that the “check engine” light would go off by the time I got home, that the computer would reset.

Except it did not. And now I’ve driven many more miles and the light is still on.

I do not know exactly what the moral is of this story. Something that always worked before, the old “drain and refill” did not work this time. It would have been so nice if it did! But I could have been stuck at the oil change place after my drain pan broke. The manager could have said, “So sad for you! You did not listen to our advice about the flush! So really this is your fault.” But he did not. He gave me a ride home, and then I was able to find my own way back to them, on a bus sponsored by the county that dropped me off exactly where I needed to be. Everything worked out that day. Somehow, it was all OK. Even though the problem wasn’t fixed, that the darned “check engine” light is still shining brightly, I was fine. I made it home. And I made it back. All of us are still breathing: both me and my car, which holds a special place in my heart because it was my Mom and Dad’s before me.

I have more work to do, figuring out this “check engine” light issue. I had the codes read at the auto parts store. There does seem to be the possibility of  a transmission issue associated with it. I’ll keep you posted.