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Service engine soon light but no code stored


Cargirl

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Yes its happened on my Reatta but its only intermittent and no code stored or tripped. One thing in my years of fixing cars, I've never once heard of a "service engine soon" light bulb ever burning out. Those suckers are invincible, I wish my tail lights were of such superior quality.

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Mine burned out on the first day I owned the Red. Picked up the car in Fort Lauderdale and it burned out just as I was crossing into Georgia. I got the "Electrical Problem Detected" and didn't know what was going on. Checked everything visually and seemed okay. Drove home worried I was ruing something all the way back to Wisconsin. 

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A couple of notes to add. A failed SES bulb in the cluster WILL cause a QDM fault on all model years, which automatically sets an E026 code as current. Other failures can also set E026, but the first thing to check when that code sets is the SES indicator. If it doesn't light, that is your very first matter to address.

 

It is possible that the ECM failure itself on your 91 Caddy caused the SES to light (basically the ECM self identifying the fact it has had an undefined internal malfunction) although failure of the RAM that holds the codes would also account for the light setting with no codes stored, if there were some other actual fault that triggered the light to begin with. So, kind of a needless distinction in root cause.

 

Finally, on the 3800 engine, and the Reatta specifically, a failure of the ignition control module will NOT set any codes or trigger the SES telltale in almost all cases, making the on board diagnostics pretty well useless for identifying an ICM failure.

 

Bottom line, if you are running rough, or have bad shifts/clunks that fell like a transmission shifting poorly - but no codes set - suspect the ICM. About the only way to prove that failure out is to swap with a known good spare (which I heavily suggest all Reatta owners keep on hand at this stage) to see if that clears the symptoms. Otherwise, you can end up chasing a whole flock of geese around wildly trying to pin down the cause. Been there and done that..

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