My 2002 Z06 with 43k miles on it had the service engine soon message show up and blink a few times this past friday, then literally like 3 times on sunday, and it blinked like twice today. Any ideas what that could be from? Is it a major problem? It literally blinked a few times then goes away, and it doesn't show up everytime I start the car. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, as I am not a mechanic. Thanks everybody for your help!

 

1st thing is to read the codes. Turn the key to the on position without starting the car. Then press and hold the options button. With the options button held in, press the fuel 4 times in about 10 seconds. The codes will start coming up. You can use the options button to manually scroll through the codes or just let the scroll on their own. You can hit the reset button to clear codes and see if they come back. At any rate, record the codes and post them here and you will get some insight into what the problem may be.

 

If it flashed, it's probably and P03xx code (misfire), pull the codes and post them.

 

The 'Service Engine Soon & "Check Engine Soon" messages are NOT the same.

If you had a P-03XX DTC,,,it should have set a CHECK ENGINE LIGHT" DTC

BC

 

Looking at the 2002 owner's manual in the "DIC Warnings and Messages" section, I don't see a "Service Engine Soon" DIC message listed - you might verify exactly what DIC message you are seeing.

The closest DIC message I find is:

SERVICE VEHICLE SOON: If this message appears
on the DIC, there may be an electrical or another system
problem with your vehicle. Have your vehicle checked
by your dealer if this message keeps appearing.

 

I NEVER said they were the same.

 

My mistake, it was the:

SERVICE VEHICLE SOON: If this message appears
on the DIC, there may be an electrical or another system
problem with your vehicle. Have your vehicle checked
by your dealer if this message keeps appearing.

I'll pull the codes when I have a chance and post them. Has anyone had this come up before? What was the problem you experienced? Is this something I should be extremely concerned about, or probably nothing major?

 

You wont know until you pull up the codes!

 

First off thanks everyone for helping me. I pulled up the codes and they are below as follows:

AO-LDCM:
B2282 H
B2284 H
U1064 H

A1-RDCM:
B2265 H
U1064 H (again)

B0-RFA:
U1064 H (3rd time)

10-PCM:
P1637 H

60-IPC:
B0521 H
U1160 H

Those were the only codes. I was surprised to see so many. What do they mean? What is wrong with my car? Why does the service vehicle soon light come on? Are these major or minor problems? Like I said before my car seems to run just fine, it doesn't idle rough, or sound different in anyway. I wouldn't even think there was anything wrong with it if the light didn't come on.

Thanks again for all your help guys. I love the wealth of knowledge that comes with being a member of this site.

 

I would be more concerned about this one:

DTC P1637
Circuit Description
The powertrain control module (PCM) uses the generator turn on signal circuit to control the generator. A high side driver within the PCM allows the PCM to turn the generator ON and OFF. When Generator operation is desired, the PCM sends a 5 volt signal to the voltage regulator via the generator turn on signal circuit. This causes the voltage regulator to begin controlling the generator field circuit. Once the Generator is enabled by the PCM, the voltage regulator controls generator output independently of the PCM by monitoring the battery positive voltage sense circuit. Under certain operating conditions, the PCM can turn Off the generator by turning Off the 5 volt signal on the generator turn on signal circuit. The PCM has fault detection circuitry which monitors the state of the generator turn on signal circuit. If the fault detection circuit senses a voltage other than what is expected, this DTC will set. The voltage regulator also contains fault detection circuitry. If the regulator detects a problem, the regulator will ground the generator turn on signal circuit, pulling the voltage low. This also causes the PCM to set the DTC.

Conditions for Running the DTC
Key ON Test
The Key is in the ON position for 5 seconds.
The engine is OFF.
Engine Run Test
The engine is running.
The engine speed is less than 3000 RPM.
Conditions for Setting the DTC
Key ON Test
The ECM detects a high signal voltage on the generator turn on signal circuit for at least 5 seconds.
The engine must be started.
During the RUN test, the ECM detects a low signal voltage on the generator turn on signal circuit for at least 5 seconds.

Action Taken When the DTC Sets
The ECM sends a class 2 message to the IPC to illuminate the charge indicator and/or turn on a message.
The ECM will not illuminate the malfunction indicator lamp (MIL).
The ECM will store the conditions present when the DTC set as Fail Records data only.
Conditions for Clearing the MIL/DTC
The history DTC will clear after 40 consecutive warm-up cycles have occurred without a malfunction.
The DTC can be cleared by using the scan tool Clear DTC Information function.

 

One more thing, I have a good friend of mine who will work on it. He is very knowledgeable and mechanically inclined. I on the other hand am not, so if you could keep that in mind when explaining to me what is wrong, that would be great :-) I'm trying to figure out if this is a costly problem? Do I need to get it fixed immediatley? Is it not really a big deal? Etc.... Thanks again guys!

 

Honestly, I'm not very mechanically inclined and therefore don't really understand your explanation very well. You obviously know what your talking about. So give it to me in a error codes for dummies version. Is this going to be a costly fix? Is it going to get worse if I continue to drive it? How do I fix this?

What about all the rest of hte codes? What do they all mean? Are any of them cause for concern?

Thanks in advance for your help.