The Born Loser by Art and Chip Sansom for March 28, 2020

My dad does that too and calls it an idiot light.

All’s well that ends well!!!

Just tighten your gas cap. Odds are, the light will go out.

I hope you have your auto warranty all paid up.

Besides, what could the pharmacy do about it?

It’s okay, Gladys, as long as the light was just on, you got some time. If it’s blinking, get to a mechanic because a breakdown is imminent.

that’s politician thinking….kick that can down the road and let somebody else worry about it

I had a Hyundai Elantra for ten years. Nine of those years it had a sticker over the “check engine” light. When I finally sold the car I took it to the auto parts store and they said the light was on because of a gas cap malfunction. They turned it off but when I started the car it came on again. A new sticker was applied.

Panel three motivated me to go get my 2nd cup of coffee.

That’s my country. The land of “deferred maintenance”. (The City Of New York deferred maintenance of its vital Williamsburg Bridge that they had to consider building a new crossing. They rehabilitated it [at enormous cost] just before it needed to be condemned.)

Brutus seems to be a little shook in that last panel – or is the caffeine kicking in???

The absolute right thing to do as both a blonde and female there is no other choice.

I love Brutus’s reaction with the coffee cup!

I think we can see now where the kid gets it…

Black electrical tape works best.

I did that, too. Mine stays on because the field mice chewed in two the wire to the fuel tank pressure sensor. You have to drop the tank to fix it, it does no harm, and we are not in an emissions county where the inspection checks it, so I found one of my dots used to cover bullet holes and extend the life of targets is perfect.

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine …”

She’s quite the mechanic.

Many years ago one of my sisters bought a new car-she drove 30 miles a day to work-then one day my father, who loved to check up on stuff to make sure she was safe, saw the check engine lite was on,asked her how long, she said only a few days, he checked the oil, something my sister had never done, only to find no oil on the dip stick. She never read the owners manual did not have a clue on what the warning lights ment. Really think that the engine would have frozen solid the next time she tried to drive it

good move – most uninformative device ever invented

Doh!!!

Maybe nothing … or …

Any car newer than 1996 has a OBD-II port, when a warning light comes on it will trip a code or codes that identify the system that is not operating properly. Any auto parts store will usually run a free check. Knowing the error codes is only the first step in repairing the car. Just changing parts because a code told you to is just asking for trouble. Sure replacing the part may stop the light from coming on, if you properly cleared the code after replacing the part. But, if that wasn’t the real problem the light will eventually come back with possibility an even bigger repair bill. Get the Code, so you kinda know what going on and then find a reputable repair shop to ensure the car is repaired correctly. You can even buy a code reader for less than $100, which you can then check the auto’s system yourself. Just make sure the reader you buy covers your car, a reader can cover more than one make and cover a number of model years. you may be surprised that it will show many codes that have tripped, but haven’t tripped a warning light. Maybe someone repaired the problem but didn’t clear the code/s. A check will only take 10-20 minutes and can be done weekly or monthly. One catch of a code may even pay for price of the code reader. Run a base check, then clear all codes, and then drive the auto at highway speeds for 15 to 30 minutes and run another check. If codes are tripped you can be reasonably certain that you at least have some need of maintenance.