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It also doesn't leave you stranded. Some cars have been driven for tens of thousands of miles with this light on.

I put 60,000 miles on a Jeep with a check engine light. Also spent thousands on trying to fix it at various shops which would replace all sorts of things, to no effect, including about 5 attempts to replace a costly computer board.

Eventually had a redneck guy working out of the back of his pickup truck have a go at it. After hearing about the history he spent hours unplugging, cleaning, and replugging every single wire connection and socket. And the light stayed off.

> And the light stayed off.

Are you sure he didn't just leave that particular light unplugged?

It's a good idea, but such a ruse would be easy to catch. A properly-wired check engine light illuminates whenever accessory power is on and the engine isn't running: i.e., right before you start the car, every time you start the car.

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