My mom said her 04 Civic LX auto has its check engine light on when you turn the key to on (II) and lasts for about 10sec. It goes out before the charging and oil lights. She said that she has not seen the check engine light on until this morning. The light doesn't show up when the engine is running. Is this normal or is there something wrong with the car?

 

Good news! This is normal.

 

Great to hear. So has my mom just not been paying attention? She swears she has never seen that light come on before.

 

She just didn't happen to notice. The light is designed to turn ON briefly at start up to let you know the light and its circuit are working.

 

Oh ok because I never see the check engine light go on when I turn on the 97 accord or 01 accord. Guess it's a new thing from honda.

 

I am not absolutely sure about the Accord, but I would think it is the same. I'll try to look it up.

 

The 1996 Accord service manual states that, when there is no trouble code, the Check Engine Light (CEL) should turn ON for 2 seconds and then turn OFF. If your Accords' CEL does not turn ON briefly and then turn OFF after turning the ignition key to ON, then the CEL or its circuit is bad and you need to have it fixed.

 

alot of people take the bulb out to sell the car with "no check engine light on"