P0117 issues usually revolve around your coolant sensor or engine wiring can lead to your check engine light turning on. Should this happen to you, one of the first things you will want to do is to test your coolant sensor to fix the P0117 trouble code.
The OBDII P0117 trouble code translates to Engine Coolant Temperature Circuit Low Input. Problems with this check engine light can cause your vehicle to run rich, or have problem starting.
What Does P0117 Code Mean?
The explanation for Engine Coolant Temperature Circuit Low Input is fairly straightforward. Your ECT or coolant temperature sensor tells your ECU how hot or cold your engine is. The P0117 trouble code means that your PCM / ECU is seeing a value that’s far below what it is expecting.
If your onboard computer doesn’t think that your engine is warmed up, it’s going to cause all kinds of problems. What does Mean? The Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor measures the rise and fall of the Engine Coolant Temperature.
How to Fix P0117 trouble code
If your check engine light is on, you need an OBDII scan tool to retrieve the code. Good news is because this trouble code is for your coolant temperature sensor, fixing P0117 is not too hard.
You will need to start by locating your ECT. Unscrew the ECT and you can either test the functionality using a multimeter, or use a heat gun / warm water to see if the sensor is any good.
Found that your engine coolant temperature sensor is bad? Simply replace it and clear your trouble code to get rid of that check engine light.
If your check engine light remains on, then it’s an issue with your engine wiring or engine ground. Begin fixing P0117 by checking your engine grounds first. Move to the sensor check, and lastly the engine harness to make sure there are no breaks.
P0117 Symptoms
The common mistake many people make is that the engine coolant sensor is not that important. Unfortunately, they would be very wrong. Your engine coolant sensor is what tells your fans when to turn on, which could lead to overheating and engine failure.
At worst, the ECT tells your car when the engine is properly warmed up. When you go out to your car or truck in the morning, and start it you’ll notice that the engine idle is higher than normal.
This is intended to help the engine warm-up faster. Unfortunately however, this is done through an increase in fuel delivery. if you’ve got a P0117 and your check engine light is on, that means you are wasting gas.
- Difficulty starting engine
- Possibly overheated engine
- Poor engine performance
- Lackluster fuel mileage
Common Problems
The check engine light in your vehicle not only helps alert you to issues like the P01117 trouble code, but other issues as well. Here are some of the P0117 problems you can run into when working on your vehicle.
- Stripped Engine coolant sensor
- Damaged sensor
- Bad ECU
- Poor engine groups.
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