CEL Appears to be disabled...puzzling

DrNick · **Joined:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:00 pm **Posts:** 10

Hello everyone,

First of all, thanks to all of you! Your posts and all the information therein helped me settle on an 06 CRD and I love it.

I have a somewhat puzzling issue: MY CEL appears to be disabled. It does not come on when the ignition is first turned on (like all of the other lights) and when I unplugged the sensor for the ORM it did not come on. Sensor has been unplugged for a month now.....

I have since found out that the dealer I bought the Jeep from (not a Jeep dealer) is somewhat less than trustworthy...is it possible that someone (not pointing fingers ATM) disabled the CEL? Is it possible to do via the computer or is it as simple as disabling the actual lightbulb/LED/whatever?

I DID have the Jeep brought into a dealership and had a diesel (albeit Cummins) mechanic give it a once over....they said that there were no stored codes (I got the fancy report) and the Jeep was in good condition. It runs fine.....my only concern is that if something serious happens the CEL will not come on and I could wind up damaging the engine. I am mechanically inclined and my first line of defence is my ears....I can generally tell when sonmeting is not right....my wife on the other hand....let's just say it woyuld be be best if the CEL worked properly.

Help!

racertracer · **Posted:** Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:10 pm

Welcome aboard.

Unplugging the ORM sensor has not produced the engine trouble light to come on in some cases.

Some people have had it unplugged for months and it still hasn't turned the engine trouble light on.

Try to unplug another sensor and see if it omes on. Unplug the temperature sensor on the thermostat housing, and then check to see if you get an engine light. That will confirm that your engine trouble light has been disabled.

geordi · **Posted:** Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:26 pm

Its a rather difficult job, but a previous vehicle I owned, someone had disassembled part of the dashboard and put a piece of black electrical tape over the opening for the airbag indicator to hide the light. The problem on that car was easy tho - just the "clockspring" under the steering wheel, a very well known failure for that model, and the light was easier to get to than the spring. If you unplug the bulb, it would start a non-stop chime instead.

For yours... That would be a dedicated-to-deception shop that would have gone to all that trouble.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:35 pm

If the CEL light does not come on when you first switch on the ignition I'd suggest you run the instrument cluster test that can be invoked by holding the trip odometer button while turning the ignition on. It will cycle through all bulbs and gauges. This is an actual function test that's separate from check light test that's run every time you switch the ignition on. I cannot find a nice simple summary of what it does in sequence but the 2006 FSM (see link on Sir Sam's NOOB guide), which refers to this as the Instrument Cluster Self Test, (beginning on page 8J-65 and scattered thru various pages to 8J-87) does discuss what the test is supposed to do with respect to various lights and gauges on the dash. For 2005 owners the FSM, which refers to this as the Instrument Cluster Actuator Test, does not provide the same level of detail but the procedure is briefly outlined beginning on page 8J-8. Oddly the separate 2005 KJ Body manual does have more detail and refers to the test as the Instrument Cluster Self Test. Go figure.

If the light still does not come on either the bulb is bad or someone has disabled the bulb. The latter has been reported and illustrated on the forum and was done to "hide" a code on a vehicle from the purchaser, see viewtopic.php?f=5&t=59213&p=658107&hilit=instrument+bulb#p658107 . In that case the bulb was disabled by severing power to it behind the instrument panel and the code remained stored. I have no clue if it can be disabled by a scanner; my guess is no and certainly not by anything less than the very expensive ($ thousands) DRB type scanners. If the bulb is bad the dealer will try to sell you an entire instrument cluster (like $800 or so) plus labor but the bulb itself is a very inexpensive LED that any good electrical shop can probable replace easily (I seem to recall a post to that effect). Either way you will have to pull (see http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26151 but note that the referenced bulbs are dash lights not the individual LED warning lamps) the instrument panel to see.

DrNick · **Joined:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:00 pm **Posts:** 10

Cool...thanks guys. I'll try your suggestions and report back!

SmokyCA · **Joined:** Mon Feb 21, 2011 3:31 pm **Posts:** 35

Mine appears to be the same way. 2006 CRD Sport. The CEL will come on during the normal startup check, but I can unplug the MAF and the engine light stays off even after multiple starts and shutdowns. I'd be intrigued to know why, or how it's different than those for whom the ORM triggers a CEL.

camo · **Posted:** Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:40 pm

When I bought my libby some half booty mechanic had broken the CEL diode on the cluster... I think they just got tired of playing with the EGR :evil:

anyway. the dealer wanted like 900 bucks to fix it since that diode is not serviceable. Then I look on the web and found a shop named Houston speedometer and they fix it for 125 bucks........ so just open up your cluster and check if you had someone picking there at some point, it seems to be something rather normal, at least here in Texas.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Oct 03, 2011 5:35 pm

If someone like me owned it before you then they might have put a piece of electrical tape over the CEL on the inside face of the display, this way it cannot be seen that its covered but it will prevent it from being illuminated.

Its not too hard to pull the cluster out and check to see if that was the case.

lgoodbar · **Posted:** Tue Oct 04, 2011 8:38 am

Like others said, if you NEVER see the CEL, even during engine start or cluster self test (push in trip reset when putting ignition to ON), there is tape over the light or the LED is smashed / broken.

My CRD had both CEL and ABS LEDS smashed. The good news is if you're handy with a soldering iron, "standard" LEDs work fine. The long leg goes toward the top of the cluster. Use ultra-bright LEDs. You will need to re-seat the cluster needles (they are removed with the faceplate. See http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=60735 for CRD needle calibration positions.

DrNick · **Joined:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:00 pm **Posts:** 10

Well it looks like the SOB broke the LED in the gauge cluster.....oddly enough there still appear to be no stored codes.... weird :roll:

dirtmover · **Posted:** Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:06 am

Was it scanned by a Chrysler dealer? The reason I ask is that my scan tool can connect to the vehicle and return successfully with no codes even when the CEL is lit. Retry a few times and it will eventually return the stored code(s).

CEL Appears to be disabled...puzzling

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