SES light no codes found

[mainjet]

My daughter in is in TN at school. She called me to tell me that her 99 GTP has a service engine soon light on. I told her to take it to Autozone and have it scanned. She did but they found no codes.

Any ideas as to what would cause this? Maybe a simple glitch that set the light but is not holding a code?

She did not ask them to clear the code. The car is running fine.

The only other wierd thing that happened was when we were taking her down to school. We pulled into a gas station and I set the pump on auto to fill the tank. When the pump shut off I was on the passenger side of the car. I saw some "steam" come out from under the car and heard a hiss. I ran around to the pump tp see if it was overflowing. I didn't see anything and it looked fine. I hung the pump back up and my son looked under the car. There was a bunch of gas under the back of the car so I no it overflowed from some where.

I put the cap back on and we left. We drove 100 miles and we had no problems and no signs of anything. No warning lights ever came on. She also drove it on several erand runs and had no problems. One morning she goes out to go somewhere and the SES light comes on.

[aussie]

Put some black tape over the light :-)

But seriously, I wouldnt trust the Autozone people too much, at my local Advance Auto they will scan the codes too, but half of the people in the store wouldnt know how to use the scanner.
Tell her to take it to a different store first & get it scanned again.

[BillBoost37]

There are many codes that can set an SES that a cheap scanner can't read. Say for example a wheel speed sensor code. It's there when the hub is bad and better scanners can read it..but in 99...it's not going to be read by an autozone scanner.

[mainjet]

So is it best to take it to the dealership to have them scan it do you think? I do have an Actron 9580. I don't know if Auto Zone uses a lower model but I would think they could read what I could read with my meter.

If the dealership charges $100.00 to hook it up then maybe it would be cheaper to send her my actron and read the codes.

I don't know the area down there very well but there is a Midas service center close by. They seem to do a little bit more than just mufflers and brakes. What do you think of that? Maybe just take it to the dealer and have them read the code and check the fuel filler tube for leaks?

Suggestions please.

The "black tape" suggestion is a good one

Let me relay a little funny story... I was going to show my daughter how to check the oil, add if needed, check the coolant and add if needed. So we go out to her car and I tell her to get in and pop the hood. She gets into the drivers seat and with medium firmness pushes in the emergency brake pedal. Then relaxes back and waits.
Me:"That's not the hood release, that's the emergency brake".

Her: "Oh, you mean like the handle we have between the seats in the Volkswagen Jetta"?

Me: "exactly"... "Now let me show you how to release that E-brake". "Don't drive with it on, please".

Me: Now that little handle right there releases the hood.

We then go to the front of the car. (shes 5 feet tall and weighs about 95 pounds). I show her how to release the second latch and lift the hood, then I let her try. She reaches under and release the second latch and tries to lift the hood. She leans forward strains and goes up on her tippy-toes but the hood never moves.

[BillBoost37]

Time to feed the kid some Wheaties...lol

In anything before 2000 my HPT Scanner/laptop software won't read ABS codes. Starting in 2K they show up. So knowing that and knowing that my buddies Snap On scanner can read abs codes etc...that's where I figured the light is likely from something the Actron's can't read. IIRC the Actrons do engine codes. Heyyyy your 9580 says it'll do ABS on 1996 and up. That's an improvement for sure. You should probably send it to her. Then have the boyfriend tell you what the codes are. No boyfriend, just tell her to flirt with the first safe looking guy walking by for the code reading.

[aussie]

Yeah - go with Bill's plan :-)

Just avoid the dealer if you can - if they see a little girl roll up to the door, they will start putting numbers in the calculator before she gets inside..