Editing Talk:3096: Check Engine

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Cosmic tow truck? I've seen that in the youtube vids where a guy makes the sun grow increasingly larger in minecraft and the villagers built a "tow truck" to tow the sun. --[[User:Bb777|me, hi]] ([[User talk:Bb777|talk]]) 18:26, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

"The Check Engine light is one that drivers will rarely see". Well, in most cars, you'll ''see'' the "check engine" light every time you put the car in "accessories" mode, just temporarily, as a test to make sure the light works. So car owners will know that the light is there and exists, and to not ignore it if it comes on outside of being in "accessories" mode. [[User:Dogman15|Dogman15]] ([[User talk:Dogman15|talk]]) 19:39, 31 May 2025 (UTC)
:Reading up on "Accessories Mode", I'm confused as to which level of key-turning that is. May be different in different models of car, but I'm going by the various makes of car I m used to.
::It's the one marked "Acc" – that's short for "Accessories". Lock, Acc, On, Start. [[User:Yorkshire Pudding|Yorkshire Pudding]] ([[User talk:Yorkshire Pudding|talk]]) 14:53, 2 June 2025 (UTC)
:::Checked my own vehicle. It's not 'marked' anything. Just four dots.
:::The manual ''does'' describe the as ''LOCK'', ''ACC (Accessory)'', ''ON'' and ''START'', but... well, I'd never have read it that closely except for this question.
:::Can confirm, though that you don't get bulb-test at "Acc" level. It's "On" where "The warning lights can be checked before the engine is started."
:::Regarding the warning lights, I have ...potentially 26 lights, according the manual (16 of them marked "if equipped", ''including'' the one with the 'engine' shape that is described as "Malfunction indicator")... But I don't think even half of them get a "bulb test" treatment. The engine one does, but goes away very quickly as I agree that one doesn't tend to dwell on "On, but not Started, I agree, and the manual actively ''discourages'' you from staying in the "On" position, like that. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.58.20|172.70.58.20]] 21:19, 2 June 2025 (UTC)
:Key position 0: Key inserted (or not), no twist. Minimal 'accessories' available - no wipers, indicators (except full hazards), radio, air, "lighter socket". Nothing lit on dashboard (except both indicators, in synch with hazards). 
:Key position 1 (maybe, if not straight from '0' to '2', deending upon vehicle make): Unpowered as 0, but key is 'locked' in so it can't be pulled straight out
:Key position 2: Power to (practically) everything internal, and (?)individual indicators if either difection active, with engine off. Minimal dashboard lghts on, as necessary for (side-)lights, and 'glow light' illuminating the physical dials (dimmed, if head-/dipped-lights are on, as a less obtrusive 'night mode). I'd call this "accessories mode", would need to check my current car manual to find out what it calls it, but it doesn't show all lights (engine check, battery fault, seat-belt-unused warning for seats with sufficient weight on them but not clipped in as required).
:Key position 3: "Driving" position, once engine is started, only things that matter show.
:*But if ''left'' in this position without going through Pos4, ''will'' show many (all?) lights in general "many things aren't actually working" mode, perhaps. Tend not to dwell on this state (if starter-motor isn't working, even, no point leaving it like this while working out what help is needed to jump-start/jumper-start/etc). Will have to check what lights do/don't illuminate, or flash on momentarily, but normally only an issue if there's a problem.
:*If the engine stalls (awkward hill start at a junction when the lights suddenly change, and messed up with the clutch-pedal 'bite'..? We've all done it at least once, don't judge me!), I'm fairly sure the "many things not working" doesn't fully show, in the small amount of time it takes to clutch-and-brake and redo the engine starter (before pulling away, sheepishly, making a "sorry" hand-signal to the car behind who might or might not be wondering why you didn't quite move when you initially might have done).
:Key position 4: "Starter" position, sprung so that (upon ignition, hopefully) twists back to 3 upon release. Couldn't tell you what lights light (without going to the current car and firing it up), except that the battery symbol might accompany the "click click click" of the starter motor failing due to... well, bad battery. Pretty sure only the 'necessary' pictographs show.
:All pretty consistent in cars driven from early '80s to present day. Only real change is that the earliest cars used to have a physical "choke"-puller (at least for cold-day starting, less so at other times), whereas the very latest vehicle manual explicitly tells you ''not'' to press the accelerator pedal on starting (something I now have to resist, due to muscle-memory and that having been part of the process for... well, decades), obviously having progressed from auto-choke through to the box of fly-by-wire electronics now also being in charge of the precise amount of throttling necessary to kick the engine into life.
:I do tend to read the manual whenever I get a new car (every 5-10 years, I think), but really don't bother much until something goes wrong (working out which fuse blew that means the lighter-socket isn't working, e.g., and whether that's in the hatch under the dashboard or in the box under the bonnet). It's so easy to forget that there ''is'' an ABS-warning light, if you don't ever cause its warning to happen, then read the manual and learn that it's one the (normally) unglimpsed 'gap in the lights' on the lower row of an array of glyphs that normally you only ever see the upper set being active.
:So, yeah, maybe I can see the ECL, but I have to say that I'd probably never ''notice'' it (or its absence), as I'm probably doing things like a mirror-check during the moment of twisting the key from '2', past '3', temporarily into '4' then back and ready to get into gear and go when it's expedient and safe to do so. But don't know how universal this setup tends to be. Sounds like it matches the scenario you're questioning, but I don't think I can improve what's there by adding this longhand personal understanding. Could be shortened. Maybe the original author wouldn't mind something like "most people probably never notice the ECL until it comes on and stays on", if that's not too much against the spirit of your expectations. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.241.166|172.71.241.166]] 22:17, 31 May 2025 (UTC)
::My thought FWIW is that the "Check Engine Light" falls within the experience of most drivers (most of the audience for xkcd and explainxkcd) and hence shouldn't require explanation beyond what is in the cited Wikipedia article. Indeed, the humor arguably works because of the reader's immediate "Holy [deleted]!" recognition of, and reaction to, the light - however it may be produced. As for the "black patch" mode of producing the image, that is (I read, again via Wikipedia) precisely how sunspots are contrasted from the rest of the sun's surface, as they are cooler and have higher magnetic field strengths. I'm not sure how discussing the manner of producing alert signals on automobile dashboards and LCD screens, and contrasting that with the Sun, contributes positively to the explanation. One can perhaps contemplate the design challenges of producing an image, several Earth diameters across, that means something to humans in an environment of 28''g'' gravity, 5700 degrees K temperature, and 4500 Gauss magnetic field strength, never mind one that accurately reports a fundamental problem with the Sun's "engine".[[Special:Contributions/108.162.245.161|108.162.245.161]] 23:28, 31 May 2025 (UTC)

::: "''It "proves out" the dash warning lights. You '''turn the key to on''', the dash lights for oil warning, brake warning, etc. '''come on for a couple of seconds and then go out.''' This is to show/test the bulbs work before starting the car. Bulbs don't prove out then you have burnt out bulbs or a dash wiring issue. This way you know the bulbs work BEFORE you have a problem with oil pressure, charging system, etc.''" [https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/anyone-know-what-prove-out-circuit-is-schematic-related.631922/ VMF] In many states the "smog check" is just to observe '''no Check Engine light'''. But what if the bulb burned or fell out (it has happened!)? The inspector is supposed to observe that key idiot lights DO light for a few seconds at turn-on. Another article states that only 21% of UK drivers can identify dash warning lights. --[[User:PRR|PRR]] ([[User talk:PRR|talk]]) 04:46, 1 June 2025 (UTC)

[[1895|uh oh]] [[Special:Contributions/172.69.134.55|172.69.134.55]] 01:11, 1 June 2025 (UTC)

Is there perhaps some joke related to it being a '''cluster''' of sunspots, and the place where the Check Engine light would be on a car is called an instrument '''cluster'''? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.211.30|162.158.211.30]] 11:54, 2 June 2025 (UTC)
:Don't think so. Maybe if more than one "warning light" had been shown, e.g. "high temperature" in addition to "check engine". (Pauses briefly to contemplate the implications of a "high temperature" alert becoming visible on the surface of the Sun ... weoweoweoweoweo.)[[Special:Contributions/172.71.146.215|172.71.146.215]] 14:12, 2 June 2025 (UTC)
:: Low fuel would be quite bad too.[[Special:Contributions/172.69.224.201|172.69.224.201]] 16:24, 2 June 2025 (UTC)

Possibly coincidence, but a '''strong (G3) geomagnetic storm''' was [https://web.archive.org/web/20250530224752/https://www.spaceweather.gov/ observed] on or shortly before Thursday, May 29, 2025 03:09 UTC, the day before this comic was published. '''Severe (G4)''' conditions were [https://web.archive.org/web/20250602010052/https://www.spaceweather.gov/ observed] in the following days. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.94.35|172.70.94.35]] 18:33, 2 June 2025 (UTC)

Could this be connected to [https://xkcd.com/673/]? {{unsigned ip|162.158.62.166|23:43, 2 June 2025}}