Get Your Swirl Valve Fixed

The check engine light comes on. What do you do?

1. Stop the car and cry?

2. Stop at a good coffee shop, grab a latte and then cry?

3. Drive to work and ignore it?

4. Call the Carchicks...well maybe grab a latte first. We understand.

The answer should be number 4.

So your vehicle is screaming with the check engine light on. Okay, it is not really screaming, but it can seem a bit passive aggressive because it is glaring at you all the time the car is on. We hook up the scanner (a tool that retrieves the data stored in the computer brain of your vehicle) and see that the code is P1138 "Swirl Control Valve." Who ever heard of a swirl control valve? It still amazes us, the words that are used in our business. Here is what that means.

The swirl control valve has a valve portion in the intake passage of each cylinder. When idling and during low engine coolant temperature, the swirl control valve closes, making the speed of air in the intake passage increase, which helps with the vaporization of the fuel and producing a "swirl" in the combustion chamber.

Because of this, the system tends to increase the burning speed of the fuel mixture, which improves fuel comsumption, and increases the consistancy of running conditions.

You may still be saying "What?" It does get confusing when you start hearing things being explained in terms that don't fit your vocabulary. That is why a check engine or service light may not be the simplest thing to understand.

That is what good mechanics are for. To translate the language your vehicle is speaking to you. Sometimes it is easy, sometimes not. But we feel the fun part is figuring it all out and making her and you feel all better. Toot, toot!!