Emissions Maintenance Light...

The Emissions Maintenance(sp*) light came on in my XJ, it's a 1990 w/the RE 4.0 and 196K. The FSM said something about every 85K it comes on and that it's a gearbox under the dash, I know where it is...I just put a glaspak muffler on the XJ and the exhaust looks a little sooty inside the tailpipe but right before the OEM muffler came off it looked similar. Could this be related to the exhaust? What do I need to change out, CCV, O2 sensor, EGR?

Thanks for the help

It just comes on by mileage, it means nothing.
Just reset it and it will stay off for another 89K

langer1 said:

It just comes on by mileage, it means nothing.
Just reset it and it will stay off for another 89K

Click to expand...

Yea but lets say that the emissions stuff hasn't been replaced since 85K miles ago, I know the last 20K I put on were HARD miles, so everything should still be good for another 85K? I dunno

The "emissions maintenance" light is to prompt you to replace your O2 sensor. The assumption is the O2 only last 85K miles. The old computer system didn't have internal diagnostics and a "check engine" light to tell you something was amiss with the emissions stuff. If the O2 sensor fails, you'll not likely pass an emissions test. Additionally, your gas mileage will drop off. I was under the impression that you had to replace the emissions maintenance module if you wanted to "reset" the light for another 85K. My module was missing when I bought my '88. My operators' manual states only Canadian models had the module. Either way, other than a light being on, there is no other affect.

Don't know about '90, but my '89 the box can not be reset. I just pulled the box out and pulled the lamp too.

When I swapped in a '95 Chevy small block, I used the "emissions maintenance" light as my check engine light (required light to pass emissions inspection in Cal).