Ive read all about the dreaded problems with the check engine lights in these cars, but may have one thats a little different. I just got 2 year plates on the car before all of this happened, so I'm not worried too much about it unless this is going to end up causing the car to be inoperable sometime in the near future. Right now, it runs and drives just fine.
My problem is this. The check engine light comes on and stays on while driving..typical of course. But if I park the car for about 2-3 minutes with the engine running, the CEL will start to blink. It only blinks until I start driving it again, usually about a minute after I put it in park and start to drive..back to solid. Anybody else had this problem or know why it would do this?? Also, it needs a new starter and the guy at AutoZone actually said this could be causing it which sounded ridiculous to me..any truth to a bad starter causing the light to flash? Any help would be great..just trying to make sure my car isnt on its last leg here!

 

get it scanned, and get the actual codes. blinking cel means dont drive the car, possible engine damage. if you continue to ignore the check engine lite, you will regret it later.

 

Is it blinking a code, or just a steady constant rate blink?

Normally it will blink a series of codes which a little internet searching will turn up what they mean -- and if not, I have the factory manual here for the '02 Millenia S (which supposedly had no changes from '01) and can look it up.

Also, a $129 OBD-II code scanner from any decent parts store is a good investment at this point.

 

wrong. blinking codes is obd-1. this is obd-2. a scanner is needed. and if you look in the fsm, it will tell you blinking cel means dont drive the car. autozone and oreillys will scan it for free, just be sure you get the actual codes; ignore what they say they think it is

 

You are correct, I was mis-remembering the fault I had when I first bought my '02 Millenia S. In that fault I was getting some blink codes, but they were from the SRS (air bags) indicator, not the CEL / MIL.