Please help! ABS + Charging + Check engine lighs on!
 

Hi,
My 2006 scion XA is ... broken. I think. The check engine light was on for a while but the dealership told me it wasn't a big deal. Just a minor wiring issue. I drove it for around 10,000 miles. Yesterday my engine oil light was blinking which surprised me because I just changed the oil 2 weeks ago. Today I went to start it...it started very heavy. ABS light was on and Charging light was on. The gas gauge shows empty (filled it up yesterday), radio nd AC not working. The dealership is about 15min away. The car moved...so I'm thinking about driving it over there tomorrow. Can I do that? What could cause all of this? I have also noticed my brake being very hard a few days ago and not going down all the way. I really need help, I'm in a state of panic :(

FIrst off, if the dealer said the check engine light being on wasn't a big deal they are either hacks or clueless. That light is there for a reason and not getting whatever the code it is throwing fixed can lead to bigger problems.

Related to your current problem though, it sounds like either your battery is nearly dead and/or your alternator isn't charging properly. If the car has less than 12volts in the electrical system the ABS will turn off (lighting that light) and the gas guage will read empty(because the resistance measurement gets all screwed up). The car needs to have a battery & charging systme test done. Any garage (and lots of auto parts stores) can do this test. They can also pull the engine codes for you so you can find out what that problem is too.

Related to the brakes, it sounds like you are having issues wit hthe brake booster. Either it is malfunctioning, or the engine isn't producing proper vacuum to make it function like it should. This is somethign entirely seperate from the electrical issues, other than that I can't guess usefully at the exact problem.

Dude I drove with the check engine light on in my Focus for years. I would recommend getting it scanned, but sometimes you're gonna be paying $1000 bucks just to turn the damn light off. I do agree though if they told you they didn't know than they are dumbasses, because there is always something to make that light come on whether it's minor or not.