If your car’s “check engine light” starts glowing on your dashboard, chances are you won’t be able to fix it yourself.And unless your local mechanic has invested thousands of dollars in equipment and computer software, he might not be able to either.Blame it on computer codes such as P1122 and hundreds of others that your vehicle might generate to inform a mechanic why your car is sick.”You’re pretty well oars out of the water if you don’t have that information,” said Doug Callier, owner of Callier’s South Main Gulf, an auto repair shop in Concord.Several national organizations representing independent repair shops have been pushing Congress to adopt the “Right to Repair Act” to require car makers to make available all codes needed for repairing vehicles. Similar efforts are underway in Maine and Massachusetts.”Now with computers, the do-it-yourselfer is pretty well left out in the cold,” said Dick Cole, executive director of the New England Tire and Service Association, which favors the move and counts about 35 members in New Hampshire. News source: Union Leader Around 1990, the federal government required on-board diagnostic systems for all vehicles manufactured and sold in the United States, Cole said. This would allow for more repair shops to perform mandatory emissions tests.Sometimes, when repair shops fix problems, car owners still need to visit a car dealer, Cole said.”It still doesn’t allow the vehicle to recognize it was repaired,” he said. “You still have to go back to the dealer to get the computer reset,” he said.”Will people go out of business? Absolutely, if they can’t perform a lot of the work they’re doing now,” Cole said. “In the long run, less competition means higher prices to the consumer.”But automotive consultant George Dykstra said that information is out there for independent mechanics — for a price.”I think they’re blowing it out of proportion,” said Dykstra, who’s working for state automobile dealer associations in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. “They’re looking for something that’s for free that’s not even given to dealers for free.””It costs everyone money. Get over it and buy it,” the Chichester resident said by phone from New Jersey on Friday. “The manufacturers don’t give it away, even to dealers.”Your vehicle, especially if it’s a newer model, can feature 15 or more computer processors that monitor everything from anti-lock brakes to the transmission. They are linked by a network and communicate among each other.”Everything is sophisticated in automobiles,” said Daniel B. McLeod, president of the New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association. “Everybody who wants to fix automobiles has to participate in that complexity and that costs money.”Jeff Boucher, co-owner of Granite State Tire & Battery in Manchester, figures he pays between $1,500 and $2,000 a year to a private company for access to the codes, which he receives quarterly by way of 14 DVDs.”It does come at an expense because we have to invest in that” software and scanner equipment, Boucher said.He uses a hand-held scanner that usually connects under a car’s dashboard on the driver’s side. The device retrieves a code and a bare-bones explanation. Then, he goes to PC in office and gets an explanation and suggestions for testing the car.The same car make and model with the same engine type would have the same set of codes. But within that particular set, the transmission and ABS brake systems would have different codes, he said.”P1122,” for example, refers to a “throttle position sensor” used by the powertrain control module to determine the throttle plate angle for various engine management systems in a 2005 Chevrolet Impala with a V-6 engine, according to Boucher’s software. The reference material also provides an overview of the sensor and a nine-step process to remedy the problem.”They’re pretty good giving us information,” said Boucher, who needs to send customers to dealers only once or twice a year. “If you don’t have that information, there would be a lot of testing.”A study released last year of more than 1,000 repair shops nationwide indicated 70 percent of independent repair shop owners, service advisers and technicians had no confidence that car companies will always provide access to the needed information and tools for repair.Nearly half of respondents purchase repair information “as needed” and about as many “never” buy repair information from car companies, according to a study commissioned by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, which backs efforts to force car makers to be more open about computer codes.”I can understand where the automobile manufacturers are looking to protect their franchises with guaranteed income. It appears that way,” said Steve McGrath, vice president with marketing at Tire Warehouse, based in Keene.His company has invested heavily in equipment to keep up with the technology and rarely has to refer a customer to a dealer, said McGrath, a board member with the New England Tire and Service Association.Auto dealers do look to their service and parts department to boost profits, McLeod said.”I would certainly hope that dealers are paying for their building and their heat and their lights from profits from their service and parts department,” McLeod said.Callier spends $200 a month to get updated code information and recently acquired a $12,000 scanner.”It used to be, open the hood, take a look at it and give you an estimate,” Callier said.Now, mechanics need to run a diagnostic test, that can take a half hour or more at a $75 per-hour rate.”A lot more stuff can go wrong” with today’s cars, Callier said.