[Cale]

I pulled the car out of the garage and decided that the windshild needed to be cleaned, so I left it idle since it was mid 40's here in NJ and a little warm-up couldn't hurt. After about ten minutes I jump back in the car, pull out of the driveway, and I notice that the "Engine Malfunction Indicator Lamp" was on. Constant, not blinking. Pulled it back into the garage, looked it up in the manual which advised me to seek dealer advice and avoid all unnecessary driving. So I called and the salesman (Kurt from Maplecrest- good guy, very helpful) stated that they had a couple of their cars do the same thing and that I would need to bring it to them to have the ECU reset. No problem. I am now waiting for the service tech to call and tell me when I can bring it to him. Not a problem since I have another vehicle. However I do have a couple of questions for y'all. 1. Has anyone had this problem yet, or am I the first to report it here? 2. Will I do damage to the engine driving 30 miles to the dealer if he tells me to drive it in? I notice, as have others that the car has a tendency to stall occasionally while at idle. I have about 250 miles on the car. The light has never come on before. The gas cap is on tight. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[LotusLust]

if it was not warmed up and jumping around the rpms on idle it is possible the onboard computer threw a random misfire code. before reset have them pull the code just to see what it was. (happens on other toyota engines)

 

[MikeAR303]

I haven't had a warning light come on, but I did have the "stalling at idle" problem for the first 800 or so miles. I never had the engine actually stall on me, but I did have to blip the throttle to keep it from doing so several times.

 

[Ground Loop]

If you know someone with an OBD-II scanner/reader, see if they can read the code and freezeframe data before taking it to the dealer.

If the dealer is careless or in a hurry, they'll just reset it and send you on your way. It's useful to know what tripped it in case it happens again. Most likely, it's nothing, but I'd log each one.

The freezeframe data tells you everything about the state of the engine when the error happend -- coolant temp, air temp, RPM, etc.

 

[Cale]

I started the car this AM (a little less than 24 hrs later) and the light has gone off. It seems to have reset itself. I tried restarting it yesterday, however the light stayed on. Sometimes on my Discovery, I will get an idiot light and if I pull over and restart it, the light will go out. The Discovery has been full of glitches like that. It has Lucas written all over the electronic modules.

Thanks to you who responded. Happy and Safe Thanksgiving.

Cale

 

[cerven]

I had a Renault LeCar (yes, I know, piece of crap but it was MANY years ago) that had the check engine light come on two days after I got it over Xmas. The dealer told me don't worry and bring it in after New Years. Long story short - the engine seized that afternoon at 65 on the interstate. The car was a lemon (steering wheel on upside down, etc.) never did get fixed right - they replaced the engine but this was all before lemon laws. The moral? Sometimes the check engine light really DOES mean to stop driving and something is really f***ed up! and not frive it to the dealer - but how do you know? :shrug:

 

[James A]

One of the most common causes of the check engine light I know of is a loose gas cap, yep that will set the light off. Give it a check and make sure it is tight.

 

[ConeFusion]

If it's something really severe, it should be blinking.

I think it's normal that the CEL will be reset after the ECU has gone through a few cycles without detecting the error condition. I would still mention it to the dealer, they might be able to pull the code. On my car, I can display "current codes" and "historic codes", but I'm not quite sure under what conditions and how long the historic codes are stored.

If it happens again, and you're not close to a dealer, you can also get the code pulled at a car parts store. They normally do that for free.

 

[TimMullen]

I think it's normal that the CEL will be reset after the ECU has gone through a few cycles without detecting the error condition.

I usually takes several cycles to reset the CEL - usually only one restart will not clear it. Sometimes the cycles can take several days of driving to meet all the conditions and the number of "cold start" cycles required. Usually any codes are stored for a considerable period of time - I remember something along the lines of 30 cycles - so it could be anywhere from 3 cycles to 100...

If you don't already have an ODB-II scanner, they are a good thing to have just for things like this. Definitely ask your dealer to pull the code and let you know what it is...

 

[Maverick1]

O2 sensor....?????????????????

just guessing