CEL, codes P0402 and P1141

[trioptimum]

Posting this here as well as the Solara forum, since it's pretty generic for Toyota's I think - any help is apperciated . Here's the problem:

Just got a 99' Solara V6 last month, and a check engine light came on yesterday.

Codes P0402 and P1411 - no idea what the problem is except it pertains to the EGR (excessive flow) and EGR position circuir range.

Any ideas? Specifically cheap DIY stuff?

The advance auto parts guy reccomended I clean the EGR; I'm uncomfortable opening anything there, but if it's easy/safe, I'll go for it. Gunna run some cleaner in the car when I fill it up with gas tommorow too.

Should I take this to my mechanic or a dealer? Never had a Toyota before so I'm wary of the dealers; my mechanic won't rip me off but he's not the best at fixing things the first time either... cars suck sometimes ><.

Thanks everyone

[skewe]

man, if u want to run some cleaner, run seafoam.
do a search for seafoam and u will get 1001 hits.

might be a clocked EGR sensor.
1) replace it. About $1xx at toyota. They told me that there are 4 EGR sensors. (honestly, i thought there were 2).

2) possible to clean it. Some ppl have done it before.
search function

I would go with option 1 but that is just me.

[skewe]

Oh... welcome to TN

[chronoti]

clean it or bypass it. i already posted on here how to bypass it if you can. if you bypass it you will fail emissions.

[ruoknow]

Originally Posted by trioptimum

Posting this here as well as the Solara forum, since it's pretty generic for Toyota's I think - any help is apperciated . Here's the problem:

Just got a 99' Solara V6 last month, and a check engine light came on yesterday.

Codes P0402 and P1411 - no idea what the problem is except it pertains to the EGR (excessive flow) and EGR position circuir range.

Any ideas? Specifically cheap DIY stuff?

The advance auto parts guy reccomended I clean the EGR; I'm uncomfortable opening anything there, but if it's easy/safe, I'll go for it. Gunna run some cleaner in the car when I fill it up with gas tommorow too.

Should I take this to my mechanic or a dealer? Never had a Toyota before so I'm wary of the dealers; my mechanic won't rip me off but he's not the best at fixing things the first time either... cars suck sometimes ><.

Thanks everyone

Hi trioptimum. Recently i droved a solara (99' SE, 1mz-fe) with CEL on (already started a thread in this forum titled "what's the typical sympton of a sludged engine "). It drives pretty good: with 12500 miles on it and still feels like new (fast pickup and smooth shift).
I drove it to autozone get the error code pulled out. It turned out to be P0402 and P1411 and repeated twice for each (4 error codes, but actullay two kinds).
My questions is:
1. is that the same problem as yours ?
2. If it is, is that hard to fix?

I did a little research on the internet. Seems like it can be fixed for a while and will be back again.

[trioptimum]

Hey everyone; yup, that's the same problem; I talked to a tech at my toyota dealership, and he said those two codes together usually indicated a faulty EGR position sensor, a $30 part (one can check the sensor's electrical resistance of the sensor to be sure - get the $10 haynes manual for the car, it has the specs). I bought it and replaced it myslf (easy, just remove 3 bolts and put the new one on), problem fixed!

The week after my downstream o2 sensor went bad... $60 for a universal one, a few hours of work (easy with the haynes manual to help) and that was fixed. Having a car I can work on myself is great !

BTW, I did run seafoam through it, wow, my tires spin at takeoff now . Really helped clean out the car, and with all the new sensors and that, I'm getting 50-80 miles more to a tank now depending on how I drive. Sweet.

The Solara is a good choice... I used to have all European cars (got tired of the frequent nd expensive repairs) so I'm still amazed at how much more I can fix myself on this car, and how cheap replacement parts are ^-^.