Camry & Solara LoungeDiscussion area for every generation of Toyota's family car, the Toyota Camry. Lexus ES250/300 owners welcome! Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance and more.
I have a 99 V6 Toyota Camry. About 51,000 miles on it, no mods except reverse glow gauges. So this is the problem, since early 2004, my engine check light has been on. Not the whole time. Each time, I'll go in check the codes at Autozone, and at first it said it was engine misfiring. So I brought it in to Toyota to check it out and they changed the spark plugs.
Then, in the summer, the check light came on once again, and I brought it in to Toyota for a total of 4 times that summer, in all spending over $1,500 on "repairs". They've done stuff such as: Replace fuel injectors, replace mass airflow sensor, etc. And this past Thursday, I brought it in, once again, and they replaced my fuel filter. And now, not even a week later, my light comes on again.
Needless to say, I'm very pissed, and out of options. In fact, I hope that they "fix it" and then as I'm driving out of the service area, the light comes on again. Cause when that happens, I'm gonna run my car through the dealer. Maybe I won't go that far, but maybe I should. My parents are suggesting just trading in the car, and forgetting Toyota forever. Is there anything else you guys wanna say?
Be firm with the dealer, mention the fact that Toyota/Lexus is supposed to have the highest initial quality and reliability of all auto makers and that such a company cannot afford to treat its customers like that. Threaten to take it to Toyota of USA (or Canada) and actually DO so if they don't get rid of your problem. We had an issue with a Hyundai before that the dealer kept failing to repair, and we got fed up with it, contacted the manufacturer, and the car was fixed free of charge. Now, the same car later blew a tranny, which is why we're selling it and buying another Toyota instead of stupid Hyundai, but that's another story for another day
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Bullets! My only weakness! How did you ever know?
Second, you can trade in a car with the CEL on, but you're gonna lose a lot of trade-in value.
Third, NY should have a dept that deals with unscrupulous repair shops. Contact someone in that dept, line up all your receipts and diagnosis reports from the repairs, and chances are the state will get you your money back.
Fourth, you could try calling up one of the Investigative teams from one of the NY TV stations. They'd love to embarrass the hell out of a car dealer garage.
I have a 99 V6 Toyota Camry. About 51,000 miles on it, no mods except reverse glow gauges. So this is the problem, since early 2004, my engine check light has been on. Not the whole time. Each time, I'll go in check the codes at Autozone, and at first it said it was engine misfiring. So I brought it in to Toyota to check it out and they changed the spark plugs.
Then, in the summer, the check light came on once again, and I brought it in to Toyota for a total of 4 times that summer, in all spending over $1,500 on "repairs". They've done stuff such as: Replace fuel injectors, replace mass airflow sensor, etc. And this past Thursday, I brought it in, once again, and they replaced my fuel filter. And now, not even a week later, my light comes on again.
Needless to say, I'm very pissed, and out of options. In fact, I hope that they "fix it" and then as I'm driving out of the service area, the light comes on again. Cause when that happens, I'm gonna run my car through the dealer. Maybe I won't go that far, but maybe I should. My parents are suggesting just trading in the car, and forgetting Toyota forever. Is there anything else you guys wanna say?
Did you ever think that maybe it was the reverse glow gauges?
you gonna let him say that about you?, kick his ass!!!
j/k
besides the warning light being on, are there any symtoms of anything going on? Like could you just ignore the warning light? Does the warning light come on when the car stalls, idles roughly, backfires, misfires, surges, or does it seem to run perfectly normal except for the check engine light.
If the light burnt out like before your problems started, would you have even noticed anything at all wrong with you vehicle, except a burnt out check engine light?
It is possible that ANY electrical modification can cause a malfunction in the car. Simply plugging in a cell phone charger into the cigarette lighter cause the air bag warning light to stay on until I reset it. The cell charger can cause interference by emmisions from its switch mode power supply. Maybe the reverse glow guages caused a malfunction, maybe not. Sheet illumination like used on some television remote controls is definately a potential for interference. Such a system runs at least 200 volts (albeit low amperage), and at a frequency of perhaps 60hz or maybe higher.
interference has the potention to put random codes into the check engine warning light
Cutting into the harness, especially close to all those computers, could also be an issue. I have a theory that these cars have no tolerance for anything less than perfect connections, so if you had cut into a wiring harness and twisted-and-taped the little copper wires together to make a connection you may wanna redo those.
Another interference maker is a non-clamped relay. When an electromechanical relay is deactivated, the field collapses and produces a very high voltage 5-20kv or something that if unclamped can wreak havoc in an electronic (computer) system, that is why relays are clamped at the coil end with a resistor in parallel to the coil or a zener diode that would only activate if the potential exceeds its breakdown voltage. Assume that all automotive relays are clamped.
My theory is that there is some wiring fault that is causing the ecu to register false errors. Ignore them, reset them, remove the CEL bulb, fix the wiring, restore the guages to original, or sell the car.
Treat the advice of the dealers with a grain of salt, the more they find wrong with your car the more money they make. And some of them are bad and don't see it that way but instead are like, "Everybody else let's me rip 'em off, what makes you so special? Your going against the flow, you better do what I say or your car WILL break down very soon. Who do you think you are?... are you a mechanic?"
You're not living in like Nome Alaska or something where they would be the only dealer in like a 1000000 square miles or something, go to another dealer I'm sure that there are plenty.
Which dealership are you taking it to?.... I know basically all the dealership in the Nassau/Suffolk County so depending on which one your going too they could not be doing what they are suppose to, and if you want once I get back in town in Jan I can look at it.
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heres one ....take the bulb out! tada check engine light off.
only playing. i would take it to a thrid party shop. you know like your corner mech. have him look at it and let him know what kind of shit you have been going through.
Good luck
Hey, thanks for the responses. well, when the light comes on, the engine usually runs a little rougher (that's the best way to describe it), and my gas mileage goes down. And the codes that come up now say that the fuel mix is too lean.
And the dealer I bring it to is in Suffolk County, Stevens Toyota.
Amityville is not that far from Melville, if you live in that area, why not checkout Atlantic Toyota, they are over on Sunrise Highway, they have been good to me for weird things like engine diagrams and odd parts here and there as well as the ppl I refer back to them
Also try Penn Toyota, they are in Nassau on Nothern Blvd in Greenvale, they are very friendly and curteous, I can trust them to send even the dumbest person about cars and not have to worry about them getting ripped a new one
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I would take your problem up to higher level... write a letter to Toyota. Find out where the regional office is and concisely describe (politely) in a letter what problems you've had, what the dealer did, and the result. Chronological order may help state your case and the regional office may be helpful in putting the pressure on the dealer to fix it correctly.
Tell them up front what you want and make a copy of the letter. If it still doesn't get resolved and the regional director does not help, go higher and send the same letter to Toyota USA (national office), adding that the regional director was less than helpful, if needed.
Good luck.
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1998 Camry LE
5SFE
If you're not livin' life on the edge, you're taking up too much space. (stolen)
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