Help NOW!! -Malfunction Indicator Lamp

[Jonah38]

Hi all new to this site and require urgent advise

Wife has a 5 door Yaris 1ltr vvti 51 reg. As i write this my wife is driving up the M1 with the kids and the malfunction indicator lamp has come on. She has the owners manual in the car and says that it tells her to go to another page that then says* for details see service reminder indicator*.

She is panicking as the lit lamp is in the shape of an engine and she has the maunal - whats the problem? Is it a service reminder or an engine problem?

[ECHOKnight2000]

i'm not totally familiar with that model but I'm guess the universal symbol for something is wrong with the engine maybe it. What she should do is go to a shop and have them look at it. Either there is something wrong with the engine, or it could be electrical. Have a professional mechanic look at it. Good luck!

[bgrieger]

It is the "check engine" light, indicating that the computer has seen something unusual or out of spec and stored a code. If the car is still operating normally, it may just be a service interval warning, or it may have discovered a one time issue, or the onset of something (such as a catalytic converter failing, or an oxygen sensor reaching the end of it's life). If the car appears to be driving normally, I'd simply take it to the dealer as soon as is convenient, but there should be no need to panic. If the car is running awfully and throwing a code, I'd have her take it to a nearby dealer right away and find out what it is before continuing much farther.