QuestionDear Ted,
Thank you for your prompt reply.
In response to your question about the "check engine light", do you mean the "Malfunction indicator light"?
When I turn the key (Not yet to ignition start-up) I get 6 lights (lamps) on my dash:
Seat Belt reminder
Discharge warning
Malfunction indicator
Low oil pressure warning
ABS (This goes off after a few seconds)
SRS Airbag warning (This goes off after a few seconds)
When I turn the key to ignition start-up and attach my seat belt, all lights go off and for a brief moment the Brake system warning light goes on then off.
Is this a sign that the computer is working?
I was told by the service manager that when my stalls occured, it did not register on the computer and therefore its origin could not be identified.
Is this right and can the computer be fixed to be able to identify the cause?
Can the cause be the idle speed control valve which you refer to frequently in your website?
Please reply with some probable causes as I have called Toyota California and they were going to connect me with a regional service manager soon.
Thanks again for your kind cooperation.
Erwin
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Followup To
Question -
Hi Ted,
I just bought this car from a Toyota dealer.Every so often the car stalls when "de-celerating" (like approaching a stop sign or it can happen when when slowing down on a highway).I have brought it in to the dealership 3 times and they said that they couldn't find anything wrong and road tested it for 17 miles. I have a 30 day warranty and suspect that they are stalling me because the problem might require a costly repair.
The tachometer falls abruptly and the car must come to a stop. Strangely, starting up is instantaneous and the problem may not occur again for a few days. The light doesnt go on, so there is no way that the computer can register where the problem might be.
Can you suggest what might be wrong and I can demand that the dealer address this issue. My college age daughter is driving this car and I am very concerned that this may happen on an expressway and she may get involved in a rear end collision. Thank you
Answer -
Definetely a cause for concern, since the check engine light doesn't come on there could be a problem with the computer itself, does the check engine light come on with the key on and go off normally? Computer problems are not common, the car may have been in an accident,there are a few possible causes, I would contact the sales/general manager and voice this complaint, there is a safety issue involved, tell them that you can not accept the car with this problem and either ask them to buy it back or put you in another car that is safer to drive.
If they are not helpful the only other alternative is to take the dealer to court, I hope you have kept all the paperwork from everytime you took it in for this reason.
Before doing that as a last resort I recommend taking the car to another dealer or a reliable repair shop and try to have them verify the condition and have it documented.
You can take a copy of my reply to the managers at the dealer if you like. Remember that I am employed at a dealer and request to remain anonymous.
AnswerAlthough these camrys have some problems with idle speed control valves they normally affect the idle speed only, causing stalling and low idle on cold starts and sometimes at normal operating temperatures intermittently, I have not experienced this valve to cause a engine to shut off on deceleration so I think there is another problem.
From what you are telling me about all the indicator lights on the dash I conclude that they are behaving normally, there are some malfunctions that will not trigger a malfunction indicator light (MIL)which is the same as the check engine light I referred to.
I understand the service manager's position that this may be hard to diagnose because there is no MIL on and this may be an unusual condition.
The on board computer(ECU) can only detect a problem if there is a malfunction with one of it's input signals, it compares the signals from it's input sensors to the built in logic(parameters) and if certain conditions are not met the MIL will come one, but this is not the case,the ECU has no way to diagnose a problem within itself, so if there is a problem with it it will not turn on the check light.
At this point I would recommend to wait for a return call form the customer service people and explain the situation to them and see what recommendation they make, Toyota is very dedicated to customer satisfaction and I'm sure this will be resolved soon.
