Help ! Engine Warning Light Query ....

[Zincubus]

Hey guys , help / advice / reassurance required please .

First off it's a 2002 Rav4 NRG 2 door saloon Petrol .

I was driving home from work tonight ( just about 10 mile journey ) and the orange engine warning light came on I'd been driving about 10 minutes max . I drove straight to our local garage and the guy said to drop it off to them tomorrow night and they'll take a look on Wednesday - using the diagnostic computer.

He said it was ok to drive it with the warning light on as it's only a ten mile (each way) journey to and from work tomorrow.

Just wanted a bit of reassurance that I won't do any harm driving it tomorrow, 15 minutes each way.

I have done a little online research and it seems that a common cause of the engine warning light on this model is a "loose petrol cap" so I went anf tried ours . It wasn't completley closed to the "click" but the wife says she never turns it round till it clicks anyway !? Anyways I released the cap and a great whoosh of gas vapour came out , can't say I've ever noticed that before but the garage guy said it was common.

The online "fix" was to release cap , secure cap and disconnect the Battery for 30 seconds to reset the car PC but when I lifted the bonnet up I couldn't even FIND the bladdy Battery :) Then on closer inspection I saw it set filter back under the bodywork but I still couldn't reach the connections to disconnect it .

I was looking forward to fixing something myself and saving some money ut it wasn't meant to be .

Thanks for reading !

Any reassurance will be welcomed !!

Thanks guys .

[crofter]

Half of the cover that runs along the back edge of the bonnet (passenger side) is removable to enable you to reach the Battery This cover is held on by clips with a flat screwdriver slot.turn these 1/4 of a turn and that should then lift off.

The cover may "stick" when you lift it

Hope that helps

Del

[Zincubus]

Is it worth disconnecting the Battery for 30 seconds as it's supposed to reset the system and get rid of the light ....

Can I get a "shock" ?

Will disconnecting the Battery mess up the alarm or set it off ??

Thanks you !!

[crofter]

As this is only 12v I would say no. To open the bonnet would necessitate switching off the alarm.

Disconnect the earth wire first which will be the one nearest to and secured to the wing

[Zincubus]

Right ....

I left it at the local garage for an hour and he ran a diagnostics check . He told me that the check suggested that there MAY be an issue with a Tampa exhaust sensor or something ... He said that there are four sensors ( which I read about online last night ) but TWO of them had been recently replaced , they are the top two sensors which are on all the time or something which is apparently a good thing . He said that the system had been reset and the orange warning light isn't showing all the time .

He said that this could be a temporary fix and the warning light could well come back and if so he'd run another diagnostics check ( for free ) and find out which of the other ( lower ?) two sensors is the problem . ....

Incidentally , now when I start the engine and all the warning lights come on and then go off after a few seconds ONE of them the red SRS stays ON a second or so longer than it used to . It stays on a couple of seconds longer than the others but I never noticed that before ...

Any more thoughts on anything above ?

Thank you !!

Any further thoughts

[atkiman]

I ran mine for months with the eml on , even down to mid france and back , failed mot on emmisions eventually so replaced all 4 lampda sensors and all ok after that.

tony

[Zincubus]

I ran mine for months with the eml on , even down to mid france and back , failed mot on emmisions eventually so replaced all 4 lampda sensors and all ok after that.

tony

That's what it was a lampda sensor not a tampa sensor :)

Also what is a eml ?

[crofter]

EML=Engine Management Light.

It would be difficult for a light to be shown on the dashboard for every system that is monitored so that light shows that the computer in the car is unhappy about something within the engine and parts connected.

Hope that helps

Del

[pmb]

I'm sorry if I sound like a bit of a ped but I am trying to help as I have owned my rav since 2002.

Firstly the engine warning light (eml) is yellow on mine as is the abs one.

What do you mean by the red SRS one?

The story about loose petrol cap causing eml to come on sounds like an urban myth to me unless anyone can prove otherwise.

Yes, there is a big whoosh noise when you remove the cap , it is normal.

If you remove a connection off the Battery you will hear a bleep for some seconds but the alarm will not go off. (If you change the Battery on the petrol model at any time get the bigger one as fitted to the diesel model). The idle will be iffy until the ecu relearns the meaning of life and you may find it cutting out at junctions. I think you lose the presets on the radio as well.

Lambda sensors - Don't understand your comment about the top 2 (bank1 sensor 1 and bank 2 sensor 1) being on all the time. Surely all 4 are? The heater circuits go o/c in these , I have had 2 replaced and this has come up several times on this forum.

If you look on the homepage for the toc forum you will see a list of people who are happy to let others use their OBD II readers to read fault codes. You don't have a location listed but there maybe someone local.

[Zincubus]

Well the Ravs beeen fine today . No warning lights or anything ....

The bit that may have sounded confusing in the above post was simply me passing on information from the garage ( information that I clearly didn't understand ...)

The red light I mentioned is at the bottom left of the dash screen and shows what looks like a ball and a person sitting down - its apparantly the indicator for possible air bag / seatbelt tensioner issues

May I ask what is the point of the People who buy their own scanner and cancel the warning lights themselves ??

Arent the lights supposed to be warning of impending breakdown ??

Confused !?

[crofter]

I,like I suspect, others use their readers if a fault does show up or to check in time readings if adjusting thing we "feel" is not quite right.

With the lamda sensors faulty readings the motor will continue to run but at Mot time an exhaust check may produce a Fail.

So people may put off sorting this till the test due as financial circumstances

[pmb]

Right ....

Incidentally , now when I start the engine and all the warning lights come on and then go off after a few seconds ONE of them the red SRS stays ON a second or so longer than it used to . It stays on a couple of seconds longer than the others but I never noticed that before ...

The airbag light stays on for about 6 seconds according to the handbook. It is longer than the others.

[Zincubus]

Right ....

Incidentally , now when I start the engine and all the warning lights come on and then go off after a few seconds ONE of them the red SRS stays ON a second or so longer than it used to . It stays on a couple of seconds longer than the others but I never noticed that before ...

The airbag light stays on for about 6 seconds according to the handbook. It is longer than the others.

Thank you . That's about right then , I've never noticed I before now though and our seatbelts are showing a bit of age now and are very slow to slide back into place , no idea if they can be cleaned or lubricated or something ...

[Zincubus]

Right guys that damn orange engine warning light as reappeared on the dash :(

I've had it into the local garage again tonight and he's done another diagnostics test but didn't charge anything this time ......he's going to ring me tomorrow with an estimate for the repairs .

He reckons it needs a new Lamba sensor ( one of the lower ones as the two top ones have already been replaced ) .

He said that he replaced one of these sensors a few years ago and just the sensor cost about £200 although that was a genuine Toyota part but as mine is 12 years old he thinks he may be able to get a cheaper ( generic / off market ? ) sensor a lot cheaper ..... Still going to be the labour charge and vat on top though .

Anybody any ideas as to what it's likely to cost us for this local garage to replace a Lamba sensor inc labour ??? Just a ball-park figure of course

[Zincubus]

Right he's quoted £168 to supply and fit a genuine Toyota lampda sensor and £316 for two ( £20 saving on labour ).

I've booked it in tomorrow morning to have ONE replaced .

Thanks guys , thank you for all your continued help and reasurrance !!