Carina E Economy Drive

[Lulu]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and I hope you can help me. I've got a Toyota Carina E, R Reg (UK). The car is fabulous and super economic, had it since August 04 and has ran superbly.

However... shortly before Xmas, I noticed that the Economy Drive light does not light up anymore and I'm concerned that the 'acceleration' gauge seems to be more 'revved up' than it used to.

I've asked my mechanic and the response was 'the engine seems fine and it might just be the light bulb, but I don't wanna mess around with the dashboard'...

Erm... I'm not happy with the reply but nor do I want to take it to a Toyota dealer and pay LOADS for changing a lightbulb or run diagnostics... Does anybody know a 'toyota guru mechanic' around the North West of the UK that I could take my car to be checked for not too much money? (Manchester, Liverpool, Chester...areas)

My mechanic charged me £20 for putting an additive/sealant in the radiator cuz he found a 'minor' leak... is that reasonable? I'm not very 'with it' with cars, even though I'm a 'gadget-techno-computer girl'...so do do be patient with me please.

Thanks for any help and cheers for now,

:)

Lulu

[ma109]

[Hi Lulu

Similar thing has happened to mine. The economy light stopped working about two years ago. However everything else seems fine, and average mpg varies between 37 and 46mpg so in my opinion the car is still "economic".

How much fuel is your car using ?

[Lulu]

How much fuel is your car using ?

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Hi Ma, Thanks for the reply.

Hmm...erm.. I noticed that now it is doing about 336miles to a full tank. I'm not sure how many mpg does that make And what worries me most is the fact that the rev-counter seems to 'stay up' around the 3 or 4 mark, when doign 80mph on the 5th gear, when it used to go down to the 2.5 mark after acceleration... And I read that the 'usual' (I don't remember clearly what was mine) consumption is about 395 miles to a full tank...ie, my fuel consumption seems to have gone up, together with the 'bye-byes' from the "economy" light.. :(

What do you think?

I'm searching now for a Toyota Specialist mechanic somewhere in the north west... let's see if I find one?

Cheers for now

Lulu

[ma109]

Hi Lulu

3200rpm in 5th gear at 80mph seems to be correct.

336 miles on a tankful equates to about 30mpg which is on the high side, unless you do a lot of stop-start driving. I get between 370 and 420 depending on the amount of motorway and local journeys.

I would suggest that you get an emissions test done. This may be able to indicate if your car is wasting petrol. If not then it could be more complicated.

[Beardie]

V Very careful driving in a 1.6 or 1.8 should get you upto 450 on a tank of petrol. I did get 500miles once, but I could'nt live with snails pace! lol. :D

30 is well low and you need help. I get 350 on a tank of gas (cost £18) and that equates to 30 mpg gas or 60+ mpg petrol and that's with a careless driving style.

What sort of mileage has the car done and has it been serviced regular?

[Wombleman]

With daily motorway runs of 60 miles each way and a very careful right foot I can get 540 miles on a tank (more commonly around 500 if a few 80mph spots get mixed in and some town stuff) which is around the 41mpg mark on my 1.6 (or is it a 1.8!!?? see other thread).

For the lean burn to work properly it requires high revs and small throttle openings (don't labour it in 5th) engine responds with a sort of growl when it's "lean burning".

BTW the economy light never shows on my dash so I assume it's broken. 130,000 miles up.

[Lulu]

Thanks to all of you Ma, Beardie and Woble for the advice...

Yeap, it seems my car IS spending more petrol than it used to and thanks to your info, I now KNOW SO... so, I think i'm gonna have to spend some more money and ask my mechanic to have the emissions checked and give my beaute (motor) a proper service then...

and if he cannot do it, i'm sure he'll find a proper 'specialist' garage somewhere nearby for me ;) (i sure hope so anyways...!)

I shall let you all know what's gone on... And will pray that 'economy' light either comes back on of it's own accord or that he checks whether the damn light bulb's gone and needs replacing... (cannot be THAT difficult, right??!)

Okey dokey

ttfn

Lulu

[charlaph]

Did you get anywhere with this? My light went out a couple of weeks back on a run from Edinburgh from Dundee. The car seemed to lose power for half a second and when I looked at the dash I saw it go out. I slowed to 60 for a few miles as I was concerned something serious had happened, but there was no recurrence and there have been no other symptoms since, mpg hasn't been affected at all.

Does the light going out mean anything, or was it just coincidence and a blown bulb?

[avensis_man]

When i had my CArina E my light also went out...all i did to fix it was give the instrument/dash a good banging....worked light a treat :D

[Mick24]

It's normally just the bulb which blows - easy job to do.

Disconnect the Negative terminal of the Battery.

Remove the 2 self tapping screws on the black instrument facia.

Remove the 4 screws holding the dash cluster in.

Slide the cluster towards you and tip upside down to get access to the bulb and replace it.

Refit in reverse order.

With the drivers door open - reconnect the Negative Battery terminal(the Central locking will activate when you connect the Battery,and if the door is closed and keys in the ignition - you are going to look Silly)

Hope this helps you out

Congratulate yourself for saving £50 on Main Dealer prices !!

[_SBradley_]

Hi guys!

I've just bought a Carina E 2.0 GLi (1995 M). It's quite a nice car, I must say.

Anyway, reading through the owner's manual, I came across this "econodrive" thing. I didn't see this light on the drive home, and I assume the bulb is broken. (I did plenty of gentle motorway cruising at 50-70 mph.)

Could anybody tell me where, exactly, this light is? (It doesn't seem to be listed explicitly in the diagram in the manual.) (I have the dash with the tachometer.) Or a picture would be perfect. :D

Thanks! :)

[Eric B]

Hi guys!

I've just bought a Carina E 2.0 GLi (1995 M). It's quite a nice car, I must say.

Anyway, reading through the owner's manual, I came across this "econodrive" thing. I didn't see this light on the drive home, and I assume the bulb is broken. (I did plenty of gentle motorway cruising at 50-70 mph.)

Could anybody tell me where, exactly, this light is? (It doesn't seem to be listed explicitly in the diagram in the manual.) (I have the dash with the tachometer.) Or a picture would be perfect. :D

Thanks! :)

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The word economy will appear in green writing in the lower right section of the revcounter.

[dazwan]

My economy light went out the other year. I asked at the Toyota garage and they said it would be about £20 to replace it. I ordered a buld instead for about £1 and did it myself. It took me no time to change, I had a little difficulty squeezing the dial console out from behind the wheel, but all in all it was a very simple operation.