Engine Management Dash Light.

[Uncle Bob]

Out and about in the Rav yesterday, and noticed the engine management dash light was on, the motor still driving fine so not sure how serious a problem it is , anyway as its under warranty , it goes in on Wednesday to be inspected and (hopefully) fixed.

I'm told by young Shutty that the oxygen sensor can play up, and if it wont unscrew out of the downpipe,they have to replace that as well :( .

Question for you guys, have you had the same light come up, and what did the dealer find was the problem? .

[Uncle Bob]

I've cancelled the visit to the dealer as the light went off yesterday ,and has stayed off today as well. :)

I'm sure they can check the computer for previous faults, when it goes in for a service in a few months time .

[AMH]

Result so far - keep us posted after the dealer service download - probably need to mention it directly to them so they do the correct system checks mind :)

[Uncle Bob]

Spoke to a Toyota mechanic the other day ,and he said its seems to be the low milage/low user Rav4's that get the oxygen sensors problem, and as i only use my motor once a week, its a potential problem i'll to live with :( .

[Percydood]

The engine light can come on for any number of reasons and you won't know what it is until you have it checked on a diagnostic tester.

I'm surprised that it's gone off again but the car probably keeps a memory (called KAM or Keep Alive Memory) so any faults it finds it stores. Normally the procedure to find out if it's a permanent fault is to read the errors and make a note of them, clear the faults, drive the car again and test it again. If the fault reappears, there is a genuine fault that is permanent.

It sounds to me like the car recognised a fault that it considered to be serious enough to put the dash light on but then it cleared. This could be a poor connection to an important sensor. But as I said, it should keep a memory of it.

I took my 1997 RAV4 5 door to Toyota recently and they reported no faults, permanent or recorded which they said was unusual since a car of that age and mileage would normally show several oxygen sensor faults but the engine light has never come on. So it would seem, if it's not really important, the car may not tell you about it.

Incidentally, I had the engine light come on on my Saxo some years ago after I coasted down a hill, in gear with the ignition off. After a few days, the light went off and Citroen (sometime later) said there were no faults reported.

I guess it could just be one of those things.

If you are able, I would suggest getting it tested in case you have an intermittent fault. Without wishing to worry you, if it went completey and became permenant, it MAY (and this really is a worst case and probably unlikely) leave you stranded.

Hope this helps.

Percy.

[stay_aliveuk]

I've cancelled the visit to the dealer as the light went off yesterday ,and has stayed off today as well. :)

I'm sure they can check the computer for previous faults, when it goes in for a service in a few months time .

My light came on yesterday (Sunday) for no apparent reason, spoilt my Sunday night thinking about it. Decided I would leave it a couple of days to see if would clear itself like yours. Still on this morning but went out when I started up tonight. Car is running fine so I think I will leave it at that.

I sometimes think these things happen because of a blip in the system and it triggers the light. The ECU then monitors the situation and decides after a while that it was a blip and nothing else and extiguishers the light again.

[Uncle Bob]

If mine comes on again , i plan to do a run down my local motorway, as i'm sure its the oxygen sensors getting dirty due to winter weather and lack of long runs. in the same breath i will get it checked out before the warranty runs out