Engine Warning Light

[ksa]

Wondering if any other Toyota owner have the same problem as me, we have 02 Verso Auto 2.0ltr that only 1 week after having a Full Toyota Service has started having its Amber Engine Warning light appear on, and stay on with no effect to the performance at all. Have taken the car to the dealer again to get its ECU code read to be told it needs a new Cat and ECU (Only £900 + VAT + Labour!) to rectify the problem. This on a car with only 57k mile and 4 years old. Seems to me it must be some kind of design fault how can there be a problem with both, its like being told there a problem with your right wheel but you need your left wheel changing also to recify it. Have read a few similar problems on Previa modals where the cause was thought to be cat sensors. The Toyota garage is adamaent both need changing or problem won't be solved, gives me the impression this is a common problem they have had experiance in.

They also cleared the error code, and stated if it comes on again i can keep coming back to have it cleared, guess what! 2 days later light has come on again, there is still no reduction in performance or MPG, so i am loathed to spend a hell of alot of money an a warning light that causes no problems. I originally purchased a Toyota due to there reliabilty, and to be honest the car has not broke down once, but this issue is niggling me, both the ECU and Cat should last alot longer then 4 years or 57K, and how can it be that both need changing without there being a design fault issue?

:(

[martbatch]

Wondering if any other Toyota owner have the same problem as me, we have 02 Verso Auto 2.0ltr that only 1 week after having a Full Toyota Service has started having its Amber Engine Warning light appear on, and stay on with no effect to the performance at all. Have taken the car to the dealer again to get its ECU code read to be told it needs a new Cat and ECU (Only £900 + VAT + Labour!) to rectify the problem. This on a car with only 57k mile and 4 years old. Seems to me it must be some kind of design fault how can there be a problem with both, its like being told there a problem with your right wheel but you need your left wheel changing also to recify it. Have read a few similar problems on Previa modals where the cause was thought to be cat sensors. The Toyota garage is adamaent both need changing or problem won't be solved, gives me the impression this is a common problem they have had experiance in.

They also cleared the error code, and stated if it comes on again i can keep coming back to have it cleared, guess what! 2 days later light has come on again, there is still no reduction in performance or MPG, so i am loathed to spend a hell of alot of money an a warning light that causes no problems. I originally purchased a Toyota due to there reliabilty, and to be honest the car has not broke down once, but this issue is niggling me, both the ECU and Cat should last alot longer then 4 years or 57K, and how can it be that both need changing without there being a design fault issue?

:(

[martbatch]

Wondering if any other Toyota owner have the same problem as me, we have 02 Verso Auto 2.0ltr that only 1 week after having a Full Toyota Service has started having its Amber Engine Warning light appear on, and stay on with no effect to the performance at all. Have taken the car to the dealer again to get its ECU code read to be told it needs a new Cat and ECU (Only £900 + VAT + Labour!) to rectify the problem. This on a car with only 57k mile and 4 years old. Seems to me it must be some kind of design fault how can there be a problem with both, its like being told there a problem with your right wheel but you need your left wheel changing also to recify it. Have read a few similar problems on Previa modals where the cause was thought to be cat sensors. The Toyota garage is adamaent both need changing or problem won't be solved, gives me the impression this is a common problem they have had experiance in.

They also cleared the error code, and stated if it comes on again i can keep coming back to have it cleared, guess what! 2 days later light has come on again, there is still no reduction in performance or MPG, so i am loathed to spend a hell of alot of money an a warning light that causes no problems. I originally purchased a Toyota due to there reliabilty, and to be honest the car has not broke down once, but this issue is niggling me, both the ECU and Cat should last alot longer then 4 years or 57K, and how can it be that both need changing without there being a design fault issue?

:(

Hello KSA,

My Avensis 2.0 Automatic(March 02) lit up its engine warning light one week before going in for a booked service in December 2005. I also lived in Camberley then.

However, at the service they told me that it needed a new oxygen sensor but that they did not have one and had reset the ECU and it might be OK now????? Before I even got off the forecourt of Inchcape Toyota Sandhurst the light came on again. I went back in and told them and they said that they would order one and phone me when it arrives. After a week and no call I called them and they assured me that it would be in within 2 days, which it was. They replaced the sensor at a charge of £200 including labour and VAT which took them all of 20 minutes. I complained to Inchcape that I was unhappy that the sensor had failed so early as the car had travelled less than 30,000 miles at the time and had always been serviced by a Toyota main dealer. They told me to write to Toyota and suggest that they make a contribution as the engine was so young. They wrote back and said tough, I should have taken out an extended warranty. The car was 3.5 years old at the time of the fault.

Like you I could not detect any change in performance of the car, in fact I seemed to get slightly better fuel consumption with the fault present.

Today I was driving a few miles to the next village and the light came on again. Apparently last time the heater in the oxygen sensor had failed rather than the sensor itself but the ECU detected that the startup oxygen levels were incorrectly measured before the sensor reached 600 deg C.

It seems remarkable that your car should need such radical repairs in a relatively new car. I would suggest that you try another garage and see what they say. I am going to check out the heater in the Oxygen sensor before I submit the car to my now local Toyota dealer.

[ksa]

Hi Martbatch, Thanks for your reply.

I mentioned the Oxygen sensors to the Toyota Service guy how ever he categorically said from the error code given both Cat and ECU need replacing, howver he also said he'd reset the ECU and evrything may now be fine, only think about replacing if performance dips.

On one of the Previa forums one guy had all sensors replaced (apparently there are 4 on Previa) and light still came back on, he'd spent £700 to solve nothing.

Think i'm gong to send Toyota a letter also, this problem is not normal.

I've swithced my warning light off again by disconnecting the Battery for 10 secounds, funny that as i was categorically told by the Toyota service centre that this would not work on this model and that i need to keep taking it in to get code cleared, not sure why as there was no charge for it. Light has not come on again yet, both times before i have been doing over 70mph when light came on, so maybe next time i'm on motorway it may reappear.

[Benjamin]

Hi Martbatch, Thanks for your reply.

I mentioned the Oxygen sensors to the Toyota Service guy how ever he categorically said from the error code given both Cat and ECU need replacing, howver he also said he'd reset the ECU and evrything may now be fine, only think about replacing if performance dips.

On one of the Previa forums one guy had all sensors replaced (apparently there are 4 on Previa) and light still came back on, he'd spent £700 to solve nothing.

Think i'm gong to send Toyota a letter also, this problem is not normal.

I've swithced my warning light off again by disconnecting the battery for 10 secounds, funny that as i was categorically told by the Toyota service centre that this would not work on this model and that i need to keep taking it in to get code cleared, not sure why as there was no charge for it. Light has not come on again yet, both times before i have been doing over 70mph when light came on, so maybe next time i'm on motorway it may reappear.

Hi there

I`m on to my second Avensis verso both auto/ petrol, within 10 months, I thought I share my experiences so that others can know what is serious and what not.

The first car was an Avensis verso 2002 with 87,000 motorway miles and full dealer service history, given Toyota reliability should be fine.

However, within two months of ownership it developed 1- faulty starter motor (not jumping back thereby causing an overcrank sound)2- clicking sound when turning (of all my previous cars I have never had to replace ball joints at this mileage )3- not changing down gear on acceleration 4- cutting out right after starting engine (apparently the fuel distributor valves were blocked by dirt from the fuel, but why than did this reappear after being cleaned ??) 5- engine light coming on, I twice tried to repair the cutting out issue, being the most serious issue, spending considerable sums only for the fault to reappear shortly after, I then repaired the clicking sound at a cost of £1,100 (was an MOT fault ) but when the other faults came on I gave up and part exchanged for a 2004 model, this time with only 19,000 miles still under the 3 year warranty, thought my last experience was due to a abused car or high mileage, I have to say the lead time for Toyota to take on the repairs, and the lack of curtsey vehicle greatly aggravated the whole experience.

Now I expected a problem free car, well the day after, the alarm did not stop ringing, and that clicking sound I had on my first car was clearly there, booked it in with Toyota who sat on it for 4 weeks, whilst they fixed the clicking sound they were not able to identify the alarm fault (they said they could not find an alarm component ????) they insisted that these cars don’t come with an alarm and gave it back to me, after kicking up a huge fuss, they took it back and fixed it, “Weird” is all I can say , I shall bear this experience in mind when considering a Toyota extended warranty.

A few weeks ago, I had the light come on, oh no I thought, what’s now ? I booked it in again,but with the lead time being so long, the light tuned itself off a day prior, so noting was detected but the did mention something about the sensor, now, I had in 10 month two cars who had the same fault both less than 5 years old, I would say Its just an oversensitive sensor and ignore it, I have since spoken to a friend who purchased the same model and had the light come on, so this is clearly a common issue so is the worn ball joint that are costly to repair a very common fault unfortunately one that cannot be ignored, and before I finish, that Gear box is not smooth at all with these models.

However, I question my previous assumption that Toyota cars are reliable, clearly something has changed over the last 3-4 years, a true disappointment.

[gcopland]

Hi Martbatch, Thanks for your reply.

I mentioned the Oxygen sensors to the Toyota Service guy how ever he categorically said from the error code given both Cat and ECU need replacing, howver he also said he'd reset the ECU and evrything may now be fine, only think about replacing if performance dips.

On one of the Previa forums one guy had all sensors replaced (apparently there are 4 on Previa) and light still came back on, he'd spent £700 to solve nothing.

Think i'm gong to send Toyota a letter also, this problem is not normal.

I've swithced my warning light off again by disconnecting the battery for 10 secounds, funny that as i was categorically told by the Toyota service centre that this would not work on this model and that i need to keep taking it in to get code cleared, not sure why as there was no charge for it. Light has not come on again yet, both times before i have been doing over 70mph when light came on, so maybe next time i'm on motorway it may reappear.

Hello KSA,

I have an Avensis 1.8 VVT-i which has the same problem. The engine management light has been on for a while now but, as with your experiences, there is no reduction in performance, power, mpg etc. As far as I can tell all seems to be running as normal.

When I took the car to Mr T they told me the oxygen sensor was faulty and needed replacing, again £200 to unplug, unscrew and then the reverse to put a new one in! It hasn't been done as I can find nothing wrong and there are people on the forum who have had all four sensors replaced at £200 each only to find it was something else in the system causing the sensor to acknowledge the fault (Toyota then seem to just assume the sensor is a fault).

I have a test unit to check the sensor but have just not got around to doing it as yet.

[uumode]

When I took the car to Mr T they told me the oxygen sensor was faulty and needed replacing, again £200 to unplug, unscrew and then the reverse to put a new one in! It hasn't been done as I can find nothing wrong and there are people on the forum who have had all four sensors replaced at £200 each only to find it was something else in the system causing the sensor to acknowledge the fault (Toyota then seem to just assume the sensor is a fault).

I have a test unit to check the sensor but have just not got around to doing it as yet.

This is a common problem with VW cars too, and started with mine, but I decided to trade in since I didn't want to get into this escalating spiral of systematically changing sensors and still finding out that the problem is still there with an expensive diagnostic bill.

So now I have a Toyota, I wasn't expecting it, but from this thread it is common as well :(

I did find this http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/techinfo/oxyg...&country=US

so maybe the rise of the faulty sensors is due to these new 'high tech' fuels which 'clean' the engine?

[Starensis]

Guys,

I have recently changed my O2 sensor on my 2001 Avensis. Fortunately my son works for a dealership & was able to read the code.

I acquired ( ask no questions ) 2 new sensors & fitted them myself in less than 45 mins.

They are very easy to change if you buy the correct ones ( believe they are £80 ). All you need is 22mm ring spanner. Have seen some sites doing them for £60.

I had to re-crimp terminals onto mine as they were not OEM parts. Still only took me 1 hour in total.

You CAN cancel codes by either removing EFI fuse in engine bay fuse box for 2 mins ( Ignition must be off ) or removing Battery -ve lead.

So if you are prepared to DIY you could save yourself a small fortune & stick 2 fingers up to the dealerships who are obviously trying to rip people off.

[evltwnn]

Gentlemen, I am new to this forum thing so forgive me if this obvious but I do not see any codes listed in any of the questions or responses. In the first part I am assuming a code p0420. But then it turns into a possible p0171. Both of which can be caused by a faulty airflow meter. What needs to be done to diagnose the problem correctly is to connect a scanner to the vehicle and monitor the fuel trims and the calculated load readings. Fuel trim readings should remain stable at idle and at part throttle cruise. The perfect target is 0% with + - 10 percent normal for altitude and ambient condition compensation. If fuel trim readings start to climb up to 15-20 percent this is an indication the ecm is compensating for something abnormal but no code will be set. Anything over +25 percent will set a code p0171. On early models p0171 does not indicate bank one but rather a system over lean condition and the fuel trims have climbed over the specified amount of normal correction factor.

To further check the airflow meter the calculated load reading should be monitored on a wide open throttle acceleration. This must be performed on the road. Drive the vehicle at 10 miles per hour and accelerate up to 60 miles per hour. The calculated load reading must reach 85% or more. If the calculated load reading does not go to 85% the airflow meter may be faulty. Monitor the fuel trim readings. In most cases if the airflow meter is faulty the readings will be normal or negative slightly at idle and climb on a part throttle cruise.

A faulty airflow meter and a faulty oxygen sensor/air fuel ratio sensors can cause a code p0171 and code p0420.

If the vehicle is setting a code p0420 monitor the fuel trim readings at idle and at part throttle cruise. If they climb. Inspect the systems explained. If they remain stable monitor the oxygen sensors. If they are good. replace them anyways. cause, in my eyes... I firmly believe the junk gas is where this all spawns from. The fuel contaminates the oxygen sensors which start to operate slowly, this causes the catlytic converters to fail.

In many, if not all cases this problem can be cured without replacing the catalytic converter. What I have had great success with is to kill spark on one cylinder by grounding the C.O.P or the spark plug wire by putting a screwdriver in the end of it and grounding it. Run the vehicle at 3000 rpm's for 3 or so minutes to heat the catalytic converter up to a much hotter than normal running temperature. This burns of residue (kinda like self clean on your oven but without setting off the fire alarms...BUT Screw this up and you can burn the car down so don't get crazy... I have never seen this in thousands of times of doing this procedure but I see things I have never seen every day.) off the catalytic converter and will bring most back to life.

No your dealer or corner garage didnt check this stuff when throwing parts at it. Do yourself a favor to prevent this from coming back.... Good gas and beat your car a little more. The cats should be heated by wide open throttle bursts every chance you get... Well maybe not every time but you get the point...

I hope this helps, Heck I hope this works. I am not used to this key board and I think I made more corrections on this one reply than in a year on my normal key board.

Guys,

I have recently changed my O2 sensor on my 2001 Avensis. Fortunately my son works for a dealership & was able to read the code.

I acquired ( ask no questions ) 2 new sensors & fitted them myself in less than 45 mins.

They are very easy to change if you buy the correct ones ( believe they are £80 ). All you need is 22mm ring spanner. Have seen some sites doing them for £60.

I had to re-crimp terminals onto mine as they were not OEM parts. Still only took me 1 hour in total.

You CAN cancel codes by either removing EFI fuse in engine bay fuse box for 2 mins ( Ignition must be off ) or removing battery -ve lead.

So if you are prepared to DIY you could save yourself a small fortune & stick 2 fingers up to the dealerships who are obviously trying to rip people off.

[Mackers]

I got an Avensis 1.8VVT-i 'X'Reg, and the engine light came on last week,

Showing:

Mass Air Flow Fault,

Air Temp Fault,

Bank 1 Sensor 1 Fault

and NO power in the car.

So i took it to toyota they plugged it on and said it was the MAF Sensor on the air box playing up and it was inturn setting the rest off, anyways ordered the sensor (goes into the airbox lid) and replaced it meself £93(2 phillips screws), took it back got it cleared and sorted....... cept lack of power.

Took it to a mates........ seeing as the light was now off and he's ok with cars himself. only to find out the lack of power is a knackered CAT...... you could hear debris in the cat when ya knocked it and when idleing, so ordered tha t(another £230) and had it fitted, but when changing it looked up the pipes of the manifold and "MANIVERTER" i have 2 cats...... lucky eh??? to find 1 section with the "normal" hunnycone section in it and the other empty, but not a mak inside to indicate that there was a cat matrix in there to begin with, cars back got the power and runs ok...brill............

.....

.....

..... until a few days later, when the light comes back on with the car spitting small clouds of blue/black smoke only occasionally and at a certain rev it's popping too, (jus like it does on de-celleration), the same mate says to book it in with TOYOTA..... hmmmmmmmm, and pay silly prices...... NO, any idea's whats up, me mate recons it could be a burnt valve or somat, my god father (a mechanic) won't touch it when the light is on, so i'm a but stuck ATM.

Basically if i need a new bank 1 sensor 1 it'll cost about £130 and the maniverter will set me back £530, along with whatever is causing me to burn a bit of oil, nice xmas eh???

ANY HELP APPRICIATED.

Wayne.

[ksa]

Mackers

Sounds like a totally differant fault to mine, as i don't have any dip in performance what so ever.

Fault codes given are:-

P0420 Catalysts system efficiency below threshold (Bank 1)

P0430 (Bank 2)

The dealership representative finally explained to me that from guidance Toyota have made available, is that it’s a known problem which occurs when a vehicle is run at a constant steady rate over long distances, basically if you drive the car in an environmentally friendly way over long distance, something to do with the peeks in the ECU / Cat thresholds. Its basically a design fault.

The repair required to rectify this problem is the replacement of both Exhaust Manifold (Cat) and the ECU.

ECU £395.15 +VAT

Cat £404.28 + VAT

Labour £120 + VAT

However it has no detrimental effect to the running of the car.

Currently arguing the toss with Toyota to try and get them to contribute to repairs.

[silverarrow]

hi all clean you maf with electrical cleaner no residue !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[FrostyJack]

I have similar problems, except when my engine warning light comes I lose all power. The engine dosen't die or cut out. I still have power steering and brakes, just no power. I have to stop the car switch off and restart. I have also noticed an intermittent lag from when I put my foot down on the accellerator and the actual acceleration. This has all started after for the first time I didn't get the car serviced by Toyota. I have a mate who is handy enough with cars to do a service. we changed oil, fuel, air filters. Is there something else that should be done on a basic service? Excuse my mechanical ignorance

[ksa]

Frosty jack

Funny that but my problem started 20k after the purchase mileage, one of my thoughts was that it was a reminder for the 20K Service.

Not so apparently.

When i first phone toyota garage about the problem i was half way down to Dorset on a camping hol, the guy informed me that unless there is a noticeable differance in performance it should not be a problem to carry on with holiday and bring car in when i get back.

Sounds like your problem does give a drop in power, i'd take it in to have code read if i was you, our local dealer read these for free.

Let me know how you get on.

KSA

[igormus]

Hi Martbatch, Thanks for your reply.

I mentioned the Oxygen sensors to the Toyota Service guy how ever he categorically said from the error code given both Cat and ECU need replacing, howver he also said he'd reset the ECU and evrything may now be fine, only think about replacing if performance dips.

On one of the Previa forums one guy had all sensors replaced (apparently there are 4 on Previa) and light still came back on, he'd spent £700 to solve nothing.

Think i'm gong to send Toyota a letter also, this problem is not normal.

I've swithced my warning light off again by disconnecting the battery for 10 secounds, funny that as i was categorically told by the Toyota service centre that this would not work on this model and that i need to keep taking it in to get code cleared, not sure why as there was no charge for it. Light has not come on again yet, both times before i have been doing over 70mph when light came on, so maybe next time i'm on motorway it may reappear.

hi

i am also interested to send a mail to Toyota in Derby.

In case you had got it please mail to (engine@seaborn.com.ua)

thanks ever so much

[TheOtherDamion]

Our Merry Christmas from Inchcape Toyota in Oxford was the £100 (!!!!!!!!!!!) they charged my wife to download the codes and switch off the light followed by a very similar sounding £1100 estimate to replace the ECU and CAT.

ksa - Did you ever get anywhere with getting Toyota to admit a design fault/share the costs?

evltwnn - thanks for this fantastic diagnostic info. I don't think we were offered this by Inchcape - however, if they're charging £100 for downloading the codes, who knows what they'd charge for all that.

Anyone got any other ideas on this apart from what is already in this thread? Anyone had any good experiences with their Toyota and garages around Oxford?I'm tempted to see whether it comes back on again before doing anything drastically expensive.... and maybe drive it a bit harder instead of trying to save petrol (great design feature that!).

[ksa]

Our Merry Christmas from Inchcape Toyota in Oxford was the £100 (!!!!!!!!!!!) they charged my wife to download the codes and switch off the light followed by a very similar sounding £1100 estimate to replace the ECU and CAT.

ksa - Did you ever get anywhere with getting Toyota to admit a design fault/share the costs?

evltwnn - thanks for this fantastic diagnostic info. I don't think we were offered this by Inchcape - however, if they're charging £100 for downloading the codes, who knows what they'd charge for all that.

Anyone got any other ideas on this apart from what is already in this thread? Anyone had any good experiences with their Toyota and garages around Oxford?I'm tempted to see whether it comes back on again before doing anything drastically expensive.... and maybe drive it a bit harder instead of trying to save petrol (great design feature that!).

Regarding Toyota after numerous letters they offered to pay £500 towards cost of replacement ECU and Cat. Could not face paying the other £600+ though out of disgust with them that they had effectively owned up to it being a design fault but not offering to rectify their own mistake in full.

When it comes to change the car i'll just have to bear that in mind.

Did you not try just disconnecting the -ive Battery supply to rmove warning light, this works on mine, well untill the next time light appears. To be fair my garage charged nothing any way to remove fault codes, maybe they just diconnected -ve also?

[Steve-martin]

I have had a new engine fitted under warranty because of the oil fault with the VVT-i engine all was fine before the new engine but now I to am getting the engine light coming up, and yep it's the cat & ecu, I recently took out the Toyota 2 year extended warranty with unlimited mileage,

My question is does anyone know if this would be covered under that warranty.

[napple]

DELETED

[d15]

hi my uncle avensis also has this problem.

same story light comes on took it to toyota they done some downloading ecu thing then charged £100 then said if it comes on again will need new ecu and cat £600+

so yeah i'm on a mad hunt to try and solve this problem with out going back to toyota. tempted to try and just disconnect the earth.

i dont think his car looses any power

[FLYINGJETMAN321]

Area Application : Europe

Model Name : YARIS, TOYOTA RAV4, AVENSIS VERSO, PICNIC, PREVIA,

TARAGO

Model Code : ALL

Subject : Handling of DTC "P0420/P0430" Case by Models

This service bulletin is to inform you on how to handle "DTC P0420 / P0430" cases for Yaris, Previa /

Tarago, RAV4, Avensis Verso / Picnic.

DESCRIPTION OF PHENOMENON

• Engine MIL ON.

• Code P0420 or P0430 in the engine ECU.

• No influence on driveability or engine performance.

The above Toyota Service Bulletin was issued in May 2005, as you can see it not only affects the Previa but a lot of other models as well. The fact Toyota issued this bulletin proves that they knew there was a problem, yet only last month Toyota GB Customer Services denied any knowledge of it! A faulty batch of catalytic converters fitted to the Toyota range means they are not fit for purpose and under the Sale of Goods Act you can take the retailer to court if this fault occurs within 6 years of purchase. A new cat will cost between £1200-1400, making a claim through the small claims court will cost £60-70 and can be done on-line at https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp Make sure you read the leaflets, or even better make an appoinment with your local Trading Standards Office. The bulletin goes on to state;

"If, based on the sensor signals, you judge catalyst is not working properly, replace catalyst and not the O2 sensors".

This is a copy of a thread on the Previa forum please see

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...=20#entry722352

and if you want to do something about it go to to;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/tv_and_radio...transport.shtml

[simon howells]

Area Application : Europe

Model Name : YARIS, TOYOTA RAV4, AVENSIS VERSO, PICNIC, PREVIA,

TARAGO

Model Code : ALL

Subject : Handling of DTC "P0420/P0430" Case by Models

This service bulletin is to inform you on how to handle "DTC P0420 / P0430" cases for Yaris, Previa /

Tarago, RAV4, Avensis Verso / Picnic.

DESCRIPTION OF PHENOMENON

• Engine MIL ON.

• Code P0420 or P0430 in the engine ECU.

• No influence on driveability or engine performance.

The above Toyota Service Bulletin was issued in May 2005, as you can see it not only affects the Previa but a lot of other models as well.

My amber light came on Saturday on my 02/Verso GS and the dealership informed me today that codes P0420 and P0430 were present which was diagnosed as requiring a new CAT. Has anyone managed to hold toyota's 'toes to the fire' and get the work done as good will. I am sure this will set a precedence? How have people approached this, via their local dealership or via Toyota UK head office customer service?

[txs]

The dealership representative finally explained to me that from guidance Toyota have made available, is that it’s a known problem which occurs when a vehicle is run at a constant steady rate over long distances, basically if you drive the car in an environmentally friendly way over long distance, something to do with the peeks in the ECU / Cat thresholds. Its basically a design fault.

The repair required to rectify this problem is the replacement of both Exhaust Manifold (Cat) and the ECU.

Hey ksa,

Thanks for the info. I am seeing the same symptoms and my driving pattern is similar to your description (long distance, constant rate). The light first came on for me on a 600-mile trip... with the cruise control and stops only for gas. Do you have any more information on the Toyota design fault? I'm curious how you were able to get the information out of the dealer. Thanks!

[gutsysean]

Hi,

My 2lt Avensis sr 2001 which is excellent condition has its engine management light on. The light has been on for some time with no obvious problems, however recently i have noticed that the car is drinking fuel and at around 45 mph starts to shudder. The shudder is not in the steering wheel but from the engine.

The car has only done 55 000 miles so i decided to let the dealer look at it.

As many of you have already reported, the outcome was two out of the four oxy sensors have failed and that is causing the problems. Also a relay switch was needed. He did suggest that in most cases the cat may have failed or is on its way out. The cat being between £500-£600 on its own. The price for the sensors was £411.00 all in.

The first thing i done was jump on here and check with you guys and i was shocked to read your reviews. I was then placed in an difficult position as i love the car so much but did not want to be ripped offto sort out the problem.

I did consider selling it but that did not last long.

I contacted my dealer again and told him what i had read on this site and he appeared shocked. I told him that it apears that Toyota are ripping off their customers and i was unsure whether to trust them. He has ensured me that they are not in the habit of lying to their customers and will only suggest work that is needed.

I have decided to have the work done tomorrow. Fingers crossed all will be well. I will be back to let you know how it went.

[Muarrif]

I have TOYOTA Avensis TS-3 2003 model

Engine icon on the dash came on and I took the car in to local dealership garage who advised me that the ECU needs to be replaced. In total it cost me £900+ just to get this done.

EXPENSIVE !!!

However my Battery had to be replaced three times since. Each time TOYOTA told me that the Battery was faulty

Not sure if the two are related.