I have a 2003 Toyota Tacoma V6 with 27K miles, The Check engine light came on when driving home from work so I stopped at autozone and scanned it since it was on the way home (thinking it was just a loose gas cap or something) Anyway it scanned that the O2 sensor was not functioning or something of the sort. I was wondering can it cause any damage to drive like this for a few days? Also, Why the heck would a toyota ("king of reliability") have bad o2 sensor at such low miles? Its a little disturbing. I was on another forum and someone posted to reset the computer, because sometimes they just throw error codes, and see if it comes back. Well I didnt want to reset it so toyota can retrieve the information. I am assuming its better to just leave the CEL on until they read it. Will they replace it or just reset the computer? Dang things are expensive (over 200.00 each) Although it is covered under warranty.
Bad to drive with a CEL from an O2 sensor?
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A few days will not hurt however a long period ie months will damage the cat converter.
Remember Toyota's are statically reliable meaning your chances are less of issues however you can have many problems. On the same note a known troublesome car like a new VW Beetle can be problem free.
Remember Toyota's are statically reliable meaning your chances are less of issues however you can have many problems. On the same note a known troublesome car like a new VW Beetle can be problem free.
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The ECU will generally remember codes, even if the ECU is "reset" by disconnecting the battery. Disconnecting the battery does not clear codes.
You may well want to disconnect the battry for half an hour and see if the CEL comes again on.
O2 sensors can go bad for various reasons. Check the electric connectors.
Any vac leaks or an air leak between the MAF sensor and throttlebody will also cause a lean code/lack of O2 switching code.
They don't make their own O2 sensors. I wouldn't view the failure of an O2 sensor supplied by an outside vendor as having anything to do with the automaker's reliability. Especially when it's almost guaranteed to be the same O2 sensor as goes in other automaker's vehicles, with only the end connector being different.
I'd take it to the dealer and let them fix it. They may just try disco'ing the battery which may clear it possibly, but it may also come back to haunt you later. They will have it documented at the current mileage if nothing else...emissions parts have a longer warranty than the rest of the vehicle anyway. The previous comment about this affecting the cat is true...holding off on any maintenance of this sort may come back and bite you further down the road, maybe after that extended emmisions warranty..
so like Larry the cable guy says (git-r-done...)
Toyota's are good, but everything has it's bad days.
so like Larry the cable guy says (git-r-done...)
Toyota's are good, but everything has it's bad days.
Disconnecting the battery does clear codes, but if the sensor is bad it will set a new code.
If the CEL is ON, your engine is running on LIMP mode. That is, it is injecting a predetermined amount of fuel instead of making fine mixture adjustments +/- 20% according to the O2 sensor.
My friend's 2004 Honda had a bad O2 sensor, no big deal. Get it fixed, his car ran a lot better with the new sensor.
If the CEL is ON, your engine is running on LIMP mode. That is, it is injecting a predetermined amount of fuel instead of making fine mixture adjustments +/- 20% according to the O2 sensor.
My friend's 2004 Honda had a bad O2 sensor, no big deal. Get it fixed, his car ran a lot better with the new sensor.
I took it in today, definately needed a new sensor, only one of the two though. Hopefully I can get some better fuel economy to once it is installed. I have only been able to get 19mpg tops anyway and I think toyota says 21-22 for the V6 tacoma. They are fixing it under warranty.
Yeah I understand but I had one of these "gems" www.dontwearthemark.com before my truck and I traded in the spyder to get a tried and true platform, the tacoma
sorry dont know how that stupid link got in there (was on aols pope page) here is the one I wanted http://www.spyderchat.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=46
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