Have a 2003 Highlander. The "malfunction indicator lamp" has been on
for a couple days. The manual says "If the fuel tank is not empty or
the fuel tank cap is not loose, there is a problem somewhere in the
engine, emission control system, automatic transmission electrical
system, or warning light system itself. Contact your dealer to service
the problem."

Sure hate going to the dealer if I don't have to, and haven't seen any
problems other than the light being on. Just wondering whether this is
really something to worry about...



--

Hospitality is making people feel at home when you wish they were.

....Garrison Keillor

"Steve" <hgd@wsx.inv> wrote in message
news:72hql3h9v77snnvdhqe3ceq2g89sspf4ut@4ax.com...
> Have a 2003 Highlander. The "malfunction indicator lamp" has been on
> for a couple days. The manual says "If the fuel tank is not empty or
> the fuel tank cap is not loose, there is a problem somewhere in the
> engine, emission control system, automatic transmission electrical
> system, or warning light system itself. Contact your dealer to
> service
> the problem."
>
> Sure hate going to the dealer if I don't have to, and haven't seen
> any
> problems other than the light being on. Just wondering whether this
> is
> really something to worry about...

Unless you have someone read the fault codes, there is no way you can
determine how serious it may be. A loose gas cap will turn on the
light, so will a failing O2 sensor. As long as the light is not
flashing, you have some leeway (a flashing MIL indicates a problem
that needs immediate attention to prevent damage to another part of
the system). If the problem was a loose gas cap, the light will go
off after a few drive cycles. If it is a more serious problem it will
stay on. Some discount auto parts stores will read the fault codes for
free (AutoZone in my area is one). You could have them read the code
for you and then come back for more advice.

Ed

"Steve" <hgd@wsx.inv> wrote in message
news:72hql3h9v77snnvdhqe3ceq2g89sspf4ut@4ax.com...
> Have a 2003 Highlander. The "malfunction indicator lamp" has been on
> for a couple days. The manual says "If the fuel tank is not empty or
> the fuel tank cap is not loose, there is a problem somewhere in the
> engine, emission control system, automatic transmission electrical
> system, or warning light system itself. Contact your dealer to service
> the problem."
>
> Sure hate going to the dealer if I don't have to, and haven't seen any
> problems other than the light being on. Just wondering whether this is
> really something to worry about...
>
>
>
> --
>
> Hospitality is making people feel at home when you wish they were.
>
> ...Garrison Keillor

Autozone will pull codes for free, or hand you the scan tool and you can
pull them yourself. There is no reason to visit the dealer and PAY them to
pull codes.

I've long held that the dealership should pull codes for free at the Service
Writer's desk. If the gas cap is loose, they will send you on your way
thinking you got free service. If the gas cap is not the cause, odds favor
them getting the service call out of the "free service". In one instance,
they did nothing that deserves payment, and in the other they got a service
call that pays them.

Until the dealer service department sees things my way, take your car to
Autozone and get your codes read and reset for free. For the price the
dealer charges to pull codes twice, you can almost buy your own code reader
and pull codes as much as you want.

On Dec 10, 5:28 pm, "Jeff Strickland" <cr...@verizon.net> wrote:

>
> Until the dealer service department sees things my way, take your car to
> Autozone and get your codes read and reset for free. For the price the
> dealer charges to pull codes twice, you can almost buy your own code reader
> and pull codes as much as you want.

Myself, I usually prefer not to reset the codes in the OBD2 systems.
That way it will tell you if the problem is fixed eventually.
It will take a few drive cycles though, so I'd give it a while
depending on the particular part in question.
Of course, if you reset, it will still reset the light if the problem
remains, but you have flushed all the recent history and settings,
etc, if you reset. So it then has to relearn everything in the first
few drive cycles via the various sensors.
As an example, right after I got mine, I had a pump nozzle
malfunction when getting gas, and it didn't click off.
Gas spewed all over the side of the car, got gas in the little
vent ports, etc. This sends gas down those vent tubes and
floods the charcoal canister. It reduced the flow to a low value,
and it tripped my light.
In my case, I decided to just let it go and see if it would just
dry out on it's own. And it did. It took maybe a month or two,
but eventually it started to dry out, and quickened as it got
warmer. The light went out one time, but came back on.
Did it again later. This told me it was improving. Finally it
went out, and has never come back on so far.
I initially had the codes read at autozone, and had them
reset. But it came right back on about a day later, and I
decided to just leave it on and use it to tell me when there
was good enough flow through the evap system.
Once a OBD2 system sees that the problem is fixed, it
will turn itself off after whatever number of drive cycles.
I guess in the end it's about the same, but I don't have
the puter having to relearn everything every time it's reset.
Also, a fresh reset will fail an emission test in this state.
Not that it matters for him, just a mention in case some
consider resetting before taking a test..
That will bomb you in Tejas.. You must have some run
history stored up.
MK

<nm5k@wt.net> wrote in message
news:543bde86-c574-4c98-9715-76de0cc607e3@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
> On Dec 10, 5:28 pm, "Jeff Strickland" <cr...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> Until the dealer service department sees things my way, take your car to
>> Autozone and get your codes read and reset for free. For the price the
>> dealer charges to pull codes twice, you can almost buy your own code
>> reader
>> and pull codes as much as you want.
>
> Myself, I usually prefer not to reset the codes in the OBD2 systems.
> That way it will tell you if the problem is fixed eventually.
> It will take a few drive cycles though, so I'd give it a while
> depending on the particular part in question.

I prefer to pull the codes and reset them. If the problem was fixed, the
code will not return. No waiting ...



> Of course, if you reset, it will still reset the light if the problem
> remains, but you have flushed all the recent history and settings,
> etc, if you reset. So it then has to relearn everything in the first
> few drive cycles via the various sensors.

Resetting the error codes does not alter the settings that have been stored
through the learning process.

Steve wrote:
> Have a 2003 Highlander. The "malfunction indicator lamp" has been on
> for a couple days. The manual says "If the fuel tank is not empty or
> the fuel tank cap is not loose, there is a problem somewhere in the
> engine, emission control system, automatic transmission electrical
> system, or warning light system itself. Contact your dealer to service
> the problem."
>
> Sure hate going to the dealer if I don't have to, and haven't seen any
> problems other than the light being on. Just wondering whether this is
> really something to worry about...

Go to autozone, get the codes from the OBDII read, write down all the
codes, and get back to with them.

It's not something to worry about. However, it is something to
investigate and find out what the problem is.

Jeff

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:34:46 -0800 (PST), nm5k@wt.net wrote:

>On Dec 10, 5:28 pm, "Jeff Strickland" <cr...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> Until the dealer service department sees things my way, take your car to
>> Autozone and get your codes read and reset for free. For the price the
>> dealer charges to pull codes twice, you can almost buy your own code reader
>> and pull codes as much as you want.
>
>Myself, I usually prefer not to reset the codes in the OBD2 systems.
>That way it will tell you if the problem is fixed eventually.
>It will take a few drive cycles though, so I'd give it a while
>depending on the particular part in question.
>Of course, if you reset, it will still reset the light if the problem
>remains, but you have flushed all the recent history and settings,
>etc, if you reset. So it then has to relearn everything in the first
>few drive cycles via the various sensors.
>As an example, right after I got mine, I had a pump nozzle
>malfunction when getting gas, and it didn't click off.
>Gas spewed all over the side of the car, got gas in the little
>vent ports, etc. This sends gas down those vent tubes and
>floods the charcoal canister. It reduced the flow to a low value,
>and it tripped my light.
>In my case, I decided to just let it go and see if it would just
>dry out on it's own. And it did. It took maybe a month or two,
>but eventually it started to dry out, and quickened as it got
>warmer. The light went out one time, but came back on.
>Did it again later. This told me it was improving. Finally it
>went out, and has never come back on so far.
>I initially had the codes read at autozone, and had them
>reset. But it came right back on about a day later, and I
>decided to just leave it on and use it to tell me when there
>was good enough flow through the evap system.
>Once a OBD2 system sees that the problem is fixed, it
>will turn itself off after whatever number of drive cycles.
>I guess in the end it's about the same, but I don't have
>the puter having to relearn everything every time it's reset.
>Also, a fresh reset will fail an emission test in this state.
>Not that it matters for him, just a mention in case some
>consider resetting before taking a test..
>That will bomb you in Tejas.. You must have some run
>history stored up.
>MK
>

I might be wrong about this but I don't think resetting the code
memory in the cars computer does anything except clear the fault
history. It won't, or at least shouldn't, cause the computer to
forget the engine's run settings and shift points. Of course, if you
remove a battery post, it will clear all of the computer's memory.

We were getting packed up and ready to leave our vacation spot in S.C.
a couple of years ago. My wife took the car into town to return the
house key to the rental agent and topped off the gas tank. She didn't
get the cap on tight and it set the light. The light didn't reset
over two days and about 800 miles of driving. A week after we got
back home, my wife took the car to the dealer. He reset the code and
told her it was a loose gas cap. Oh yes, he gave her a bill for $80
plus about $5 for supplies. The car was never taken to a service bay,
the work was done by the Service Writer in the service lane.

Jack

Go to Autozone or other local parts shops that offer free OBD-2 code
reads. Write down the codes and let us know. You can google the codes
too.




On Dec 10, 5:55 am, Steve <h...@wsx.inv> wrote:
> Have a 2003 Highlander. The "malfunction indicator lamp" has been on
> for a couple days. The manual says "If the fuel tank is not empty or
> the fuel tank cap is not loose, there is a problem somewhere in the
> engine, emission control system, automatic transmission electrical
> system, or warning light system itself. Contact your dealer to service
> the problem."
>
> Sure hate going to the dealer if I don't have to, and haven't seen any
> problems other than the light being on. Just wondering whether this is
> really something to worry about...
>
> --
>
> Hospitality is making people feel at home when you wish they were.
>
> ...Garrison Keillor

On Dec 10, 7:02 pm, "Jeff Strickland" <cr...@verizon.net> wrote:

>
> Resetting the error codes does not alter the settings that have been stored
> through the learning process.

Yea, I think you all are right now that I think about it.
I'm used to running the older honda and resetting the
puter via the fuse box, or battery.
That's good that it doesn't default the engine settings.
MK

"C. E. White" <cewhite3@removemindspring.com> wrote:
>Unless you have someone read the fault codes, there is no way you can
>determine how serious it may be. A loose gas cap will turn on the
>light, so will a failing O2 sensor. As long as the light is not
>flashing, you have some leeway (a flashing MIL indicates a problem
>that needs immediate attention to prevent damage to another part of
>the system). If the problem was a loose gas cap, the light will go
>off after a few drive cycles. If it is a more serious problem it will
>stay on. Some discount auto parts stores will read the fault codes for
>free (AutoZone in my area is one). You could have them read the code
>for you and then come back for more advice. Ed

Thanks Ed. Stopped at an auto supply store and had the code read -

Bank 1, Sensor 2 - downstream oxygen sensor

Not sure what this means, or how serious it might be...


--

Frantic orthodoxy is never rooted in faith but in doubt.
It is when we are not sure that we are doubly sure.

....Reinhold Niebuhr