CEL question

[SolDoubt]

Recently my CEL came on so I was wondering if you guys could help me out. I had jsut taken a 1200 mile trip to Canada so, when i got back my car was due for another oil change. my trip meter from my last oil changed read about 3100 miles and i check the oil and it was running on low. So i was goin to Autozone to pick up a oil filter and when i came out, i found that the CEL came on. So i thought it might have been just that i was low on oil. So i go home and changed my oil seemed it burned bout a quart blah blah. I go and start the car and the CEL is still on. So question is....if the problem indeed was the oil level, would the CEL have automatically turned off or do i still need to bring to a dealer and get it checked or unplug the battery and reset it? Thanx in advance

BTW i have a 2000 i4 Solara

[Turbosolara]

I think there just a slight chance that your oil level is correlate with the check engine light. unless your dipstick was complete dry when you took it out from the hole. if you just lose a quart i would think thats normal for 5sfe because it leak out from the valve cover gasket in the back of the motor. that's a common problem for the 5sfe motor.

just disconnect your battery for 10 minutes and you will rest your ecu.

otherwise you have to use OBDII code reader to read the trouble code to see what is the problem

[kubi]

You were AT Autozone when the CEL came on, should have had them read the code.

[SolDoubt]

Ya when i was at autozone i didnt know they could check the CEL code. i thought i had to bring it to a dealer to get it read, so i came home and checked good ol' solaraguy and found out lol. anyways do you guys know if it costs anything to get it read and if they fix the problem for you as well? besides the water leaking from my AC everything seems to be fine so i might just disconnect the battery and see if it comes up again.

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

I'm not saying that canadian gas sucks, but bad gas can create CEL light to go on....Its happened to my camry once when we went to San Antonio. Nothing was wrong with it..and nothings been wrong with it since i reset the ECU!

[Turbosolara]

water dripping from the condensor is normal too. that is condensed water. however, if the liquid has color then there is something wrong for sure

[SolDoubt]

Ya im sure it is water touched it and looked clear to me (didnt think i needed to taste it lol). But the canadian gas i had running home was 87 . Im a poor college kid and gas is so much more expensive in Canada so i just got the cheapest kind thinking my car runs fine on 89 anyways. So i made an appointment with toyota with a friend of mines uncle, who works there. I dont think it should be that big of a problem and i can get it fixed now. Thanx guys for all the help

[SolaraT]

Make sure you get the code cleared. disco/reco of the battery only resets but the code is still stored in memory until it is properly cleared. Just a tip. Not mandatory but still.

[SolDoubt]

hey fellas,

well, I was taking my car to the toyota dealer to get my CEL code checked. On the way there I still remember I saw the CEL light on, but when i got to the dealer to my astonishment ....... had turned off. Well since I was there I thought i should get it checked out anyways. So my friends uncle told me the code read sumtin like "Transmission Silicone blah blah". I didnt quite understand the terminology he was using, but he told me that it could just be a fault on the part of the ECU or sumtin. However, he also told me if there was a problem that i might need to change the transmission . Now this is a TOYOTA!! with only 45k miles on it, do you guys really think there could be a problem with the transmission already? Anyone else remember having a similiar problem with their transmission?

O ya, well since i was so worried about my car i thought i would drive back home with no radio on or anything, jsut listening to the weak hum of my 5sfe. I couldnt hear anything wrong with the engine, but i noticed that when i was driving about 60mph my car didnt shift Now if i remember correctly the car would shift at around 60mph to 3rd gear (?). I tried letting off the gas a little which usually gives the engine a chance to shift but nothing.... i stayed riding at 60mph-65mph with the engine running at 3.5k rpm. This is getting me really worried that there really is a problem with my transmission now .

My friend's uncle told me to bring it back in a few days to have someone else check on it more thoroughly, but just wanted to see what you guys thought.
Thanx guys any input would be greatly appreciated.

[SolaraT]

Your overdrive is busted. no way you should be that high up the rpm at that speed. Maybee 80 mph if that.
you should already be in 4th @ 45-50mph

[SolDoubt]

my overdrive is busted . Crap so it does have to do with the transmission. ahhhhhh those are b*tches to repair. Do you guys know how long a standard powertrain warranty is on Toyota vehicles back in 2000? Thats the only way i can hope to possible replace a transmission.

[SolaraT]

Your done at 48k / 48 months

I also got a 2000 and I'm done. Got 52k and almost 60 months.

Not sure about cali though.

[SC V6]

any mods??? I ran high boost and fried my overdrive clutches

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

my Es tranny failed on me and i got it replaced with the powertrain warranty!

[SolDoubt]

Ahhh i bought my solara used and its 2004 right now and i have 45k miles on it. Think the dealer will let it slide if its just over the warranty?

O ya i was searching around for the warranty information and i came across this http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/spec_engines.aspx?modelid=1570&trimid=-1&src=vip for a 2000 Toyota Solara CONVERTIBLE. At the bottom it says the powertrain warranty is 60 months/60k miles. Someone please tell me this is correct !!! I dont want to have to call the dealer about this and them lying to me about my warranty or something