Power Loss From CEL Light is true

[DatSRBoi]

I finnally got a chance to sit down and talk to a toyota technician friend of mine and learned something.. Like lately you guys notice how I kept posting stuff about my car loosing to cars I use to and should beat everytime.. Yet I kept saying I was getting slower.. I talked to the toyota tech guy and he didnt beleive me.. So we went for a quick ride and BAMM.... I finally now agree and CONFIRM that ALL CEL Lights WILL PUT the solara into safe Mode.. So it does exist.. Just in case someone didnt know..

Some questions since I didnt have a chance to ask the guy is...
a)How much power lost are you talking about on CEL lights
b)How can we get rid of a specific PO135 code..

For the power part he said sometime you will notice gas going out faster while other time you seem to be saving gas.. Its because the car is trying to fix itself... But its still in Safe Mode where power is lost..
For the code part he said the same thing few solara on here are saying that toyota makers dont like people to tamper their programming so even the littlest can stir the car into "safe mode"


My solution for the time being.... Im going to find them OBDII like JoeB recomended to me and have it hook to a laptop of mine.. It will be left in the car plugged in permanately so when I drive I can clear the code right away. Was told clearing the code will put car back on normal as if fresh..

Last thing is does anyone know how much power loss we are talking about here? There were two LS Hatch back civics... Stock motor and all. It was told with a good driver its still high 15s.. I raced the first one but CEL light I think wasnt on at that time yet since I just finished doing the solara that day.. Killed it.. Raced another one week later with same setup with all tuneup done to my car.. CEL light was on..and it rape me start to finish... Both hatch were same built.. The first hatch I race could beat the second hatch that killed me... So yeah...bad.

Has anyone took their car to the track with their CEL light on before? And tried running with it then tried running it again after clearing it?

[dominoSLEV6]

This is interesting, it makes me wonder.

I'm trying hard to rmember whether or not my CEL was on before or after the first time I went to the track.

I've had a CEL on for a while, but I really am incredibly busy and haven't been able to fix it. Both the times I went to the track were relatively the same, so if this IS true then the CEL was on the first time. I really can't rmemeber though...

NO WAIT! I think if I rmemeber series of events right I ordered plane tickets for New York a while back for a week from that time. The next mornign my CEL came on caus eI was on the way back from my friends house, and I ran at the track the first time the night before I left for NYC. So yes both runs at the track with my car I ran with a CEL on, the first running a 16.190 the second running almost the same at 16.186. I can definitely confirm if this theory is true or not. It's only 15 bucks to run at my local track, if I get time I'll do my best to clear my CEL ASAP and get over there and I'll let you know for sure before I change anything on my car as the only things changed even since the first time is all cosmetic.

This could be either really exciting or anticlimactic, but somehow I have a feeling it's not going to matter much, if at all.

-chris

[StockSolara]

wow this is very interesting. . . hmm. . . but of course I don't want to purposely have a CEL. . . hmm. . .

[jeffrey_o]

Safe mode is a wonderful thing and I woudln't recommend killing it all the time. I don't even know if you can set an OBD-II Computer to reset it every time it comes on. Basically, when you go into safe mode, you retard your timing. This will slow your car down. Safe mode will go away after a few minutes but I'm not sure if the CEL will maintain safe mode or not.

There is no way to tell how much horsepower is lost during your safemode runs because timing retard is based on the issue and what the computer decides is a safe amount of retard for the situation.

The real question you need to find out is what code you are getting from your CEL. That way you can fix it. Here is a list of codes for you so you can figure out exactly which yours is
http://www.wattora.com/mods/obdii/
I wish you good luck and if you have any questions feel free to ask. I'll give you whatever info I can.

[SC V6]

any CEL that involves the engine will put it into safe mode... but EGR codes, O2 sensor malfunction and others won't... just the hardcore ones... if you have a code I hope u pay attention to what it is actually doing.. having a code pop up everytime you drive is a serious issue

[DatSRBoi]

any CEL that involves the engine will put it into safe mode... but EGR codes, O2 sensor malfunction and others won't... just the hardcore ones... if you have a code I hope u pay attention to what it is actually doing.. having a code pop up everytime you drive is a serious issue

Its always been that same PO135 code with the 02 sensor malfunction.. The guy told me anycode having to do with engine anything will put the car in Safe Mode.. Somewhat I believe him because when I gun my car, it doesnt feel alive at all.. My dads stock solara with a K&N drop in with automatic tranny and junk in his trunk pulls faster then my 5 speed solara and my car is mantained 100%

Im thinking about just having a laptop hooked to the that OBDII port under the steering wheel so I can full time monitor the solara if any code pulls up. I can clear it then when Its needed and test the car furthur myself on the street... But I rather spend that 100 on the OBDII and have the codes clear to get all power back then have that code, SPend money on useless toys for the car, and have the car loose power..

Safe Mode is my enemy unless it saves gas.. If it does Ill leave it on and when I need full power, Ill "Nos button" CEL clear code it haha.

[SC V6]

oh yeah.. by the way.. I checked my o2 sensor in the back and played w\ it one day, and re connected it, and I haven't had a code for over 300 miles

[Sentinel]

I do not know if you should clear the codes while driving. My code scanner tells me to shut off the car when I go to clear the codes, and have not wanted to risk engine shutdown or any other unpleasantness whilst in motion.
Does anyone know about / has tried clearing codes on the run?

Yet another: You guys talk about using high octane a lot; however, If the car is not designed for hi-octane it won't do squat.
the Question: Do Solara's have the ability to advance the timing if the engine senses a higher octane gas?

[SC V6]

Car's arn't "designed" to run higher octane... If they have higher compression if they run low compression they will knock which is bad... depends on teh compression of the engine... a supercharged Solara needs higher octane fuel... advancing timing in the Solara, personally I think wouldn;t give the results of a supercharger

[SC V6]

oh yeah.. I clear codes while the car is running all the time... not a harmful thing to do really.. just make sure that you arn't too hard on it right away

[jeffrey_o]

I'm not sure if the Solara ecu has the knowledge to advance timing. I know that Toyota's ECU's are pretty smart most of the time and they advance and retard timing based on things like temperature, CEL, detonation (for turbo charged vehicles) etc.

Come to think of it, no, the engine doesn't advance timing for higher octane gas. The only thing octane rating is for, is resistance to knock. If you always ran 91 octane you could have a tuner advance your timing a bit, but I wouldn't recommend it too much. I do conservative timing on my MR2 because I've seen people throw away three engines in a year. Back on topic, the engine has no way to tell what octane rating you are at, it only scans the amount of detonation occuring in the engine and retards timing if there is too much.

[DatSRBoi]

oh yeah.. by the way.. I checked my o2 sensor in the back and played w\ it one day, and re connected it, and I haven't had a code for over 300 miles

DUDEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! TEll me how!!!!! If that works then gah damm saved me 100 Bucks on the OBDII scanner

And how in the world did you reach down there in the back haha. I cant even get near my spark plugs and you got to the sensor in the back firewall...

[Fletch]

I am a little confused about this. If you have a current P0135 code for one of the pre-cat O2 sensors, the easiest diagnosis would be the sensor is bad and needs to be replaced. I replaced both of mine and I think it is a fairly common problem with the 1mz-fe. Yes, the pre-cat O2 sensors play a role in fuel trims (closed-loop). If the sensor(s) were replaced and the code came back, next thing to root cause is a continuity or ground problem, more difficult.

[SC V6]

it was a wiring issue.. I got under the car and unplugged the sensor and checked the ohms of the sensor itself, then used my scanner to read the voltage of it.. I just pushed the connectors together and the code went away.. cause thats a short or malfunction... what most people do is replace the o2 sensor, but sometimes you don't need to.. this is why I steered away from the usual responce from people saying to just replace it, and I checked it myself, and saved $$$$$

[Fletch]

Yeah, Scott is right, the correct way to root cause an electrical issue is investigate the wiring/continuity first. A greedy dealer would just start changing parts, it takes less time and makes them $$$.