What Do The Malfunction Indicator Lamp Do?

[man-bing]

As the title say, what does the malfunction indicator lamp do?

It popped on last night, car's been driving fine, can't really say anything is out of the ordinary with it.

Can anyone give me what would cause this.

Have booked it into my local Mr.T for Wed morning at the costly sum of £53 to have there computer look at it, just hoping it not another costly bill again

[msprince]

It comes on when the vehicle see's it has a fault, it comes on to let you know it see's a fault and prompts you to get it checked.

[Corrolla18]

The check engine light usually illuminates when the ecu detects a fault from one of the many sensors, this could be because an engine parameter is not what the ecu is programmed to accept or it could be down to a faulty sensor. For example if the lambda sensor gets dirty and gives false readings then this could illuminate the check engine light as the ecu will believe the a/f ratio is outside it's safe operating parameter. On the other hand another engine fault may cause a/f ratio to be incorrect and this may also illuminate the light. There are of course many other factors that could cause this.

[Norfolk n Chance]

Forget Mr T... whip out the 15A fuses to reset everything... if the light comes back on then you have an issue that needs looking into... either Mr T or get a code reader.... if the light stays off then it's prob just a temporary blip in the system

[cfc1]

Check the following thread to see if there is a member near you who has a code reader and might read the error code for you...

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=85601

[man-bing]

Forget Mr T... whip out the 15A fuses to reset everything... if the light comes back on then you have an issue that needs looking into... either Mr T or get a code reader.... if the light stays off then it's prob just a temporary blip in the system

I know what i'll be doing tomorrow morning now, many thanks

[man-bing]

Well as i didn't know which fuse to yank out, i just disconnected the Battery instead , so much easier and yes it worked, its off for now.

Lets see just how long it will take to come back again now......

[CorollaD4D]

unless there is a 'real' fault then most likely it won't come back on. i remember when i had a 'real' glow plug fault even after i got the plugs changed the light stayed on for another week until the car realised the problem was no longer there.

[KPARRIS-JONES]

Disconnecting the Battery is a good idea seeing as it also resets the ECU. Simplest method too.

[Norfolk n Chance]

whip out the 15A fuses to reset everything...

Well as i didn't know which fuse to yank out, i just disconnected the battery instead , so much easier and yes it worked, its off for now.

Lets see just how long it will take to come back again now......

There's only 2 15a fuses in the fuse box and they have 15a on the top of them...

[man-bing]

There's only 2 15a fuses in the fuse box and they have 15a on the top of them...

Still think my method is more fun though

Thanks again

[Norfolk n Chance]

Well fingers crossed it's just a blip that you had

[man-bing]

Yeah, only time will tell if it's a more serious problem, hopefully i would of sold the car on by then

[vikvallabh82]

DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK

When I had an engine light I needed to read the code, I went to a leading high street catalogue shop, and got a VIEWING of the OBDII reader they sell, I did a viewing so I can open the box in the presence of the staff then played ignorance and flicked through the manual and said there was no car list so I didn't know if it would work in my car, I specifically asked the question "if my car doesn't have the right connector can I return it" to which they answered yes (they have a 16day money back guarantee. Then I walked away (having paid for it) telling the store fella I will be back in five, I read the code off the reader then went back and said my car didn't have the same connector and got my refund. voilà! code read and any problem could be diagnosed.

Vik

[KPARRIS-JONES]

I swear that is illegal but I like it!!

[man-bing]

It's not something i condone, but i have done things like this in the past too