Has anyone had a damaging CEL??

[Willis5050]

I am trying to collect some data for my arbitration hearing on Monday, and I am wondering if anyone has had a CEL (or multiple CEL's) that eventually led to damage of the engine or to the car itself (eg. running lean, etc...). I need to prove that my reoccuring CEL can be potentially harmful to my car and affect its service life. Has anything like this happened to anyone??

[Willis5050]

Nobody, huh? Oh well, guess I am on my own on this one.

[kuruptgt]

well if a CEL is comin on there is obviously a problem and i would assume a problem would be damaging cause there is a problem.

[Willis5050]

Well, I have to prove in arbitration that this repeated check engine light problem reduces the use, value or safety of the car. So I guess I am looking for the best angles to approach this since I know Toyota will try to weasel out of it somehow. I would apprecaite any ideas.

[Deftech]

The question is really "What is causing the repeated CEL?" All you have to prove is that there is a sensor or connection that is giving improper information to the engine. This according to the way the ECU supposedly works would cause the engine to to run with improper A/F mixtures, Valve timing and spark timing. In theory. Unless they can tell you what is causing the CEL then they have no way of guaranteeing that it will not damage the car. Also you would have a hard time selling the car at any value if the test drive happened to show a CEL. Value?