How Much Does It Cost For Toyota to Check CEL? or know any other shop that does it?

[mirconrice]

well the subject line say it all...Here is what happen, my check engine light came on out of the blue so I rechecked all my connection to my intake and all of the hose was on tight. So i resetted the ECU to see if it comes back on or not. Well after like 3 days of not coming back on, today it came back on after I changed my oil. I knew it was gonna come on too cause of the way the intake was sucking in air when the car is cold. It was like a sputtering sound, it wasn't continuous sucking in air so I knew something was wrong. I dont' know why its doing it, well today it just got really really cold so maybe thats why or maybe not, dont know. You guys think it might be the MAF sensor, i took it out and it was a tint of brown so i don't know if that is normal or not.

So tomorrow I was going to take it to toyota or to some shop. If i take it to toyota to find out the code, well they just give me the code for free or are they going to charge me? well the thing is I unbolted my exhaust and i lost the bolts to them so I can't put it back on, I'm afraid they might say something. i would rather take it to a shop and let them hook it up but I'm afraid thats it gonna cost like 100 bucks for them to do that and I don't want that. How much would you think it would cost for a shop to hook it up and give me a reading?? any info would be appreciated thnx and if someone else had a CEL and brought it in, what did they tell you...thanks again and sorrie that its long. lates

[miklo2411]

Hey bud, its going to cost you around a 133.00. Just had my code read to me by the dealer and it was a 133.00. Its funny that you brought that up because the code was a 99. The mech. came over to me and asked me if I like to drive fast. So I asked him why and he said that the computer told him I was doing 133hp at 7000 RPM's. Just tought that that was funny. But anyways its going to run you around that much.

[Loves2Rev]

Hey Micronrice,

This is not on the topic of the ecu but just giving you the heads up. I think someone else on the board had their exhaust unbolted for awhile too and he had said that at one point the gas started to boil becaust the air coming out from the disconnected pipe was so hot and close to the gas tank. This is very dangerous so I hope you watch out for it. :)

[mirconrice]

oh I know about that already...and the guy who's gas was boiling was running on a track that was 100 plus degree over at Spring Willow raceway. thanks for the heads up though.

[Fourgig]

Depends on the dealer. The place I went to pulled the CEL codes for me twice for free. Both times it was lean because of my intake, so they said the next time it's a code for lean, they'd charge me the $100+ diagnostic fee.

[Lomeinhu]

I know this topic is WAAAY old, but since I DID perform a search and this topic is exactly what I want to know, I wanted to ask my other question here, too.

Anyway, I have had my CEL on for the longest time, because each time I checked it, it turned out to be a little air hose into the air box that's loose and putting it back on would turn the CEL off for a few months until it happened again. So this last time I just never bothered to do anything about it. Well, when I finally decided to look in the airbox, the hose is fitting fine and so I wanted to bring the car into the dealer to check it out. Turns out that justing running a diagnostic test costs $99! Now, my question is this: if the cost of checking a CEL is not covered under warranty, doesn't that just mean Toyota could've screwed up somewhere (on purpose or not) that causes the CEL to come on and then charge us drivers everytime it comes on?? I would think that since a CEL is caused by a problem in the car, that fixing it is covered under warranty along with the diagnostics (that is, assuming that the CEL wasn't caused by an aftermarket item). One more question: can an old air filter cause a CEL to come on?

[po9i]

i think celiracer had his cel checked at autozone

[2002GT_Celica]

Originally posted by po9i
i think celiracer had his cel checked at autozone

I think it is best to take it to a dealer though. Sometimes when you go to third party places, they don't know what they are doing. Dealerships usually have better equipment and usually only work with the engine you are getting serviced a lot more than a third party place would.

[Lomeinhu]

So there's no way I don't have to pay for a CEL diagnosis? I'm only hesitant b/c I found out that my old TRD air filter is in the car and yet for the last 2 times I went in for my 15,000 mi check-up, the air filter was not changed and i was still charged for a new air filter. I'm more concerned about running lean or something than the cost of the air filters, but I'm paranoid about the dealer charging me for something THEY probably caused.

[mirconrice]

Originally posted by lomeinhu
I know this topic is WAAAY old, but since I DID perform a search and this topic is exactly what I want to know, I wanted to ask my other question here, too.

Anyway, I have had my CEL on for the longest time, because each time I checked it, it turned out to be a little air hose into the air box that's loose and putting it back on would turn the CEL off for a few months until it happened again. So this last time I just never bothered to do anything about it. Well, when I finally decided to look in the airbox, the hose is fitting fine and so I wanted to bring the car into the dealer to check it out. Turns out that justing running a diagnostic test costs $99! Now, my question is this: if the cost of checking a CEL is not covered under warranty, doesn't that just mean Toyota could've screwed up somewhere (on purpose or not) that causes the CEL to come on and then charge us drivers everytime it comes on?? I would think that since a CEL is caused by a problem in the car, that fixing it is covered under warranty along with the diagnostics (that is, assuming that the CEL wasn't caused by an aftermarket item). One more question: can an old air filter cause a CEL to come on?

where are you located? if you live near me, I have a OBD2 scanner that I can hook up to your car and read the code for you...if not then you could take it to autozone and they will run the code for free. Oh i would like to add that if you're in california, they stopped doing it for some odd reason.

how many miles do you have?? if you take it to toyota, they will charge you if they find out that its due to an aftermarket parts but won't charge you if its not caused from it. Everything will be covered under the warranty including the diag charge. An really really really dirty filter could cause an CEL if its blocking airflow but most likely its something else. Good luck with it and let us know whats wrong with it. Also if you want, you could go buy yourself a OBD2 scanner, it only cost 140 bucks so its only 20 or so dollar more than getting it read. Just an suggestion.

[sentientpc]

Originally posted by mirconrice

Also if you want, you could go buy yourself a OBD2 scanner, it only cost 140 bucks so its only 20 or so dollar more than getting it read. Just an suggestion.

Where did you buy it? Any online retailers? Orlando, Florida here.

[whitegt01]

what kind of garbage is that, charging you for air filter they didn't change. did you fight that? i took my car to the dealer twice also, and was not charged for checking the cel. both times was because the gas stations didn't close the cap tight enough. go to a different dealer.

[Mistrimeat]

I've had my CEL light checked twice by the dealership and they didn't charge me 1 red cent.

[mirconrice]

Originally posted by sentientpc


Where did you buy it? Any online retailers? Orlando, Florida here.

you can buy it at autozone or kargen.