I've read the pages on engine oil level and changes in the awesome 2004-2009 manual by John's Stuff - Toyota Prius and more.
Great information on overfilling of engine oil. Among others I read:
"The ideal level is 1/4” (one-quarter inch or 6 millimeters) below the "full" mark, which is between the D and the E on the photo above." (p.27)
Last year my check engine light came on a couple of times at the end of the summer but it went away and I can't remember how. Today was the warmest day of the year so far for us and my check engine light came on again. It seems to happens when it's warm, I'm accelerating and I think the A/C is on but I can't be 100% sure about that.
View 19 RepliesThe a/c and heater are not operating properly. Not cold enough and not getting warm. Low freon, compressor going bad?
On a brighter note...I've sat looking down into a volcano that could blow at any moment.
Had the check engine light in the 2005 F150 (90,000 miles) come on. Got the code checked and its P0420. I know that has to do with the cat threshold levels etc. so I believe I am looking to replace the o2 sensor, if I am not mistaken.
How hard of a job is this? Ive done a decent amount of engine work and worked in a shop in high school. Just looking to see if that is the right thing to try first, replacing the sensor, before replacing the cat.
Also I know its the right bank, but if I am not mistaken there is a before and after the cat o2 sensor, which do i replace? Both?
I can't seem to get the engine temp to middle range on the marker, but yet my heater blows "to me" hot air. Even while sitting in idle for extended amounts of time I cannot get it to "operating" temperature. I would think if my thermostat was stuck open my heater would blow either cold or slightly warm air. I have the 5.4L engine with knn air filter and no cats.
View 14 RepliesI installed an Injen cold air intake and 2 days later, the check engine light went on. I had it reset at the dealer and next day, again. Am I stuck with this or is there a way to keep it off, other than putting back the original air box?
View 18 RepliesI noticed yesterday while driving the RX (not my daily driver) that when I turned on the A/C to bi-level (chest & feet) it only blew cold air at the chest level while at the feet level it was warm air. If I remember correctly from the past that the feet got cold too so I tried it with the vents only at the feet, still warm air. I even checked to make sure that I didn't have it on bi-level with defroster in use.
View 11 RepliesSo around September I changed my oil to mobile 1 extended performance full synthetic. Since then my check engine oil level light has came on twice, today being the second time. Both times it was at the add mark. The truck does not leak ANY oil, what might be going on?
View 1 RepliesI just change my oil last night and this morning my check engine oil level is on and my oil dipshows the correct amount of oil, what can be the problem?
View 5 RepliesHow do I check the transmission level? If there's any to check.
View 11 RepliesI've noticed lately that my Prius (2008) sometimes decides to keep the ICE running even though the engine is warm and the gas pedal is not depressed. I can pulse and glide (with the engine off during glide) the first 5-10 minutes of driving, and then all of a sudden the ICE starts running constantly. I have to press the EV button to be able to glide. Quite annoying... I bought the Prius just to get rid of the ignition jerking.
View 7 RepliesHot or cold? I just changed the fluid so should I adjust the level when cold? And with the pump off I assume?
View 1 RepliesI just bought a 2000 GTI with the 1.8 turbo. It was very affordable, but it had a few problems. On hard rides, the check engine light was blinking AND I think there was too much oil in the crankcase (I say "think" because the dipstick funnel is gone and I'm not sure how far down the dipstick should go -- new one is on order).
I got rid of the extra oil, and now if I keep the oil in the hatched area of the dipstick (with the dipstick pushed down as far as it goes), the check engine light will never blink even under hard driving. But with the oil that low, the oil light will flash and beep on hard turns. I was experimenting, adding a little oil at a time, and hoping to find the magical sweet spot where neither the check engine light nor the oil light would go off. Instead, tonight I found the opposite -- the sour spot where BOTH of them go off.
So now I'm thinking maybe I need to change to a thicker oil. This car has 124,000 miles on it and was recently refilled with 0w-40. On my last car (a 1994 Golf with the 2.0 liter and 140,000 miles), the oil light would beep on hot days. I solved that permanently by changing from 0w-40 to Mobil 1 15w-50.
Finally, I checked the codes and it said there was a misfire in #2 cylinder as well as general misfiring So I checked the plugs and discovered that the previous idiot had gapped the #2 plug at 1/8 inch! So I (the present idiot) regapped them all and the engine seems to run better, but maybe going for months with such a huge gap has already fried the #2 coil. Should I just replace it? (or all of them?)
So I recently bought a Chevy Impala with about 150,000 miles on it. The check engine light is on and sometimes it will tell me my coolant levels are low. I filled it up with coolant and the message still comes on sometimes. Also, when I'm driving, I can feel my rpms go way up when I press the gas, but they car won't accelerate for shit. Sometimes the check engine light will blink, which I've heard is for safety, and my car will barely accelerate at all. I can drive it around town easily the way it is now, but I don't want to risk ruining it. On top of that, my radio and lights will cut in and out sometimes and get better the more gas I give it.
View 3 RepliesI changed timing belt and water pump DIY back in Oct 2015. Ever since then, I get rough idling (car kind of vibrate and engine kind of struggling) after warm start (no problem with cold starts, it did stall once after the warm start).
Two days ago, I got a P0000 code, I thought it was due to low oil (happened before, I topped off oil 2500 miles ago), so I changed oil and filter. No problem yesterday, but today on my way to work. I got the p0000 code again.
I have a 2011 SE I4 with roughly 12k on it. Here's my problem: The past few days, I've been smelling something sweet coming out of my AC. I thought nothing much of it until today, when I noticed that my coolant/antifreeze reservoir level was slightly below the low "L" point with the engine cold. I am not sure if this means that I have a leak or something more serious? Is there something that I can do to try and figure out what the hell is wrong? My car is still under warranty, is this something that the dealership should look into? Will there be a cost for that?
View 7 RepliesIs is best to check the oil in the FSI 2.0T when the engine is warm or cold?
View 2 Replies2006, 2G, 43000K. This has happened twice now. Both times on an extended trip of 3+ hours in hot weather: Cruising along at about 70 MPH, the engine just quits. RED Triangle; check engine light; and vcs light. Turned everything off. Car would not restart right away, but after waiting 15 minutes or so, the car restarts and runs fine. All warning lights off except check engine light.
Immediately drove to a Toyota dealership where the following codes were found: P0AOF info 204 (Engine failed to start); and P3190 (poor engine power). The Tech checked the EFI relay; checked for oil puddled in intake; and checked for a contaminated MAF sensor. "No problems found"!
I got my oil changed today and thought everything (10 am) was fine with my car. I drove it straight home after the oil change. About 4pm I drove it to work and no problems still. Finally tonight on my way home right as I turned on to my street the car at first seem to hesitate. Slow a bit and I pushed the accelerator. Then suddenly as I pulled in my drive way the engine began to shake as though I was about to stall and the check Engine light came on as well as the big red triangle.
This has happened before. The display being lit up like a christmas tree so but this time the engine shook. I turned the car off, check the oil, which is full and the coolant which is full. The engine has not shook yet ( but I wont leave the car on for a long time to see if it happens again) the Red Triangle has turned off and now only the check engine light remains.
I am going to call Firestone, that is where I got the oil change all I know is that they did a routine check up (unauthorized by me) and told me I needed a new water pump drive belt and tires and a air filter..... So I am hoping they didn't touch something by mistake. I told the man that I would much rather have that done by the dealership.
I put 4 qts Mobil 1 motor oil in, with a new Mobil filter. Drove 400 miles no problem. Parked car a week. Drove car to find CEL on. Can overfull oil cause this? (I heard it can cause lower gas mileage.)
View 11 RepliesMy car has 120.000 miles and regular maintenence done on schedule. Yesterday, after a 1000 mile / 4 day trip, after a break at a service station, the engine srudded violently (for being a prius, it felt like a diesel) while cranking up durin acceleration.
The check Engine light came on.
Using Can-view, I noted these DTC codes: P0101 C3100 P0000
And cleared the memory.
The check Engine switched off.