Check engine light on new car..

[RZNT4R]

In the end, the busy season started and I really didn't have time to check anything it myself, but I did narrow down condition that triggered the codes. Idling in the bottom 1/4 of the temp gauge, but not idling parked, it's gotta drive, but gently, with many stops.

Between going back to Toyota and telling the service manager that yes it was coming back and now, the light actually came and went by itself, but it took a while because my drive cycle didn't allow for detection on two consecutive trips, but this week I managed to intentionally force two bad trips. Near where I live I've got long sections of boulevard with rather well synched lights, so it warms up without much idling at lights, but near work I've got lots of lights when I leave and I'm heading downhill, so not only do I have a lot of idle time, but very little engine load, so it warms up slow and gets more chances to run the monitor, which explains why it would always come in near the same spot on the way back from work. I forced two bad trips from home by building speed and coasting in neutral in that temperature range. Two days in a row and ding! Instant CEL.

Went back to Toyota and had a real talk with the service manager, I'm leaving it with them next Wednesday. Hopefully this time they'll check the check engine and not get confused by the intake color or their scan tool making the car throw U codes.

[86prime]

P119F and P219A, my dealership resolution:

[RZNT4R]

This is absolutely pathetic.

Toyota looked it over, "found nothing" (they probably just did a test drive and recorded freeze frame data). Supposedly they rung up their tech service at Toyota Canada for help. Told me to come and take the car back until they hear back from corporate.

This after I brought them the car with a full page of help from me, the diagnostic chart and the tsb from Subaru.

[edit]

Up to this point I was working on the assumption that the information might not have trickled down the Toyota side, as baffling as that would have been, what with diagnostic information not being published on either Mitchell/Snap-on On Demand or Identifix (which Toyota offers with higher tier TIS subs), but being available for Subaru. Well, I got fed up with not knowing, so I popped a few bucks on a 2 day TIS sub and well, turns out Toyota does indeed NOT have a TSB for this... Rather, it's simply rolled into the regular diagnostic procedure without any ceremony. The document currently shows the last update was June 8th and aside from minor formatting differences, is the same as is available for Subaru on various repair information services, with the extra valve lash step.

I think I've been fairly patient under the assumption that "It's OK, maybe the information hasn't trickled down, there would have been a TSB!" but when I picked the car up with nothing done to it* and as the weekend came, I told myself I'd march back in there Wednesday, one week after, if they hadn't given me any sign of life, and push harder.

*: I know nothing was done because even if they disconnected my dashcam, I had marked critical bolts with a paint pen, and nothing had been disturbed. I've got some actual Markal safety paint coming and I'm going to tamper-evident the whole damn thing next time.

[nitro_alltrac]

Had the CEL kick on again this evening on the way home. Same codes again. I've got just over 8300 miles on it now. I think a trip to the shop is in my near future.

[RZNT4R]

Originally Posted by nitro_alltrac

Had the CEL kick on again this evening on the way home. Same codes again. I've got just over 8300 miles on it now. I think a trip to the shop is in my near future.

Since it's an 86 and not a brz, can you get back to me with what they say, eventually I picked at the scab enough that the shop foreman said "Toyota told us to not touch anything for that problem until they put out their own tsb" to explain all the unexplained delaying and dodging. I've verified that, as of last week, there was no bulletin on TIS and the diagnostic charts for '16 and down don't reflect the addition of the valve shims, so any mechanic going at it from memory would start throwing parts at it eventually, so it's not entirely far fetched of an idea.

That would also be compatible with testimonies in this thread of dealers "trying" parts. It would have been a matter of time until the bean counters went "hey idiots, stop throwing parts at the problem."

But it would still be nice if that was all corroborated by another party.

[nitro_alltrac]

When & if it throws the codes I'll take it in. I need to determine which of three local dealers will be the best to go to. I work for a Toyota engine plant and have few connects at TMS so I'm going to check before I go. I'm also going to see if i can find anything out through back channels as well. I'll update as I have more.

[funpolice]

From my last comment regarding the dealership ordered an ecu for my new 2017 brz manual. So i went in last week and they replaced the ecu. It’s been less than a week and i have driven about 300km(commute to work).

I questioned them a few times asking them why not replacing the o2 sensors first. I sense that the ecu replacement is coming form the Subaru corporate level. As also, for warranty item like this, dealership needs the approval from the corporate before they can submit their claim to the corporate to get $ from corporate.

So from this I believe Subaru knows about this problem and they believe it’s ecu issue.

Anyway, it seems we all still waiting for the real answer and more importantly a more comforting solution so this problem. I’ll keep you guys posted about my ecu replacement result down the road. My cel comes on about every few fuel fillup.maybe 3-5 Filips. It’s random. The sometimes the light comes on for 2 days and goes away by iteself. But as i recall, Most of the cases is when it’s hot and humid like 35c degrees etc with humidity high.

[nitro_alltrac]

Thanks for the update.

So far my light has not come on again. Keeping my fingers crossed.

[funpolice]

so it's been more than a week and have driven about 1 tank of octane 93.
the past week has been very humid in toronto. i mean more humid than the days that would have got my brz the cel. i do noticed the car vibrates and shakes like the feeling that would have given the cel on idle. but fingers crossed. the cel not yet come on.

let's see if it's gonna be good .. knocking on wood.

[funpolice]

after more than a month, the light came back on. same codes
P119F and P219A. i have been using oct 93 from esso, before the light came on, i put in oct 94 from petro canada. and temperature also changes from hot 30s c to cooler 25c.. don't know what's the culprit...

[nitro_alltrac]

Hmmm. Be interested to see what the dealership says this time. So far my light hasn't come back on yet.

[RZNT4R]

The summer heat has been kind on mine, "peak season" was around 10 degrees C this spring. It still has a slight miss to it in the suspected temperature range, but with the fast warmup and no real cold soak, not only did the light clear itself last time, but checked last week, the codes had also cleared themselves from memory.

I suspect it'll resurface this fall.

I'm on vacation starting NOW! and I've got a few niggles to get looked at. I'll be able to go to the (farther away) dealer where I bought it and I'll ask them about it too as a less pressing matter.

[nitro_alltrac]

This whole issue is weird. So far the "fixes" range from pulling the engine for valve adustments to ECU changes. This really doesn't make sense.

[funpolice]

Nitro alltrack. Did u also get an ecm replaced?