My CEL went off now, dealer said nothing they can do
 

I got 240 miles on my FRS with idling and CEL problem sun. This morning CEL was on, now it is not on. Called dealer and they said there nothing they can do if CEL is off. What should I do?

Looks like you'll need to drive it and wait for the CEL.

Connect an OBDII scanner and see if the code is stored.

-Justin

If it stores the codes, a regular scanner will not be able to find it.

OP: you can hit up an auto parts store and see if you have any "pending" codes, but there's no guarantee that if there is one that it is the same issue.

Next time your CEL comes on, just have your code read at an auto parts store and write it down. That way, if it goes off you can still reference the code when you talk with the dealership.

I'm pretty sure mine reads stored/pending codes and the freeze from the failure. I haven't tried it on the FR-S, but I have pulled this info from other cars (had a weird misfired that would only seem to act up right before inspection time.... what a pain).

-Justin

Many OBDII scanners will read stored codes, and errors that don't meet the threshhold needed to turn on the check engine light.

In addition there is a separate system accessible by software/hardware like Techstream (which the dealer has) that goes through the same OBD2 connector, but works on a different bus that will show errors even after they have been cleared by normal OBD2 scanners.

Was there a major temperature difference? Did you just fill gas in the car before it came on?

Usually if it's on then turns off the next time you start it, it could be an evap system related item (ie gas cap not tightened right/gasket on it is bad is the most common one). If it's something bigger, it definitely won't clear itself unless it was just a hiccup in the system to start with.

The dealer can read codes that are no longer active. Find a better dealer.

PSHHH....

Call the dealer and tell them Your less then 300 mile brand new car's CEL came on and your very concerned.

-and yes they can see History codes.

Dealer`s reply its under warranty, typical Burton Smith dealership. Plus I didn`t buy from them bc doc fees 750.

Record a video . Threaten dealership that it's going on youtube that they won't help you :lol:

If it was a BRZ I'd say contact Subaru of America, so whatever the Scion equivalent is should be contacted. My guess is they would "lean" on the dealership to help you.

Easyyy there!!! Everyone wants to blast the heads off the stealer ships!!! Well to the original poster: i understant your frustration that your mil, came on at such an early stage of your ownership, how ever as we "all" know theres is thousands of codes and reasons why the mil could come on. Even a loose gas cap, pr filling up the vehicle with the motor running or the key on the on possition, could cause the mil to come on. So dont panic. Now was your service adviser a retard for telling you there is nothing they can do?? Well YES !!! Because the computer records these soft codes in the memory / history . So next time you call them ask them to give you a print out o the history dtcs of the ecm. How ever if u by mistake left the gas cap loose an or put gas while the engine was running then i wouldnt worry so much since you will probably have some false evap codes that set during the event. Good luck and dont go too crazy before you get the history dtcs.

Exactly. So long as you didn't pull the battery, the code will be stored.

JUst call the next closest Scion dealer. Warranty work is honoured anywhere in the country of purchase. In the meantime see if the light doesnt go on again, try opening the gas cap and see if it goes on. If the engine seemed to be running fine it could be something along the lines of the gas cap. If its the cam sprocket thing it's bound to come on again.