Check Engine Light Service 2012 Toyota Camry
What do you do when youāre driving along in your Toyota Camry and immediately, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If youāre like most Toyota owners, your heart sinks a microscopic because you have microscopic idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the rate of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep breath and realize the light coming on doesnāt represent you have to pull the car over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your 2012 Toyota Camry checked as soon as viable. Ignoring that warning could end up causing enormous damage to expensive engine factors.
When your 2012 Toyota Camry's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electrical control system that it canāt satisfactory, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is typically labeled ācheck engineā or āservice engine soonā, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word ācheck.ā
When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or ātrouble codeā in its memory that identifies as the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic scan tool that is used by our Toyota auto repair mechanics at Nalley Toyota Stonecrest. There are also a number of somewhat inexpensive code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you select that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced professional to read the issue and repair it.
How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?
The central value for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is naturally between $88 and $111. The positive news, Nalley Toyota Stonecrest offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to assist determine the cause of your check engine light. The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not accurately tightened to a more unhealthy failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it positive to get the appropriate code reading and diagnosis.
How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?
The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly. If you check engine light is flashing, we suggest that you pull over and contact Nalley Toyota Stonecrest to help find out if your vehicle is protected to drive in or if we suggest a tow truck. Since each check engine code has its own level of severity, it is involved to predict how countless miles you can drive with the warning light on. It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced.
What could cause the check engine light to come on in a 2012 Toyota Camry?
When your check engine light comes on, this could be as simple as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a effective problem that could cause effective damage to your engine and come with a extraordinary repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A dependable glow commonly means something less effective but a glaring check engine light indicates that your vehicleās engine is in effective trouble and service is needed quickly. If your check engine light is glaring in your 2012 Toyota Camry, we highly recommend not to drive the vehicle and schedule Toyota service at this moment. Below is a list of the most prevalent reasons your check engine light can come on:
- Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your 2012 Toyota Camryās exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is usually caused by neglected maintenance, which is why Nalley Toyota Stonecrest offers a complimentary multi-point inspection with every Toyota service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your 2012 Toyota Camry will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your automobile may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause distinctive problems from overheating.
- Your 2012 Toyota Camry has a vacuum leak. Every Toyota Camry has a vacuum system that performs a wide assortment of functions. The vacuum system also helps lower harmful emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can dry out and crack, especially if theyāre exposed to intense heat or extreme impassioned.
- The battery is low or dead. The battery in your 2012 Toyota Camry is every crucial. Without a automobile battery, your automobile wonāt start, light up the road ahead, play the radio or charge your phone. Todayās automobile batteries last much longer than they did a few decades ago, and they don't precisely require maintenance. The value of a new one depends on the type of Toyota you drive, but check our present service coupons and specials.
- One of the most persuasive and innumerable cause is that your 2012 Toyota Camry gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your 2012 Toyota Camry serves multiple purposes. It prevents gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What happens if you have a bad fuel cap? If your gas cap is old or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump. Luckily, to replace a gas cap isn't expensive. If your check engine light turns on hastily after you put gas in your 2012 Toyota Camry, first thing you should check is to make confident the cap isnāt loose ā or that it's still on your carās roof or at the fuel pump.
- Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be changed. The mass airflow sensor in your Toyota Camry is what determines how much fuel is crucial to run your engine efficiently by measuring the deposit of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to aware changes, like altitude. If your Toyota Camry is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a sudden change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a bad mass airflow sensor.
- Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be changed. The Oxygen sensor, known as the O2 sensor, measures the deposit of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns faster and your vehicle will be less persuasive when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I donāt replace your O2 sensor? A faulty sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause damage to your catalytic converter and your 2012 Toyota Camry's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicleās onboard computer to determine the right mixture of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A bad O2 sensor can also cause a automobile to fail an emissions test.
- New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are crucial for your 2012 Toyota Camry. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of your vehicle. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run. The spark plug wires deliver the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are bad or old, you will experience poor performance and reduced power. In some extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause clogged catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, large to more expensive repairs.
- Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or distinctive item can wreak havoc on your 2012 Toyota Camry if itās not installed accordingly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can deposit the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound prevalent, bring your Camry to Toyota and have our team of certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed correctly and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, especially aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts first place might rate a slight bit more but could save you money from having to get poor work and damage caused by poor installation work corrected.
What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?
One of the most typically misunderstood lights or indicators in your 2012 Toyota Camry is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in various odd ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your vehicle. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored vehicle performance since the 80s and do a variety of things for your 2012 Toyota Camry. Some of these include controlling engine speed, ignition timing, shifting automatic transmissions and implementing stability control, just to name a few. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of discrete things. It can be as instinctive as your gas cap being loose or as unhealthy as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your 2012 Toyota Camry, contact Nalley Toyota Stonecrest. Our Toyota service department can help you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or diagnose why your check engine light is twinkling. Contact Nalley Toyota Stonecrest today!
2012 Toyota Camry Check Engine Light Codes
The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that little light on your vehicleās dashboard quickly illuminates, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear right away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just another name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, also admitted as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Camry. There are hundreds of contrasting codes that your check engine light can indicate. While that sounds daunting, with a little patience, tackling meaningful diagnostics will give you convenient knowledge about your vehicle and will also allow that Check Engine Light to do what it is really supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, evident and helpful vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of feasible OBD codes, there are also hundreds of feasible reasons for the light, including:
- Ignition system faults
- Fuel and air metering systems problems
- Bad Spark Plugs
- Transmission issues
- Emissions controls issues
- Computer output circuit issues
- Old Battery
- Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
- O2 Sensor
This is why it is moving for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. Call Nalley Toyota Stonecrest at 7706290279 today or schedule your check engine light service online today! If the engine light comes on due to a alarming concern, you risk damaging your car supplemental by not repairing the issue right away. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out expeditiously by a certified Toyota mechanic.
2012 Toyota Camry Check Engine Light Flashing
Although there are countless capability causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are several commonplace causes including something as precise as a loose gas cap. Added commonplace reasons for a Check Engine Light are faulty emissions control part, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, damaged oxygen sensor, dirty mass airflow sensor, faulty head gasket, or defective spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Toyota Certified Technicians and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and repair it as needed to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Toyota issue was fixed.
Every 2012 Toyota Camry was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the car on its stern systems. The sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending data to the computerized control squad. If the computerized control squad detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light illuminates telling you that there is a problem. However, that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light ā it wonāt tell you what exactly is incorrect nor what to do about it. Thatās where we come in; Nalley Toyota Stonecrest provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Exceptionally Qualified Service mechanical.
Will the check engine light reset itself?
The check engine light on your 2012 Toyota Camry will typically shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is fixed. For example, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will turn itself off. Likewise, if your catalytic converter is going functional, and you did assorted of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your 2012 Toyota Camry light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that sum and the light is still on, you will need to transport it in to Nalley Toyota Stonecrest so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.
Is it safe to drive your 2012 Toyota Camry with the check engine light on?
If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a serious issue and it is recommended to service your Toyota Camry immediately. This question is not very straightforward because it all depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be safe to drive. This is continuously indicated by a compelling glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the car, it could be an indication of a more serious problem. Call the experts at Nalley Toyota Stonecrest by dialing 7706290279 so you can describe the issues. Or decrease your speed and bring your 2012 Toyota to our certified mechanics as soon as practical.
2012 Toyota Camry Check Engine Light
If the check engine light in your 2012 Toyota Camry starts blinking, that means that the problem needs urgent attention and your Toyota should be brought in straightaway. A blinking light implies that the problem is threatening and if not taken care of straightaway may result in gigantic break to the vehicle. This glaring light usually implies a severe engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be discarded into the exhaust system. There it can quickly expand the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is achievable, requiring an lavish repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can definitely be the cause. A bad, old or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If your check engine light is glaring, please contact our company of automotive experts at Nalley Toyota Stonecrest quickly by calling 7706290279. If the problem is ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a very pricey repair.