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2013 Toyota Highlander Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are countless feasible causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are bountiful ordinary causes including something as authentic as a loose gas cap. Extra ordinary reasons for a Check Engine Light are dirty mass airflow sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, damaged oxygen sensor, faulty head gasket, faulty emissions control part, 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 2013 Toyota Highlander was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the vehicle on its difficult systems. The sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending data to the electrical control unit. If the electrical control unit detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light flashes telling you that there is a problem. However, that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what exactly is wrong nor what to do about it. That’s 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 Greatly Qualified Service technological.

2013 Toyota Highlander Check Engine Light

If the check engine light in your 2013 Toyota Highlander starts flashing, that means that the problem needs hasty attention and your Toyota should be brought in immediately. A flashing light indicates that the problem is threatening and if not taken care of immediately may result in mighty damage to the vehicle. This blinking light naturally indicates a relentless engine misfire allowing unused fuel to be drained into the exhaust system. There it can immediately increase the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is factual, requiring an expensive repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can exactly be the cause. A bad, long-established or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. 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 exceedingly expensive repair. If your check engine light is flashing, please contact our team of automotive advisors at Nalley Toyota Stonecrest immediately by calling 7706290279.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a 2013 Toyota Highlander?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as authentic as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a strict problem that could cause strict damage to your engine and come with a important repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A logical glow typically means something less strict but a flashing check engine light indicates that your vehicle’s engine is in strict trouble and service is necessary immediately. If your check engine light is flashing in your 2013 Toyota Highlander, we excessively recommend not to drive the vehicle and schedule Toyota service now. Below is a list of the most acceptable reasons your check engine light can come on:

  • Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be changed. The mass airflow sensor in your Toyota Highlander is what determines how much fuel is needed to run your engine efficiently by measuring the amount of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to accurate changes, like altitude. If your Toyota Highlander is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a nimble change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a bad mass airflow sensor.
  • Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or diverse item can wreak havoc on your 2013 Toyota Highlander if it’s not installed perfectly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even hinder the car from starting. If these issues sound aware, bring your Highlander 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 value a little bit more but could save you money from having to get scanty work and damage caused by scanty installation work corrected.
  • Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your 2013 Toyota Highlander’s 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 commonly 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 2013 Toyota Highlander will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your car may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause diverse problems from overheating.
  • Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be changed. The Oxygen sensor, known as the O2 sensor, measures the amount of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns faster and your car will be fewer ready for use when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I don’t 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 2013 Toyota Highlander's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to choose the right mixture of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A bad O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.
  • Your 2013 Toyota Highlander has a vacuum leak. Every Toyota Highlander has a vacuum system that performs a wide variety 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 they’re exposed to profound heat or extreme bleak.
  • New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are needed for your 2013 Toyota Highlander. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber of your car. 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 classic, you will experience scanty 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, leading to more lavish repairs.
  • The battery is low or dead. The battery in your 2013 Toyota Highlander is every crucial. Without a car battery, your car won’t start, light up the road ahead, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s car batteries last much longer than they did different decades ago, and they don't really require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Toyota you travel to work, but check our ongoing service coupons and specials.
  • One of the most commonplace and frequent cause is that your 2013 Toyota Highlander gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your 2013 Toyota Highlander 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 classic 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 lavish. If your check engine light turns on quickly after you put gas in your 2013 Toyota Highlander, first thing you should check is to make hopeful the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.

How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not properly tightened to a more strict failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it curious to get the correct code reading and diagnosis. The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is consistently between $88 and $111. The curious news, Nalley Toyota Stonecrest offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help mean the cause of your check engine light.

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

If you check engine light is flashing, we recommend that you pull over and contact Nalley Toyota Stonecrest to assist favor if your vehicle is safe to drive in or if we recommend a tow truck. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy properly. Since any check engine code has its own level of severity, it is rigid to predict how many miles you can drive with the warning light on. It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your 2013 Toyota Highlander will consistently 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 a lot 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 2013 Toyota Highlander light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that reward and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Nalley Toyota Stonecrest so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most commonly misunderstood lights or indicators in your 2013 Toyota Highlander is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in a lot divergent 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 2013 Toyota Highlander. Some of these include shifting automatic transmissions ignition timing, controlling engine speed, and implementing stability control, just to name a few. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of additional things. It can be as straightforward as your gas cap being loose or as serious as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your 2013 Toyota Highlander, contact Nalley Toyota Stonecrest. Contact Nalley Toyota Stonecrest today! 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 blinking.

Is it safe to drive your 2013 Toyota Highlander with the check engine light on?

If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a important issue and it is recommended to service your Toyota Highlander immediately. This question is not very uncomplicated 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 secure to drive. This is typically indicated by a real glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the vehicle, it could be an indication of a more essential problem. Call the advisors at Nalley Toyota Stonecrest by dialing 7706290279 so you can describe the issues. Or lower your speed and deliver your 2013 Toyota to our certified mechanics as soon as alive.

Check Engine Light Service 2013 Toyota Highlander

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Toyota Highlander and suddenly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Toyota owners, your heart sinks a tiny because you have tiny idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the cost of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t mean 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 2013 Toyota Highlander checked as soon as convenient. Ignoring that warning could end up causing gargantuan damage to expensive engine components.

When your 2013 Toyota Highlander's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the computerized control system that it can’t suitable, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is typically labeled ā€œcheck engineā€ or ā€œservice engine soonā€, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word ā€œcheck.ā€

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or ā€œtrouble codeā€ in its memory that identifies as the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is find out with an electronic investigate tool that is used by our Toyota auto repair mechanics at Nalley Toyota Stonecrest. There are also a number of relatively inexpensive code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you choose that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an compelling experienced to pick the issue and repair it.

2013 Toyota Highlander Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that small light on your vehicle’s dashboard abruptly lights up, 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 authentic as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Highlander. There are hundreds of contrasting codes that your check engine light can represent. While that sounds daunting, with a small patience, tackling basic diagnostics will give you available knowledge about your vehicle and will also allow that Check Engine Light to do what it is actually supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, evident and accessible vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of attainable OBD codes, there are also hundreds of attainable reasons for the light, including:

  • Bad Spark Plugs
  • Ignition system faults
  • O2 Sensor
  • Fuel and air metering systems problems
  • Emissions controls issues
  • Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
  • Transmission issues
  • Old Battery
  • Computer output circuit issues

This is why it is meaningful for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. Call Nalley Toyota Stonecrest at 7706290279 now or schedule your check engine light service online today! If the engine light comes on due to a alarming concern, you risk destructive your car added by not repairing the issue right away. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out quickly by a certified Toyota mechanic.