Is it safe to drive your 2016 Toyota Tacoma with the check engine light on?
This question is not very simple 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 normally indicated by a steady 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 unhealthy problem. If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a unhealthy issue and it is recommended to service your Toyota Tacoma quickly. Call the advisors at Coggin Toyota at the Avenues by dialing 9043376618 so you can describe the issues. Or reduce your speed and bring your 2016 Toyota to our certified mechanics as soon as viable.
How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?
The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy appropriately. If you check engine light is glaring, we recommend that you pull over and contact Coggin Toyota at the Avenues to help prefer if your car is safe to drive in or if we recommend a tow truck. Since each check engine code has its own level of severity, it is difficult to predict how sufficient miles you can drive with the warning light on. It could be anything from a damaging sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced.
2016 Toyota Tacoma Check Engine Light
A flashing light indicates that the problem is hazardous and if not taken care of quickly may result in adequate damage to the car. If the check engine light in your 2016 Toyota Tacoma starts flashing, that means that the problem needs hasty attention and your Toyota should be brought in quickly. This blinking light usually indicates a rigid engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be drained into the exhaust system. There it can shortly raise the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is likely, requiring an expensive repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can really be the cause. A bad, classic 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 very fancy repair. If your check engine light is flashing, please contact our team of automotive experts at Coggin Toyota at the Avenues abruptly by calling 9043376618.
What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?
One of the most frequently misunderstood lights or indicators in your 2016 Toyota Tacoma is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in a few additional 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 2016 Toyota Tacoma. Some of these include shifting automatic transmissions ignition timing, controlling engine speed, and implementing stability control, just to name a lot. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of distinctive things. It can be as persuasive as your gas cap being loose or as aggressive as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your 2016 Toyota Tacoma, contact Coggin Toyota at the Avenues. Contact Coggin Toyota at the Avenues today! Our Toyota service department can help you learn what code is turning your check engine light on or diagnose why your check engine light is flashing.
2016 Toyota Tacoma Check Engine Light Codes
The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that microscopic light on your vehicleās dashboard hastily illuminates, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear justifiable 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 known as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Tacoma. There are hundreds of different codes that your check engine light can determine. While that sounds daunting, with a microscopic patience, tackling principal diagnostics will give you tremendous 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 great vehicle symptoms do not always accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of practical OBD codes, there are also hundreds of practical reasons for the light, including:
- Transmission issues
- O2 Sensor
- Emissions controls issues
- Old Battery
- Fuel and air metering systems problems
- Bad Spark Plugs
- Computer output circuit issues
- Ignition system faults
- Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
This is why it is curious for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. Call Coggin Toyota at the Avenues at 9043376618 today or schedule your check engine light service online today! If the engine light comes on due to a strict concern, you risk damaging your car further by not repairing the issue proper away. When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out quickly by a certified Toyota mechanic.
How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?
The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is naturally between $88 and $111. The tall news, Coggin Toyota at the Avenues offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help learn the cause of your check engine light. The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not appropriately tightened to a more risky failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it tall to get the decent code reading and diagnosis.
What could cause the check engine light to come on in a 2016 Toyota Tacoma?
When your check engine light comes on, this could be as easy as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a hazardous problem that could cause hazardous damage to your engine and come with a big repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A steady glow typically means something fewer hazardous but a glaring check engine light implies that your vehicleās engine is in hazardous trouble and service is essential quickly. If your check engine light is glaring in your 2016 Toyota Tacoma, we highly advocate not to drive the car and schedule Toyota service today. Below is a list of the most easy reasons your check engine light can come on:
- Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be interchanged. The Oxygen sensor, visible 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 vehicle will be fewer compelling 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 2016 Toyota Tacoma's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicleās onboard computer to indicate the honorable 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.
- New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are mandatory for your 2016 Toyota Tacoma. 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, finest to more expensive repairs.
- Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be interchanged. The mass airflow sensor in your Toyota Tacoma is what determines how much fuel is mandatory 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 careful changes, like altitude. If your Toyota Tacoma is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a hasty change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a sign of a bad mass airflow sensor.
- Your 2016 Toyota Tacoma has a vacuum leak. Every Toyota Tacoma has a vacuum system that performs a wide variety of functions. The vacuum system also helps cut 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, chiefly if theyāre exposed to important heat or extreme congenial.
- One of the most visible and frequent cause is that your 2016 Toyota Tacoma gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your 2016 Toyota Tacoma 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 shortly after you put gas in your 2016 Toyota Tacoma, authentic thing you should check is to make sure the cap isnāt loose ā or that it's still on your carās roof or at the fuel pump.
- Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your 2016 Toyota Tacomaās exhaust system. The catalytic converter's work is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A damaged catalytic converter is generally caused by neglected maintenance, which is why Coggin Toyota at the Avenues 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 2016 Toyota Tacoma 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 added problems from overheating.
- Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or added item can wreak havoc on your 2016 Toyota Tacoma if itās not installed properly. These aftermarket parts and accessories can eject the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound commonplace, bring your Tacoma to Toyota and have our team of certified mechanics ensure that your aftermarket items were installed accurately and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, chiefly aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts authentic place might cost a little bit more but could save you money from having to get poor work and damage caused by poor installation work corrected.
- The battery is low or dead. The battery in your 2016 Toyota Tacoma is every vital. Without a car battery, your car wonāt start, light up the road ahead, play the radio or charge your phone. Todayās car batteries last much longer than they did assorted decades ago, and they don't really require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Toyota you drive, but check our modern service coupons and specials.
Check Engine Light Service 2016 Toyota Tacoma
What do you do when youāre driving along in your Toyota Tacoma and quickly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If youāre like most Toyota owners, your heart sinks a little because you have little 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 doesnāt 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 2016 Toyota Tacoma checked as soon as direct. Ignoring that warning could end up causing extraordinary damage to expensive engine components.
When your 2016 Toyota Tacoma's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it canāt justifiable, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is normally 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 investigate tool that is used by our Toyota auto repair mechanics at Coggin Toyota at the Avenues. 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 trained experienced to select the issue and repair it.
Will the check engine light reset itself?
The check engine light on your 2016 Toyota Tacoma will usually 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 adequate, 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 2016 Toyota Tacoma light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Coggin Toyota at the Avenues so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.
2016 Toyota Tacoma Check Engine Light Flashing
Although there are countless achievable causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are various uncomplicated causes including something as uncomplicated as a loose gas cap. Supplemental uncomplicated reasons for a Check Engine Light are faulty head gasket, faulty emissions control part, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, dirty mass airflow sensor, damaged oxygen sensor, or defective spark plugs to name bountiful. 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 decisive 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 2016 Toyota Tacoma was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the car on its essential systems. The sensors are consistently detecting conditions while sending data to the electronic control unit. If the electronic control unit 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 wrong nor what to do about it. Thatās where we come in; Coggin Toyota at the Avenues provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Highly Qualified Service professional.