2013 Toyota RAV4 Check Engine Light

2013 Toyota RAV4 Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating to see that microscopic light on your vehicle’s 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 known as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your RAV4. There are hundreds of distinct codes that your check engine light can represent. While that sounds daunting, with a microscopic patience, tackling fundamental diagnostics will give you accessible 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, clear 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:

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

This is why it is tall for someone who does not have a lot of automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. If the engine light comes on due to a hazardous concern, you risk harmful your automobile further by not repairing the issue right away. Call Nalley Toyota Union City at 7702848361 today or schedule your check engine light service online today! When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out quickly by a certified Toyota mechanic.

Is it safe to drive your 2013 Toyota RAV4 with the check engine light on?

If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a memorable issue and it is recommended to service your Toyota RAV4 quickly. This question is not very correct 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 generally 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 bizarre problem. Call the experts at Nalley Toyota Union City by dialing 7702848361 so you can describe the issues. Or reduce your speed and bring your 2013 Toyota to our certified mechanics as soon as probable.

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

It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be interchanged. If you check engine light is flashing, we express that you pull over and contact Nalley Toyota Union City to help select if your vehicle is safe to drive in or if we express a tow truck. Since each check engine code has its own level of severity, it is difficult to predict how copious miles you can drive with the warning light on. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly.

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most commonly misunderstood lights or indicators in your 2013 Toyota RAV4 is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the onboard diagnostics system, and displays in several different 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 car. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored car performance since the 80s and do a variety of things for your 2013 Toyota RAV4. Some of these include shifting automatic transmissions controlling engine speed, ignition timing, and implementing stability control, just to name a lot. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of definitive things. It can be as easy as your gas cap being loose or as discernible as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your 2013 Toyota RAV4, contact Nalley Toyota Union City. Contact Nalley Toyota Union City today! Our Toyota service department can help you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or inspect why your check engine light is flashing.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a 2013 Toyota RAV4?

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 serious problem that could cause serious damage to your engine and come with a vast repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A steady glow consistently means something less serious but a blinking check engine light indicates that your vehicle’s engine is in serious trouble and service is mandatory quickly. If your check engine light is blinking in your 2013 Toyota RAV4, we remarkably advocate not to drive the car and schedule Toyota service at this moment. Below is a list of the most accepted reasons your check engine light can come on:

• Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be replaced. The mass airflow sensor in your Toyota RAV4 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 certain changes, like altitude. If your Toyota RAV4 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 detrimental mass airflow sensor.
• Issues with all aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or substitute item can wreak havoc on your 2013 Toyota RAV4 if it’s not installed well. These aftermarket components and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound common, bring your RAV4 to Toyota and have our team of certified technicians ensure that your aftermarket items were installed correctly and aren't causing all issue. Getting accessories, extraordinarily aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM components first place might estimate a microscopic bit more but could save you money from having to get scanty perform and damage caused by scanty installation perform corrected.
• Your catalytic converter is detrimental or going detrimental. The catalytic converter is a part of your 2013 Toyota RAV4’s 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 usually caused by neglected maintenance, which is why Nalley Toyota Union City 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 RAV4 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 substitute problems from overheating.
• The battery is scanty or dead. The battery in your 2013 Toyota RAV4 is every laborious. 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 countless decades ago, and they don't genuinely require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Toyota you drive, but check our advanced service coupons and specials.
• One of the most classic and plentiful cause is that your 2013 Toyota RAV4 gas cap is loose, damaged or missing. The gas cap for your 2013 Toyota RAV4 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 detrimental fuel cap? If your gas cap is aged 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 pricey. If your check engine light turns on now after you put gas in your 2013 Toyota RAV4, first thing you should check is to make sure the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.
• New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are mandatory for your 2013 Toyota RAV4. 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 detrimental or aged, 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, considerable to more pricey repairs.
• Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, classic 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 productive 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 RAV4'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 detrimental O2 sensor can also cause a car to fail an emissions test.
• Your 2013 Toyota RAV4 has a vacuum leak. Every Toyota RAV4 has a vacuum system that performs a wide variety of functions. The vacuum system also helps lower detrimental 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, extraordinarily if they’re exposed to impressive heat or extreme freezing.

2013 Toyota RAV4 Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are bountiful capability causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are countless noted causes including something as easy as a loose gas cap. Other noted reasons for a Check Engine Light are faulty emissions control part, dirty mass airflow sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, damaged oxygen sensor, faulty head gasket, or defective spark plugs to name several. 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 RAV4 was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the vehicle on its natural systems. The sensors are continually 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 – it won’t tell you what exactly is inaccurate nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Nalley Toyota Union City provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Extremely Qualified Service forceful.

Check Engine Light Service 2013 Toyota RAV4

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Toyota RAV4 and suddenly, a yellow light flashes on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re 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 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 RAV4 checked as soon as attainable. Ignoring that warning could end up causing dominant damage to lavish engine components.

When your 2013 Toyota RAV4's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it can’t definite, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is generally labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that identifies as the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electrical scan tool that is used by our Toyota auto repair technicians at Nalley Toyota Union City. There are also a number of relatively low-priced code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you elect for that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced professional to pick the issue and repair it.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your 2013 Toyota RAV4 will frequently 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 RAV4 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 Nalley Toyota Union City so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

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 accordingly tightened to a more dangerous failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it convenient to get the fitting code reading and diagnosis. The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is consistently between $88 and $111. The convenient news, Nalley Toyota Union City offers complimentary multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help embrace the cause of your check engine light.

2013 Toyota RAV4 Check Engine Light

If the check engine light in your 2013 Toyota RAV4 starts twinkling, that means that the problem needs sudden attention and your Toyota should be brought in instantly. A twinkling light implies that the problem is unhealthy and if not taken care of instantly may result in big damage to the vehicle. This blinking light usually suggests a rigid engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be jettisoned into the exhaust system. There it can quickly raise the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where break is attainable, requiring an expensive repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can fully be the cause. A bad, long-established or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If your check engine light is blinking, please contact our team of automotive experts at Nalley Toyota Union City shortly by calling 7702848361. If the problem is ignored or you continue to travel to work, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a exceedingly costly repair.