Resetting "CHECK ENGINE" light

How do you do it?

Thanks!

 

Remove your battery cables for a few minutes, is one way to do it, or just go get it cleared with a reader

 

Yep. Remove the ground cable from the battery, open and close the driver door ( interior light will deplete the remaining voltage lingering), put it back on and pray it doesn't come back on and if it does......it's something simple.

 

Personally I recommend using a code reader tool to clear the codes. When you disconnect the battery EVERYTHING loses it's memory, including the ECU which stores fuel data and idle information. Check the forum here and you will find no less than 2 dozen threads where people have problems getting the engine to start and idle after disconnecting the battery. Usually a parts store will clear a code for you for free with their code readers.

 

Somehow I did mine with restarting the engine 3 times when I had the 02 sensor code.
But now its not working.

 

^^^ This is the man to listen to.

 

The a/f system will fix itself after about 15 mins. It doesn't take 2 days.
It's recomended to do this after any minor/major engine mods anyway.
And I have never heard of anyone having any trouble restarting after a disconnecting the battery to reset the ecu.

 

Meh, sorry. Meant to quota Bama.

 

Ive never had problems starting my truck, doesn't mean it can't happen but I have a UG now so I just reset it like that. But if you can go get it cleared with a reader do that. Either way should be fine

 

I do. Every time. And I have a 2nd gen. Every single time I disconnect the battery to work on something electrical, after I reconnect and go to start it, it's like it is missing a cylinder or two. I drive it around my neighborhood block very slowly, then come home and restart it. Normally after driving around the block the second time, everything is clear and it's running good again.

 

Never had a problem with my 2.7. Must have disconnected the battery atleast 15-20 times. Maybe its a 3.4 or 4.0 issue>?

 

Disconnecting the batter DOES clear the Fuel Trims that accumulate while driving causing hard starts and rough initial idle after a battery disconnect. But it is only temporary. Take short drive and the ECU will start calculating the trims again and get them close to where they were before you disconnected the battery. They are always changing.

 

You could address the cause of the check engine light instead of just resetting the ECU and hoping the issue magically goes away. I have a 2nd gen and it didn't misbehave at all when I changed the battery.

 

but he said "second" gen tacomas not first gen like ours so the second gens must have more computerized crap that spazzes out.

most codes should reset themselves given a few driving cycles as I understand it but if not then autozone can reset it for you when you ask them to check the code, then play dumb and tell em reset it and you will come back to buy the part in a day or two when you get paid lol.

its well worth it to buy a code reader since they are cheap and come in very handy

 

I googled 2012 camry check engine light and there are a few who recommend the same technique which I tried on my camry and it works. Don't know if it works on the Tacoma.

 

Another benefit of using a code reader is you can get some idea what caused the check light to begin with.

 

You can pull the EFI fuse to reset the light.

 

I recently pulled a few codes after the engine light came on, but didn't reset it at the auto parts store. Of the 4 codes, the one common recommendation was to just tighten the gas cap (4 EVAP codes). Since I'm in Oregon and not allowed to pump my own gas, it seemed logical that someone didn't tighten it.

I tightened the cap after learning this, and the light didn't go off. Before I go looking into other potential problems, I'd like to know if the engine light should go off when the problem is remedied, or do I need to clear the codes in order for it to go off?

Thanks....

Mike

 

They have bluetooth/wifi code readers on Amazon/ebay for super cheap these days. If you have android (or someone's you can borrow) Torque is a great free app to pair with the code reader. They make iphone wifi apps too (iphone needs wifi because they lock out BT) but torque is better anyway.
For less than $10 you can read and clear codes, view voltage readings on everything, temps, a/f ratios, all kinds of stuff.

 

agreed and make damn sure you write down the codes its giving, the reason is, if it comes on again you want to know if its the same code again or something different.

if it gives you a second code for the same thing, then its a problem you need to fix.

if the problem has already been fixed then after a few driving cycles it will usually (but not always) reset itself.

what have you done recently to cause the CEL? have you messed with the throttle body? if so putting the vacuum lines in the wrong order will set off a CEL