1997 Toyota Camry - CEL on -cannot fix

Maintenance/Repairs
1

97 Camry engine light stays on. I spent hundreds of dollars and dealer said cannot find part? The light needs to tunred off to pass state inspection.

2

Well , you could have said what the part was . And you could also call your local salvage yard and see if they could use their nationwide locator service to see if one could be found . Check with your local inspection station and see if your might get a waiver because of the part.

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3

This is a car which literally millions were made, and to this day remains one of the most common cars on the road. Even body parts are readily available for these cars, maybe not genuine Toyota brand, but certainly aftermarket brands still support this model. I cannot believe that the dealer cannot locate a mechanical part for this model. What exactly is needed?

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4

What is the code? Head over to a parts store and they will usually read it for free (except CA), or look at the work order from the dealer, it should have the code. Post the number here, it will look like P1234. What work was done on the car and why, what symptoms do you have or is it just the CEL

5

In many states, with an older car, if the owner has to spend more than “X” dollars on an emissions-related repair, the state allows the car to be registered even w/o a “pass” on the emissions test.

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6

They’ll do it for free here in CA, also . . . even though they’re not supposed to

And they’ll even install parts in the parking lot with the customer blatantly watching . . . presumably for tip money

I find that those rules are very poorly enforced

That said, the parts store guys usually don’t have much in the way of diagnostic skills, and they often guess incorrectly

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7

Had that same issue with a 2001 Camry, went to Advance Auto and they gave me the code for free. Then you can look up the part using google, a Camry should have many parts that will work from other Camrys that aren’t the same year as yours so should be easy to find the part.

8

Get a note from the dealer indicating the lack of the part and you will pass emission.