Last 4 months the CEL has been going on and off. I had an autozone associate read the code and it came out as EVR insufficient (or something to that effect).
I noticed that when I get Gas at a particular station the CEL does not light up. So, I have been re-fueling only at that particular gas station and hence I did not do anything with the CEL.
That was until last week. Now the CEL has been on for on even with that gas station.
Secondly, the area near the driver’s feet gets hot, especially right near the gas pedal.
Can anyone point me in the right direction? And ballpark cost?
I’m thinking of replacing the car in 6 months. So, do not want to spend a lot. 4 months ago had some hail damage, so not sure I want to spend a lot of money on it.
First, go have the codes read again. This time write down the exact code. It looks like “P1234”. My guess from your vague description is that it is going to be P0401 which is insufficient EGR flow, but you need to verify that before you get sent on wild goose chases. How handy are you around cars and tools?
As for the heat around the gas pedal you’ll have to to clarify what you mean. Do you mean the actual floor of the car gets hot? Or do you just mean that there’s always heated air blowing at your feet?
Thanks for your response. You are absolutely correct, it was P0401 - EGR insufficient flow. I did lookup couple of YouTube videos explaining the removal of the EGR valve and I even located the valve in the car! I would say I’m average (mediocre!) in handling tools and car.
I also read that the code could be misleading and horror stories from other contributors that they replaced the EGR and then CEL came back up promptly after a week.
Regarding the heat around the gas pedal, it is the heated air blowing on to the feet, even if I turn the heat off. My son was complaining of the same over the summer while sitting at the passenger side front.
The thing is - I’ve been driving around 900 miles a week and guess this would continue for another 6 months and hence hesitant to get a new car at this time. At the same time, I dont want to spend 700 or 1000 dollars on this 12 year old car.
Thanks for your response. You are absolutely correct, it was P0401 - EGR insufficient flow. I did lookup couple of YouTube videos explaining the removal of the EGR valve and I even located the valve in the car! I would say I’m average (mediocre!) in handling tools and car.
I also read that the code could be misleading and horror stories from other contributors that they replaced the EGR and then CEL came back up promptly after a week.
Regarding the heat around the gas pedal, it is the heated air blowing on to the feet, even if I turn the heat off. My son was complaining of the same over the summer while sitting at the passenger side front.
The thing is - I’ve been driving around 900 miles a week and guess this would continue for another 6 months and hence hesitant to get a new car at this time. At the same time, I dont want to spend 700 or 1000 dollars on this 12 year old car.
Horror stories about EGR codes come from people who don’t know what they are doing. I’m not saying that the issues can’t get difficult sometimes. But a lot of people think that those error codes tell you that parts are broken. They don’t.
The EGR is a system. I don’t know the exact details on a Toyota, but the generic picture is that there is a small pipe off of the exhaust manifold that feeds to a sensor and to the EGR valve. Under certain conditions, including both engine operating conditions & exhaust pressure (as read by that sensor), the PCM (engine computer) tells a solenoid of some kind to activate the EGR valve. The valve opens & exhaust gas flows into the intake with the air stream.
Insufficient flow would mean that the PCM told the EGR valve to open, but that the sensor didn’t see the change in pressure it should see if the exhaust was flowing into the intake.
On a car this old, a very common cause is probably that the feeder for the EGR is clogged up with carbon. Dealing with this requires no new parts. You have to pull that feeder and clean out the carbon.
Many EGRs are vacuum operated so another issue can come from a broken/leaky vacuum line to the EGR valve. This is even easier but might cost fifty cents or so in a new piece of vacuum line.
It is also possible that EGR valve is actually bad & isn’t opening. Or that the sensor reading the pressure is wrong. Or that the actuating solenoid isn’t working - for the P0401 its probably mechanical where the solenoid can’t manage the vacuum. (If it was electrical it would probably be a different code).
So anyway - the key is to know that the whole thing is a system (not a part) & how the system works. The first thing I’d check is the vacuum lines - both to the solenoid & to the valve. If that’s all good I’d go to just pulling the valve & feeder & cleaning it all. If you do go this far & pull the EGR valve off you will need a new gasket for it.
Thanks a bunch. I’ll try cleaning the feeder.
Also, any thoughts on the heating issue?
Regards
Ron
Oh - right. The heating issue. What happens if you put the HVAC system on recirculate only? How about if the temp selector is set to cold? A/C on? If this is truly just hot air blowing around at your feet then you may have an issue in the ductwork.
But I would also have a trusted mechanic put it up on a rack & check to make sure that you haven’t lost any heat shields for the exhaust system and/or developed any openings in the floor.
When you move the dial on the dash for the heat, it pulls/pushes on a valve located in the heater hose where it connects to the heater core under the hood. Just follow your heater hoses to the firewall and one of them will have this valve in it. Have someone work the controls and see if the lever on the valve moves. If it doesn’t, then the cable between the valve and the dial has become disconnected, probably at the dial (or lever).