[Mk2 Rev 3 turbo] Engine Warning Light, but no ecu fault codes

[rev3gtturbo]

Hi

Driving out my garage last night the Engine Warning Light started flickering under load but not when idling.

Just before this occurred there was a very loud squeel from the back which I think is a binding brake. The squeel is not there when the car is not moving. There is some run out on one of the disks but this only caused a bit of a squeel in reverse only - a garage has looked at it but not found the cause of why it only squeels in reverse.

Back to the Engine Warning Light, I checked the ECU and there are no fault codes.

If I rev the engine gently while in neutral the Engine Warning Light also flickers. There is no squeel and the engine sounds ok and idles ok.

I am guessing I should not drive the car with this warning light.

The owner manual says "Should this light appear there is something wrong with the vehicles electrical system or the engine itself. Take the vehicle to your nearest Toyota dealer as soon as possible".

The day before the problem happened I did spend quite a long time setting up the Alpine 9880 with the engine idling and it drove ok after that so dont think I overheated the engine.

Not long ago I did have an intermittent electrical problem starting the car which seemed to have been caused by a kinked wire.
A few days later the bulb behind the fuel gauge and left part of the speedo stopped working then came back a couple of times for a day (once when accelerating hard!) then stayed working again, so an intermittent problem there. Yesterday I noticed the bulb behind the hazzard light switch is not working but the hazzard lights can be operated ok. Cigarette lighter is also not lit.
I know I need to get the dashboard off to investigate the bulb connections but been too busy.


Anyone else had the engine warning light problem?

cheers

[rev3gtturbo]

I have just checked all the boot and frunk fuses are ok. Did not check the footwell fuses as all the associated electrics are working.

I cant find anything lose in the engine bay or under the bonnet.

Started the engine again... and gently revved it a couple of 100 rpm and this flashed the engine warning light. While revving it I could hear a noise (more mechanical than a relay click) from behind the dashboard on the drivers side that I have never heard before. By myself at the moment so cant tell if the noise is actually from under the bonnet or the behind the dashboard.

[toxo]

Flickery warning lights are normally alternator failure, but usually it wouldn't just flicker the engine one, you'd get your cat temp and not charging lights flickering as well. Presuming those bulbs work of course!

I wonder if all your problems are related or not... it's easy to get the panel off for the fag lighter and hazard switch so I would start there.

Has your ECU wiring been messed around at all or is it intact?

[rev3gtturbo]

Thanks for the reply.

Dont know if the ECU wiring has been messed about with....

Car became sluggish accelerating about 2 months ago and an unbranded aftermarket boost controller (which I did not know I had!) was deemed faulty and removed, but with the wiring through the bulk head left in place.
Stock boost controller was still on the car but had been completely bypassed by a previous owner. This was re-plumbed in but didnt work much better.
Car now has a manual boost controller piggy backing the stock boost controller and the combination works great.

I have owned the car since 2001 and its been a fun reliable daily runner doing average miles most years although that jumped to 20,000 miles (mainly free flowing traffic) this year due to job change.

I have replaced quite a few bits over the years as they have worn out, as you might expect for a 15 yr old car that has done 139,000 miles.

I dont think I have ever replaced the alternator.

Fuel economy is still good for the performance.

[toxo]

OK, worth checking voltages.

With the engine off, take a voltmeter to the battery terminals, and make sure they're 12v.

Start the engine, let it settle for a few seconds, then check the battery terminals again, they should read 14.4v.

From underneath the car, you can whip the 3-pin connector off the alternator and make sure you've got 12v on all 3 pins with the engine running.

I would also whip off the panel with the fag lighter off and check the bulbs there, and while you're there you might as well take the instrument cluster out (it's only 4 extra screws from there) and check the bulbs in there too, as you say some of them have been intermittent.

Out of interest do you get all your warning lights coming on before you start the engine? You should get P/S, engine warning, cat temp, not charging etc all lighting up and then they should go out when you start the engine.

[rev3gtturbo]

I need to get a voltmeter first as not needed one before.

The instrument cluster has been on/off quite a bit a couple of months ago to fix intermittent starting problem I mentioned earlier (kinked wire). Part of the rev counter was dimmer so I got them to change the bulb while the dash was off. That bulb had blown.

I do get a full set of warning lights before starting the engine and they go out after.

cheers

[rev3gtturbo]

Bought a multimeter today.

Good news is the voltage across the battery is 12.4 V before engine start and 14.7 V after engine start.

I let the engine warm up and turned on all the electrics - headlights, fog lights, hazzard lights, Climate Control on full blast - and there were 14.4 - 14.5 V across the battery, the pulsing with the hazzard lights flashing.

So with the battery and alternator looking healthy, I then revved the engine, but got no engine warning light at all. Turned engine off and back on, revved it, still no engine warning light. Either it is an intermittent fault, or moving the red plastic cover off the battery positive terminal had an effect. I will have a closer look in daylight.

Also the strange noise I mentioned towards the front of the car was not there today.

The exhaust fumes were unusually very pungent - perhaps oily smell to it?

Tomorrow I will check the light fittings behind the dashboard. Will also check the voltage across the alternator 3 pin connector yet.

[rev3gtturbo]

Took my dashboard apart for the first time today so took quite a while. Knowledge Base guide was very useful . Was a bit nervous in case I messed it up and car was undrivable afterwards lol

On the instrument cluster, the bulb for the fuel gauge and lower speed end of the speedo looked ok. I swapped bulbs around and the unlit part of the dash board also swapped so it is probably the bulb and not the circuit. (Well the bulb is definitely dead now, but dont know why it had the initial failure then brief recovery reported earlier in the thread.)

Connectors on the back of the hazzard light switch and the cigarette lighter appeared to be connected ok. Did not have time to check the bulbs, partly because I left the connectors attached as my main priority was getting at the dashboard lights.

Bright copper wire visible between small gaps in insulation tape windings on immobiliser pickup ring so have taped over that so it cant contact anything metal, although it looks mainly plastic near there.

Dashboard still apart - I partially put it back together just enough to reverse car into my garage. Was really pleased the car still started.

No engine warning light today. (Either car is happy, I hope, or its intermittent problem).

Horrendous noise from brakes going backwards but not when going forwards Note I have been leaving it parked in gear with the handbrake off.

Tomorrow morning I can quickly check the bulbs for the hazzard light switch and cigarette lighter before going to the autofactors for bulbs.

[toxo]

Sounds like good work

I have had my dash apart more times than I've got fingers, there's always a gremlin behind there Some of the bulbs in the switches are weird Toyota-only ones (fog light switches spring to mind) but they cost pennies anyway.

[rev3gtturbo]

Was unable to get the connector off the hazard warning light switch as my hands were way too cold so decided to leave that for warmer weather.

I have re-assembled my car and everything else still works so that is something

Engine didnt sound its usual self when it got up to temperature and idling.
Everything in the engine bay looked the same as it usually does. I did not see any engine vibration. I pulled the throttle cable by hand and the engine tilted backward a bit at the higher revs and stayed there while I held the cable. When I let go of the cable it tilted forward again. I was not sure if I was imagining it so I did it again. No engine warning lights.

I didnt think the engine was supposed to move like that.
Maybe this is what caused the flashing of the engine warning light at the beginning of this thread?

[toxo]

Not likely I don't think, but it might mean that your engine torque mounts are shot. When my engine was a little bit too er 'mobile' it was because the mount on the front of the gearbox had pulled the threads out