Received a check engine light this morning in my 06 Scion tC during normal driving conditions, the car was running fine and I wasn't anticipating any problems. I pulled into a parking lot and noticed my accelerator was not responding to the input received from the foot petal.

Once I parked the car I popped the hood and took a quick look, car idled smoothly and did not present any problems. Towed the car to the local dealership and had them take a look at it. They came back and said the throttle body sensor had an internal short and that they would have to replace the entire assembly to the tune of $1,000+.

The only modification that has been done to the drivetrain is a K & N air filter. Other than that it sits bone stock with 57,9xx miles on her. Never had any problems with the car, I change all my own oils, filters, brakes, etc. the unusual general maintenance stuff and have documentation for everything done to this car including almost every gallon of gas that has been put in her.

I scan these forums from time to time or whenever I start up a new project on my tC and have never heard of this problem that the dealership refers to; I guess I am trying to take the temperature of the board and hear your thoughts on the matter or recommendations I should take to resolve the issue. Do you think the dealership is trying to pawn this off on something else so the car's powertrain warranty at 60,000 miles expires and won't have to fix it?

I also bring this up because I noticed something peculiar about the car when I was waiting for the tow truck. I checked the oil (which I changed with 5w30 Pennzoil Full Synthetic on 1/31/09 and 52,xxx miles) and it was low, actually really low. I got under the car and checked the drain plug and surrounding area; bone dry and I haven't noticed a spot in my garage either indicating a leak. Coolant looked clear and the oil on the dipstick looked normal with no milky residue indicating a gasket leak.

The oil has to go somewhere so I was thinking I may have blown a piston ring and I am burning the oil in the cylinder. I am not familiar with the symptoms of such a problem and therefore can't really discern if this is a plausible diagnosis. I have not noticed a drop in engine performance or black smoke coming from the tailpipe but if it is a small leak then would this still be noticeable?

Any help or light anyone can shed on the subject is greatly appreciated, thanks for stopping by and checking out my post.

 

every car burns oil and i have seen many threads with people talking about it. i know my tc will burn .5-1 quart between oil changes but if you have an oil leak it would should still be covered under warranty and so should whatever the stealership is trying to say is wrong. that is clearly an engine malfunction and you are still covered under warranty with your stock motor so they should fix it with no cost to you.

 

If i remember correctly the throttle body is not covered in the warrenty,if you have the extendied warrenty it is though.I say push the issue with them or goto junk yard and pck one up for cheap and install,it is jsut a couple of bolts and a gasket at worst,very simple to do.

 

Throttle body definitely should be covered under the 60,000 mile powertrain warranty I would think.

And I agree it is the throttle body actuator. The code (I cant remember the number for it) is most likely the self check failing on that actuator. If that fails completely, then the car will idle but will not do anything else.

As far as oil, as mentioned, all engines burn some amount of oil normally. If not they would not oil correctly. If it is a large amount of loss then you would most likely notice some smoke when driving. If you start the car and it smokes right after you start it but then stops, then it could be a valve seal. If it is a ring it should do it more often while driving. If it were leaking, you would be able to see it somewhere. Look all around the valve cover and head as well for any signs of a leak.

 

What was the update to all of this?? What happened?

 

dealership probably screwed him......since throttle body is considered a add on part to drive trane like alternater and starter is......I talked to my dealership and if you get extended warenty they will cover it but not other wise they cannot......pretty sad huh.

 

wow yeah that is sad. and the throttle body isn't cheap!