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Im Havin a little problem

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Old 09-29-2006, 02:05 AM
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Default Im Havin a little problem

Ok so i was drivin on the highway about a week and a half ago, then all of a sudden out of nowhere my CEL came on and my car wouldnt go over 70 w/o havin a fit. so naturaly i pull over and check to see whats wrong, nothin was loose (only a/m engine mod was a CAI) and it was pouring so i got really scared that water got sucked into the intake... anyways the car still drives.... and when i got home a couple days later i took my car to an autozone to get the code read (how acurate are those little computers?) and it said my primary O2 sensor is bad.... wtf?

my header is stock... and i talked to a friend of mine who is a tech at a dealership and she said that i should have no problem taking the car to a dealer and getting it fixed under warrenty if the exhaust is stock (i never touched the header... just the axel back but thats been stock for a month and a half now)... has anyone had a similar problem. and would the dealership say that the intake caused it (i know they cant just void the warrenty right there and that they have to prove it but still i dont like argueing...) or should i just drive the 2 hours to my friends dealership and have her fix it under warrenty problem free?


problem is idk how bad it is to drive like this, its already been like almost 2 weeks (im dont have the time cus of school, but i cant take it anymore) and the car runs like crap when ever i accelerate or go about 3000 rpm.... now my friend told me that with that code, the car runs lean... how bad is that, and can any other permanant damage result from that?! i dont wanna have any serious problems with my baby


any help is awesome! thanks
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:19 AM
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Don't drive it.... the primary 02 controls your A/F mixture and could cause a TON of damage if you run it any more than you have...

Dealer time! and warrantied without an issue for sure.
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:23 AM
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i have to drive it to go to classes. any dealer will fix it w/o a problem even tho i have the Injen Intake? i could easily take the intake off but im at school and my stock box is at my home home...
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:24 AM
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ill be going to the dealer tomorrow morning

also it shouldnt take long to fix right? just take the O2 sensor off and plug in the new one, reset the car and im good to go right?

it shouldnt take more then a couple hours right?
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:25 AM
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It did not say the O2 was bad.. it THINKS the 02 is bad. There is no system in the world that plugs in and tells you what is wrong. It tells you what readings are out of spec, which can be a chain reaction of multiple issues. That is why a good shop sees a scanner as is.. a tool for the purpose of guiding troubleshooting. Make sure first that the O2 is actually the issue. But you can also always have a bad part.. even straight out of the box.

I have been messing with cars a long time, and my father does it for a living, and very rarely does the data from the diagnostic tool point directly to a faulty part. So make sure you know before replacing... like too many dealerships do. Many are "replace the part until you find the issue" people rathter than true technicians... which is why they can empty your pocket quickly.

For the CAI, they would have a hard time saying it caused the issue unless the MAF was royally screwed. What was the exact code and code description?

Second thing... do your self a favor and stay miles away from autozone. Crappy parts and people that think they are auto techs. No offense to anyone working there.. but I have seen and heard so much bs that is reccomended by autozone stores.. and know too many shops that will not even recognize thier parts warranties because of the crap they sell.
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:26 AM
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The Intake won't effect the o2 sensor in any way... The dealer would be a crackpot to even try to deny a warranty claim on that... Take it to a dealer TOMARROW... if your engine is running like crap, and you have that error, only more and more damage could happen...
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:29 AM
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thanks tim, im taking it to the dealer tomorrow morning. cross your fingers for me :-/
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:30 AM
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Originally Posted by engifineer
It did not say the O2 was bad.. it THINKS the 02 is bad. There is no system in the world that plugs in and tells you what is wrong. It tells you what readings are out of spec, which can be a chain reaction of multiple issues. That is why a good shop sees a scanner as is.. a tool for the purpose of guiding troubleshooting. Make sure first that the O2 is actually the issue. But you can also always have a bad part.. even straight out of the box.

I have been messing with cars a long time, and my father does it for a living, and very rarely does the data from the diagnostic tool point directly to a faulty part. So make sure you know before replacing... like too many dealerships do. Many are "replace the part until you find the issue" people rathter than true technicians... which is why they can empty your pocket quickly.

For the CAI, they would have a hard time saying it caused the issue unless the MAF was royally screwed. What was the exact code and code description?

Second thing... do your self a favor and stay miles away from autozone. Crappy parts and people that think they are auto techs. No offense to anyone working there.. but I have seen and heard so much bs that is reccomended by autozone stores.. and know too many shops that will not even recognize thier parts warranties because of the crap they sell.
so what are you trying to suggest besides not going to autozone? i just knew they had a tool to read codes...

the code said O2 Sensor faulty (or somethin like that) it didnt mention anything about the MAF.
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:36 AM
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You can get a simple code reader for about $40 or so, and a diagnostic tool and software for a laptop for around $150 (or if you are serious, get an OTC diag. tool for a few thousand ). If you are modding your car in the future, you may as well get one of your own. I just laugh at autozone most of the time.. so I threw that in

Your O2 could very well be faulty. But hopefully the dealership actually troubleshoots rather than just replacing the O2 and hoping that fixes it. But, it is under warranty so it is thier dime if they do I guess.
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:39 AM
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but should i be worried about my intake at all?

becuase if i have to replace it ill have to have my parents bring me my stock intake from my house thats ~1.5 hours away
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:39 AM
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take off the CAI and exhaust, then go to the dealer :D
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Old 09-29-2006, 02:40 AM
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i wish it was that easy man, but my parents cant just drop what they are doin to bring me my stock intake lol
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Old 09-29-2006, 03:10 AM
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ok im goin to the dealer tomorrow around 9, ill let you all know how it goes. thanks WDS and Engifineer :D i hope its just the O2 sensor
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Old 09-29-2006, 03:27 AM
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damn that sucks! Keep us posted Dave!
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Old 09-29-2006, 03:29 AM
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will do... ill be so upset if it has to do with the intake... now im worried.... i might see if my parents could meet me half way... lol and take the car tot he dealership saturday or monday, and just not drive it this weekend....
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Old 09-29-2006, 03:41 AM
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The dealer wont give you crap for the intake. Unless you did water damage to the MAF sensor. As for the 02 CEL code making your car lean out....thats not true. It sends the ecu in safe mode.....REALLY RICH. Thats prolly why its "bogging" out on you above 3krpm's. As long as the ECU is in safe mode you should be ok to drive it but I would take it very easy.

Like engifineer said though. I may or may not be that sensor. I bought my own OBD2 scanner cause those guys at autozone always try and sell you 200-300 dollars parts everytime you have any code at all.
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Old 09-29-2006, 03:54 AM
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see at first i thought that too. that the car went into "safe mode" and ran rich, but then i was told that it makes the car run lean which is bad. i was told by my friend who is a toyota tech that the car runs lean.... now im confused... but if the car was running really rich due to the O2 sensor being bad... the car would bog above 3krpm? cuz thats waht it does... like it doesnt wanna go over 3k... but doesnt wanna be under 2.5k it sucks. and its no longer fun to drive lol... i never thought about trading my car in so much as i have the past couple of weeks mostly because this problem came from nowhere....



oh and on a side note.... the little filter "glove" thingy that K&N has for their CAI SUCKS! i put it on my CAI and it just got soaked with water and dirt and made the filter dirty....


btw i took the filter off and the inside of the filter and CAI piping was dry. so i dont think there was any water damage. plus if there was would the car even drive?
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Old 09-29-2006, 04:27 AM
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when i was buying my tc, i asked the dealer (the financial guy that does warranties/financing) if adding any moderate mods (exhaust, header, intake) would void the warranty....and he said nothing of that nature would. he owned a tc and fixed it up and he still was under the toyota warranty....so under that imperssion and his word, even asking him over 3 times, i wouldn't worry about the injen cai....and just get the car into the dealer!
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Old 09-29-2006, 07:24 AM
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Let me know what your outcome is!
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Old 09-29-2006, 12:35 PM
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will do :D ::fingers crossed::
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