is that normal? if so.. how do i turn it off. if not... what's wrong with my car?

 

hahaha, get the code read, it could be for a bunch of stuff. nobody here can help you if they dont know what the code is for

 

Of course it's not normal... that's why it's called a "CHECK ENGINE light." You need to check your engine.

And no one is going to be able to help you unless you go get the code read and find out what it is. Try a local Autozone or another auto parts store that will read it. Most do. Once you have the code, we can probably help more.

 

dang it. i hoping for the "oh yeah when you reach 30K, the CEL will go off, signaling the owner to do some maintenance"

crap, but yeah ill go do that.. now

 

Don't forget to let us know what the problem was.

 

^^ X2 on that. along with most of the parts stores having an OBDII reader on hand, they can usually look up the code in their system as well.
As for the check engine light... most of the time it does indicate that something needs to be looked at; however, there is one time that will it come on that it does NOT mean there is a problem.... and that is when you reach the 5,000 mark it is indicating that it's time for service (oil/filter change). Then once you change it, just reset the 5K service "counter".

 

gr my nearest autozone doesn't pull codes anymore, gotta try elsewhere

 

The CEL and the Maint Reqd light are totally different. The CEL is an alert from your ECU while the Maint light is just a dummy indicator that's set off by mileage intervals. Your CEL should not have come on at 5k. In the 82k miles I've driven my car I've never had a CEL.

 

so i got it checked out pepboys today. and... it was something about the exhaust. code was p0441 i think.. any ideas? oh fyi, i recently installed a raceland catback.. but the code went off before i installed it :/

 

http://www.obd-codes.com/p0441 (I know, google is so hard these days)

Have you gotten gas lately? Make sure to tighten the cap completely.

 

The most common CEL problem with the tC is that the gas cap leaks air. Mine was replaced for free by toyota.

 

^ yep I agree check to see if your gas cap is tight

 

hm that would explain my dip in MPG lately haha

 

problem solved? disconnect and reconnected the negative lead, no more cel :D

 

My tc was throwing the same code a few months back and i had it cleared, it came back around 75 miles later. So i changed the cap and had it reset and it has not come back since. So if your cap is leaking it will come back on. Got the gas cap for $13 at auto zone.