Alright, here's the deal. A couple of weeks ago, I had my 180k service done which included replacing the drive belts, water pump, thermostat, tranny service, coolant service, and replacing the timing belt. Yesterday while running errands, the CEL started blinking. Never seen this in my life so I pulled over, got my OBD2 code reader and it was...P0300...Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire Detected. Scared me to death. Called the local dealer I normally use (they didn't do the 180k service...another dealer did) and he said it could be a number of things, just monitor it and hope it doesn't come back.

Well tonight my wife and I are on the way home from test driving new vehicles (ironically) and it comes on two times. The first time it went out on it's own. The second time tonight, like the first day, the CEL went out whenever I plugged the OBD2 reader into the port.

What's the deal? I found some old posts and in one MTL Runner responded to a guy with the same problem and asked about any recent maintenance done...specifically a TIMING BELT REPLACEMENT!!! Pardon my ignornace, but how can they screw up the timing belt replacement and how does it throw a P0300 code? What's my recourse...take it back and raise hell at the dealership? I've got a feeling they are going to point the finger elsewhere, especially since my truck has 180k miles on it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated guys. Thanks.

Matt

 

here is a link with the most probable answers to the engine miss.

http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_cod...e-detected.php

 

how old are your coils?

 

I noticed one of the items on that list is 'Faulty camshaft position sensor'. That can easily be damaged while changing a timing belt.

 

Well, I hope I didn't get raped by the dealer this morning. I took it in and described the problem. Here's what they found...

1. A loose vacuum hose (probably from where they worked on it a couple weeks ago and didn't tighten it back properly)
2. Told me that the plugs needed to be replaced (Denso Platinums with 74k miles on them)
3. Told me that I should replace the plug wires (Same ones that came on the truck when I bought it in '01)

Of course, I hadn't seen this thread and viewed the link where it mentioned that a problem with the vacuum could throw this code. I gave them the go to do the work to the tune of another $175-$200.

After thinking I might have gotten hosed (no pun intended) I talked with the husband of the woman who cuts my hair. He used to work in the service department at this same dealership (didn't know this until about an hour after I left the dealership). I told him about the vacuum hose and he did tell me that it could have been the culprit since it was about a week after they orginally worked on it that the CEL came on. Maybe they didn't tighten the hose back down properly...I don't know. Anyway, it was too late to stop them at this point because they were 3/4 done with their work.

I had a discussion with the service manager when I picked the truck up. I let her know my displeasure with her service associate for not recommending that I drive it for a few days since they found the loose vacuum hose to see if it was the problem, before talking me into forking out another $200 at their dealership. She said she would call me back today...never did. I will be calling Toyota to report the this incident. Bottom line....they bent me over this morning!!!! So far, the CEL has not come back but I do not know if it is because the vacuum hose was reconnected or because of the new plugs and wires. This is the first time this dealer has done work for me and I should have known better and just stuck with the other dealer that normally does my servicing.

Thanks for the responses guys.

Matt

 

They did say the coils are fine. I hope it's not a problem with the camshaft position sensor since they did replace the timing belt a couple weeks ago. So help me god if this CEL comes back on and throws this code....that service manager and Toyota are gonna here it from me.

Matt

 

How does the vehicle actually run? Have you lost power, stumbling at idle, hesitate on acceleration? Or does it seem like everything runs like normal with the exception that this code trips intermittently?

 

Prior to the work being done this morning, I didn't notice ANY problems other than the light being on. No rough idling, no performance loss, etc. Pretty much the same with the new plugs and wires (and reconnected vacuum hose) as before but so far the CEL has not come back.

 

Matt, it's gonna be almost impossible to tell what the problem really was without trying the old parts again so see if you can reproduce the symptoms. That is exactly why most dealerships try to replace at least 1 part (the more the better) when you bring it in for a complaint. I'd forget about your latest dealer experience and just be happy it drives better now.