The check engine light is missing
 

I've got a 89 Pickup with the 22RE and for the five years I've had it, I've never seen the CEL, even when things were going bad. I figured it was a burnt out bulb, and finally got motivated to try and replace it. Well, I tore my dash apart and can you imagine my surprise when I can't find the CEL anywhere?! I shone a light through the bottom left lenses and I've got oil, seatbelt, parking brake and battery. The lower right lense just has CRUSE (which I don't have). The top left set is the left turn signal and bright indicator, and the top right set is right turn signal only. Where on earth is the CEL supposed to be?

Well I came back to it after dark, and turning my truck to the ACC position, I notice a faint light peaking out from behind the fuel gauge, and it turns off shortly after turning on the engine... could this be my missing light? Well I went and shorted TE1 to E1, putting it into timing mode (a mode that I know is supposed to trigger the CEL). Lo and behold, the hidden light is flashing! So I've found my missing CEL.

Has anyone seen this before? Did Toyota really forget to put the lens for the CEL in the fuel gauge panel? There is also a hidden bulb on the other side behind the engine temperature gauge, what could this be? I'll probably just scratch away some of the black from the fuel gauge panel so I can see the light when I put everything back together, but I figured I would post here in case anyone else sees something similar.

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Seems something isn't original with your cluster, bulb is lighting but no window for it? Here is where mine is, but this is the cluster with a tach (1992):

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I’ve never seen a missing warning light from the factory. Ever. My guess is something has either been replaced or something was altered/removed/painted over etc. to hide a check engine light. Now that I’ve seen a lot of.

Heh.
No Check Engine Light, no problems indicated by it, right? :D

Pat☺

So I drilled a hole, and to make it look nice I colored a piece of plastic from a milk jug with a sharpie, and then super-glued it backwards (with the sharpie side away) behind the hole. I put an amber light in it, and the results are look decent. There is also a hidden bulb on the water-temp side that I have no clue what it is for. I drilled a small hole in that as well, and if it ever comes on I can must about what it is.

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So I went to the junkyard, and just so happened to find a 1990 Pickup (one year later than mine) with the exact same dash. You better believe I was fast to tear that sucker out of there, and can you imagine my surprise when I look through the bulb hole on the gas gauge side and see a check engine light lens! I look through the hole on the water temperature side and it has a "4WD" lens. I dash out to my truck, pull back on the transfer case and lo and behold, the light turns on! I can't believe, all these years I've had the truck, I've had a bulb lighting up in the dash every time I turn on 4WD and I had no idea!

This dash also has a lens that says "REAR ANTI LOCK" in between the oil and seatbelt lens. Unlike the 1990 truck, my truck does not have a bulb, or trace on the circuit board for this spot. Did some versions of the Pickup come with rear anti-lock brakes? I had no idea.

I don't think this is an aftermarket dash. The quality is too good, it's plastered in japanese lettering and it feels like a Toyota part. I don't think the entire instrument cluster was swapped, since the circuit board still included the bulbs and traces for these indicators. I suppose someone could have replaced just the gauges, but that seems like a lot of work to cover up a check engine light, and why would they do the 4WD lens if it was just for that? It can't have been removed or covered up, since the lenses are built-in to the gauge.

The only conclusion that I can come to is that, at least on some early Pickups, Toyota forgot to include the lens for the CEL and 4WD system in the instrument panel.

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Check Engine Light from the junkyard truck


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4wd light from the junkyard truck


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For future reference: Here's the circuit board from the truck I pulled out of the junkyard