I own a 2001 Sequoia, and took it in yesterday because the "check engine" light went on. Was informed that a loose gas cap will cause the engine light to come on, and that it can only be re-set by a service tech. The service manager told me that if it happened again I would be charged to have the check engine light turned off. This seems like a ridiculous design flaw to me. When I contacted Toyota Canada, they informed me that there is nothing that can be done, and that individual dealerships are responsible for deciding whether to charge owners for this task. What the heck is the deal? A $60,000 investment in a vehicle and I get charged for not tightening the gas cap enough. Anybody know of a work-around. I'm pretty disgusted at this point.

 

uh, not to spoil your anger, but any car dealership will charge you if it is a simple not tightening your gas cap. I saved a few people here at work because they didn't tighten the gas cap completely on their cars and their "check engine" light came on due to vapor leak. At least your car is not a Volvo where they charge in excess of $100 for diagnostics, save her a lot of money.

Any car should have a stress point on the cap where it will turn as tight as it's supposed to be and then click when reached full tightness, just remember to turn the cap tightly until it clicks and it shouldn't go on, if it does you either have a faulty sensor or your gas cap gasket is going bad.

 

that the check engine light should go off if the gas cap is tightened. I'm perfectly capable of tightening the gas cap in order to test whether that is the problem. In the case that happened the other day, I had the car filled at a service station while I stayed in the car with my kids. Guess I'll have to tell all service station employees -- please make sure that the gas cap is fully tightened.

 

The check engine light comes on when the gas cap is not tighten because the fuel system is pressurized. If the gas cap is not tighten the computer thinks that there is a leak and activates the check engine light. It is a self correcting light. The only time that the light will not go out is if you do not get the recommended maintenance preformed. The light is programmed to illuminate when the odometer hits the recommended mileage for maintenance.
Remedy:
Tighten gas cap
Drive car at least 3 trips
If leak is not detected the light will go off

No dealership will tell you this information. They want you to be their customer. I would also like to know if they told you where the reset button is for the check engine light. On a Nissan, it is behind the glove box. You drop the glove box and push a button and the light goes off.

 

I called Toyota Canada, and they told me that the check engine light would not go out until I took it in to the Toyota Dealer. If I run across the problem again, I will definately try a few trips after tightening the gas cap. I have no idea where the reset button is, but will take a look -- not that I'll need to use it if the light actually goes off once the cap is tightened.

Thanks again!

 

Most late model vehicles do not have a reset button, It is done with a scan tool. There are some codes that will self reset if the problem is corrected, others won't.