Celica Forums General Discussion Exterior Car is Being Serviced...

Well, this morning I took my car in for the 10,000 mile check-up for my oil change, tire rotations and all that BS. My CEL light has been on for a good few days now and I was thinking that it was because of my oil, but it wasn't, the CEL was because of my Catalytic converter, which I think the MAFS on the Catalytic converter is clogged or something. he says it's the whole CAT, but I doubt my whole CAT is bad, do you think I should just convince my parents to just buy me a whole exhaust system? lol

But here's the deal, he said I should take it to the dealer and they'll replace it under warranty, cus i have a 5 yr warranty or 80,000 miles, and I'm at 53k so I should be set. we shall see, anyone know anything about this CEL code and what it entitles? should I replace the whole CAT or was i right and the sensor just needs cleaning or something?

He also said I have like 20 seconds left on my brakes... EEK not good, lol so yeah, we'll see what happens, my dad's paying for this whole shit before I run off to college so my car doesn't die while in college, some of you guys must know how bad that situation sucks... but yeah, let me know what you guru's think.

It could just be a faulty O2 sensor. The MAF is under your hood and no where near your cat, unless there is another one there that I have no idea about. Probably just an O2 sensor.

So what do i do about it? do i take it to Toyota and be like YO, my car is on warranty and i need a new Cat, BEEYOTCH install one! or is there any way to clean the cat and see if that's it or what???

Well I don't think you will need a brand new cat. If it's a damaged O2 sensor, then you won't need a cat. If there is a hole or significant damage to your cat causing it to malfunction, then you may need a new one. You'd have to check your warranty information, because I'm not positive that this would be covered, but it most likely is.

It would also help to know what the number of the CEL was. Ask your mechanic so I can look it up in my shop manual and see exactly what it relates to, and what needs to be diagnosed. If your CEL is still on, then drive it up to Autozone and they will read it and tell it to you for free.