2019 Toyota Prius Check Engine Light

How much does it cost to get the engine light checked?

The average cost for a check engine light diagnosis & testing is generally between $88 and $111. The good news, Stevinson Toyota East offers completely free multi-point inspections and free diagnostics, in most cases, to help determine the cause of your check engine light. The check engine light warns of issues ranging from a gas cap that's not correctly tightened to a more serious failure like a bad catalytic converter or a problem with one of the car's oxygen sensors, so it good to get the proper code reading and diagnosis.

Will the check engine light reset itself?

The check engine light on your 2019 Toyota Prius will normally shut itself off if the issue or code that caused it to turn on is fixed. For example, if the cause of your check engine light coming on was a loose gas cap, if it's tightened, the light will rapidly turn itself off. Likewise, if your catalytic converter is working properly, and you did a lot of stop-and-go driving, that may have turned on the check engine light due to the high usage of the converter. In most cases, your 2019 Toyota Prius light will go off after about 20-40 miles. If you drive over that amount and the light is still on, you will need to bring it in to Stevinson Toyota East so the light and code can be double-checked and reset.

2019 Toyota Prius Check Engine Light

A flashing light reveals that the problem is very serious and if not taken care of promptly may result in major and serious damage to the car. If the check engine light in your 2019 Toyota Prius starts flashing, that means that the problem needs attention promptly and your Toyota should be brought in instantly. This blinking light usually signifies a severe engine misfire allowing unburned fuel to be dumped into the exhaust system. There it can swiftly raise the temperature of the catalytic converter to a point where damage is likely, requiring an costly and major repair. Some owners ask if spark plugs cause the check engine light to flash? This can definitely be the cause. A broken, old or dirty spark plug can cause the engine to misfire. If the problem is entirely ignored or you continue to drive, this can spread to the spark plug wires, catalytic converter, or ignition coils which can lead to a very costly repair. If your check engine light is always flashing, please contact our team of automotive experts at Stevinson Toyota East instantly by calling 7205139585.

Is it safe to drive your 2019 Toyota Prius with the check engine light on?

This question is not very simple because it all depends on the severity of the issue. If the cause is a minor issue, such as a loose gas cap, it should be secure to drive. This is typically indicated by a steady glow of the check engine light. If you notice a difference in the performance of the car, it could be an indication of a more serious problem. If the check engine light is flashing, this means that there is a serious issue and it is advised to service your Toyota Prius swiftly. Call the experts at Stevinson Toyota East by dialing 7205139585 so you can describe the issues. Or lessen your speed and bring your 2019 Toyota to our certified mechanics as promptly as likely.

What could cause the check engine light to come on in a 2019 Toyota Prius?

When your check engine light comes on, this could be as simple as tightening or replacing your gas cap. Likewise, the check engine light could also be a warning of a significant problem that could cause serious damage to your engine and come with a hefty and costly repair bill. Depending on your make and model, the check engine light will illuminate or blink. A steady and continuous glow ordinarily means something less serious but a flashing check engine light reveals that your vehicle’s engine is in significant trouble and useful service is required immediately. If your check engine light is flashing in your 2019 Toyota Prius, we exceptionally advise not to drive the vehicle and schedule Toyota service today. Below is a list of the most common reasons your check engine light can come on:

• One of the most common and frequent cause is that your 2019 Toyota Prius gas cap is loose, broken or missing. The gas cap for your 2019 Toyota Prius serves multiple purposes. It prevents dangerous gas fumes from being released when you aren't driving, it seals the fuel system and helps maintain pressure within the fuel tank. What happens if you have a damaged fuel cap? If your gas cap is old or has a ruptured seal, you can lose fuel through evaporation which will result in more trips to the pump and be more costly. Luckily, to replace a gas cap isn't expensive. If your check engine light turns on promptly after you put gas in your 2019 Toyota Prius, first thing you should check is to make sure the cap isn’t loose — or that it's still on your car’s roof or at the fuel pump.
• Your O2 Sensor (Oxygen Sensor) needs to be replaced. The Oxygen sensor, known as the O2 sensor, measures the amount of oxygen in your exhaust system. If there is excess oxygen in your exhaust system, fuel burns more promptly and your vehicle will be less efficient when it comes to fuel economy. So what happens if I don’t replace your O2 sensor? A damaged sensor can not only affect your miles per gallon, but it can cause significant damage to your catalytic converter and your 2019 Toyota Prius's spark plugs. The O2 sensor sends data to the vehicle’s onboard computer to determine the explicitly correct mix of air and fuel that enters the cylinders in your engine. A damaged O2 sensor can also cause a vehicle to fail an emissions test.
• Issues with any aftermarket items. An aftermarket alarm, exhaust or other item can wreak extreme havoc on your 2019 Toyota Prius if it’s not installed accurately. These aftermarket parts and accessories can drain the battery, trigger the check engine light, or even prevent the vehicle from starting. If these issues sound familiar, bring your Prius to Toyota and have our team of accomplished certified mechanics assure that your aftermarket items were installed perfectly and aren't causing any issue. Getting accessories, particularly aftermarket parts and accessories, or using OEM parts first place might cost a little bit more but could help you save considerably from having to get poor work and damage caused by poor installation work corrected.
• Your catalytic converter is bad or going bad. The catalytic converter is a part of your 2019 Toyota Prius’s exhaust system. The catalytic converter's function is to turn the carbon monoxide created by the combustion process into carbon dioxide. A broken catalytic converter is normally caused by consistently neglected maintenance, which is why Stevinson Toyota East offers a free multi-point check with each Toyota service. If you have an issue with your catalytic converter and don't get it repaired, your 2019 Toyota Prius will not pass an emissions test, show a lack of engine performance and will negatively affect your fuel economy. Your vehicle may run at a higher temperature, too, which can cause other dangerous problems from overheating.
• The battery is low or dead. The battery in your 2019 Toyota Prius is each vital. Without a vehicle battery, your vehicle won’t start, light up the road in front, play the radio or charge your phone. Today’s vehicle batteries last much longer than they did a few decades ago, and they don't genuinely require maintenance. The price of a new one depends on the type of Toyota you drive, but check our current service coupons and specials.
• New Spark Plugs or Plug Wires are needed for your 2019 Toyota Prius. The spark plugs are the part of your engine that ignites the air/fuel mix in the combustion chamber of your vehicle. This explosion is what moves the pistons and makes the engine run smooth. The spark plug wires deliver the spark from the ignition coil to the spark plugs. If your spark plugs or spark plug wires are bad or old, you will experience a conspicuous poor performance and decreased power. In some extreme cases, your engine will have trouble starting or continuing to run. Worn spark plugs and plug wires can cause clogged catalytic converter or damage to ignition coils and O2 sensors, leading to more expensive repairs.
• Your 2019 Toyota Prius has a vacuum leak. Each Toyota Prius has a vacuum system that performs a wide variety of functions. The vacuum system also helps lower unhealthy emissions by routing the fumes as gasoline evaporates through the engine. If you notice that your RPM is high in idle or randomly surges, a vacuum leak could be the cause. Over time, vacuum hoses can dry out and crack, particularly if they’re exposed to intense heat or extreme cold.
• Your mass airflow sensor (known as MAF) needs to be replaced. The mass airflow sensor in your Toyota Prius is what determines how much fuel is needed to run your engine efficiently by measuring the amount of air entering the engine. As a part of the engine management system, the mass airflow sensor helps adjust to certain changes, like altitude. If your Toyota Prius is having trouble starting, idling rough or has a sudden speedy change in the position of the throttle pedal, this could be a important sign of a damaged mass airflow sensor.

2019 Toyota Prius Check Engine Light Flashing

Although there are countless potential causes of an illuminated Check Engine Light, we know from years of providing Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that there are several common causes including something as simple as a loose gas cap. Other mainly common reasons for a Check Engine Light are dirty mass airflow sensor, broken head gasket, damaged oxygen sensor, a malfunction with the fuel injection system, broken emissions control part, or defective spark plugs to name a few. No matter what is the root cause of the Check Engine Light, we have the Toyota Certified Technicians and the certified service protocol to isolate the root problem and entirely repair it as necessary to restore factory specifications. When this happens, the Check Engine Light turns off, and you can leave the service center knowing that your Toyota issue was completely fixed.

Every 2019 Toyota Prius was designed with a high-technology performance monitoring system with a computer, and a series of sensors positioned strategically throughout the car on its critical systems. The fast sensors are continually detecting conditions while sending vital data to the electronic control unit. If the electronic control unit detects that the data is out of factory specifications, the Check Engine Light illuminates telling you that there is a problem. Nonetheless, unfortunately that is the limitation of the Check Engine Light – it won’t tell you what explicitly is wrong nor what to do about it. That’s where we come in; Stevinson Toyota East provides a Check Engine Light Diagnosis Service that isolates the core problem and gives you a recommendation on what to do next from a Extremely Qualified Service professional.

Check Engine Light Service 2019 Toyota Prius

What do you do when you’re driving along in your Toyota Prius and suddenly, a yellow light illuminates on your dash and says "Check Engine". If you’re like most Toyota owners, your heart sinks extremely because you may have definitely idea about what that light is trying to tell you or how you should react. The fear of the unknown (or the cost of the unknown) can be just as stressful. But take a deep, calm breath and realize the light coming on doesn’t mean you have to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road and call a tow truck, but it is recommended that you get your 2019 Toyota Prius checked immediately. Ignoring that warning could end up causing major, major damage to pricey engine parts.

When your 2019 Toyota Prius's ECM (electronic control module), which is the vehicle's onboard computer, finds a problem in the electronic control system that it can’t correct, a computer turns on your check engine light. This amber or yellow light is ordinarily labeled “check engine” or “service engine soon”, or the light may be nothing more than a picture of an engine, or a picture of the engine with the word “check.”

When the light turns on, the ECM stores an engine code or “trouble code” in its memory that can quickly identify the issue, whether it's a sensor or a failing engine part. This code is read with an electronic scan tool that is used by our Toyota auto repair mechanics at Stevinson Toyota East. There are again a number of essentially inexpensive code readers that are designed for do-it-yourselfers, should you choose that route too. While this code will tell you the issue that is detected, a true diagnosis still requires an experienced professional to determine the exactly correct issue and repair it.

What Does the Check Engine Light Mean?

One of the most ordinarily misunderstood lights or indicators in your 2019 Toyota Prius is the check engine light. The check engine light is part of the vital onboard diagnostics system, and displays in a wide range of different ways. It can say "Check Engine", it can be a symbol of an engine, it can even be a combination of both. This light illuminates in either an amber or red color and is part of the diagnostics system found on your car. Onboard computers increasingly have controlled and monitored car performance since the 80s and do a wide range of things for your 2019 Toyota Prius. Some of these essential duties include shifting automatic transmissions controlling engine speed, ignition timing, and implementing stability control, just to name a few. With that being said, the check engine light can mean a variety of different things. It can be as simple as your gas cap being loose or as hazardous as engine knocking. If your check engine light is on in your 2019 Toyota Prius, contact Stevinson Toyota East. Contact Stevinson Toyota East today! Our Toyota service department can help you find out what code is turning your check engine light on or diagnose why your check engine light is flashing.

How many miles can you drive with the check engine light?

It could be anything from a bad sensor to plug wires needing to be replaced. Since each check engine code has its own level of severity, it is ordinarily difficult to predict how many miles you can be secure in driving with the warning light on. The safest bet is to decipher the code and then plan your strategy accordingly. If you check engine light is flashing, we recommend that you pull over and contact Stevinson Toyota East to help determine if your vehicle is secure to drive in or if we recommend a tow truck.

2019 Toyota Prius Check Engine Light Codes

The check engine light turning on can be quite intimidating, especially to see that little light on your vehicle’s dashboard suddenly illuminate, but in reality, it is not something that should cause you to shut down in fear right away. If you hear the term, diagnostic trouble codes (DTC), these are just another name for check engine light codes. These are automotive computer codes stored by the ECM, again known as the OBD (on-board computer diagnostic system) in your Prius. There are hundreds of different codes that your check engine light can properly represent. While that sounds daunting, with a little patience, tackling basic diagnostics will give you useful knowledge about your vehicle and will again allow that vital Check Engine Light to do what it is absolutely supposed to do: be your guide. Unfortunately, evident and useful vehicle symptoms do not repeatedly accompany an illuminated Check Engine Light. Since there are hundreds of possible OBD codes, there are again hundreds of possible reasons for the light, including:

• Emissions controls issues
• Bad Spark Plugs
• Old Battery
• Computer output circuit issues
• Loose Gas Cap or Missing Gas Cap
• Transmission issues
• Fuel and air metering systems problems
• O2 Sensor
• Ignition system faults

This is why it is critical for someone who does not have a lot of predominant automotive knowledge to not assume what a code means. Call Stevinson Toyota East at 7205139585 today or schedule your check engine light service online today! When your check engine light comes on, you should get it checked out promptly by a skillful certified Toyota mechanic. If the engine light comes on due to a serious concern, you risk damaging your car further by not repairing the issue right away.