Selecting a good repair place
 

What is your guys take?

I have a toyota tundra that is flashing its "malfunction indicator lamp".

It may be nothing. But it may be something.

I'm two weeks out from the end of my drivetrain warranty. So nothing there for me.

I've never taken a non-warrantied vehicle to a dealership. Seems like they are always expensive.

What is your take?

I still haven't found a good repair place in Dallas area. Last place I went to was a disaster (window broken out, refused to cover).

I'm thinking about signing up on Angie's List and seeing if I can find some recommendations.

AutoZone will do a free engine light diagnostic. Try going there first to get a better idea what your problem is, then you can narrow down your repair shop options.

Thanks, I will check it out.

Is there a Toyota Tundra online discussion group? You could state symptoms there and someone might be able to tell you what's wrong or what to check. Also someone in the group might tell you of a good independent Toyota mechanic in your area. I don't like dealership service either. Tend to be pricey.

Just so you know my car the check engine light comes on when I am due for an oil change.

My wife's (Mazda) comes on for no reason. We've had it checked by an independent mechanic ... all is OK, he says maybe a dealer can reset it, but don't bother. I think it should be called the "generate service revenue for dealer" light.

I'm always due for an oil change.

<rimshot>.

I just had the truck's oil changed a week ago.

This is where I'd start also. Better yet, if someone you know has a scan tool, pull the code/s and then search the codes on one of these forums.

I went to Autozone last night, but they said they wouldn't scan when it was dark, due to safety reasons.

So I went there again this morning, and they scanned and no codes came up. The lady said maybe it could be water in the gas. I bought a thing of STP treatment, put it in.

Turned on car, light is off.

The scanning, I am guessing, reset the light setting. Who knows.

Similar thing happened to me with a Camry: engine light came on; I took it to Auto Zone and scanned it, and everything came up okay. Shortly afterwards, the light went off.

If your gas cap is not on properly (or at all) your tank won't pressurize properly and this will mess up the sensors in your system, causing the code to trigger. It will usually take a few cycles of starting and stopping the engine (this means starting, running until fully warm so all the sensors go through all their positions, and then allowing to cool down) with the cap on properly to re-set the light. This has happened to me (my wife) a couple of times.

I don't think this was the problem. I'm not a gas cap amateur.

Well, it was just sort of me doing stream of consciousness. It was triggered by the comment about water in the tank. I know that once we thought the cap was on properly but the threads were crossed and this was the apparent cause of the problem. But I suppose that after 30+ years of filling gas tanks I might still be at the amateur lev4el. Oh well, at least your light is off.