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Toyota Echo 2000 misfire

Hi. I have Toyota Echo 2000(90,000 km on it) and was very happy with it until it started to misfire. One morning I got off the highway and stopped at traffic light. My car started to shake like it worked on 3 cylinders. I switched on parking and it was less. Then after I put on drive and it started to shake again. When I took off everything was ok. I called my mechanic and explained everything. I thought it was related to changing donut gasket which he did one day before(the old one was burned out in one place and didn't sound good. When he install the new one he pried big screwdriver against oxygen sensor. I thought he damaged something in that area). He sad that everything was ok sense CHECK ENGINE light didn't come on. Then after 3 days it happen again in same situation (off highway). He suggested to replace spark plugs. I did it on my own. When I did it I did experiment. I started engine with one coil off. It did exactly the sama shake and CHECK ENGINE light didn't come on. Car was not doing any shakes for 10 days and today started in same situation (off highway). Mechanic doesn't want to run computer check because light didn't come on. He says that CHECK ENGINE light triggers computer to make record of problem. He suggested to drive it till it starts doing that more often or light comes on. What do you think? Is everything true he says? What should I do? Car runs good and idles good.

Reply to
Andrew
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Sounds like you may have an intermitent misfire, perhaps a bad coil. I would suggest finding a technician competent enough to fix a car without having his hand held by a check engine light.

Reply to
qslim

None of those to be found on Long Island, where "technicians" seem to only throw expensive components on the car at the owner's expense.

Reply to
Vince

Unreal. Does anyone else out there find the current state of many 'technicians' (loose term) current diagnostic abilities something close to offensive?? This is a perfect example, too. A customer comes in with a misfire. And he's already done his own cylinder power balance test to isolate the cylinder having the misfire!!! Oh, but wait.... NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT!!!! Looks like everyones hands are tied! Jesus..... Basic diagnostic procedures for common engine problems haven't changed in what, 50 years, probably more?? Engines still need air, compression, fuel, and ignition, at the proper time, to bang correctly. Am I missing something?? Have any of the basics changed since the application of electronics? Wow. I'm done. Long day at work dealing with this same crap from a few brain damaged chimps just like the original poster's mechanic. Thanks for letting me vent.

Reply to
qslim

I understand, that this problem involves spark plugs,coils, injectors, computer. (Please add more if I'm missing something in my list. May be I just need to bye injectors cleaner @ Canadian Tire...??? I have replaced all spark plugs by exact the same from diller. Does anyone know how to check coils, injectors, computer? I'm sure check would show that everything was ok, because car is running ok and misfire happens very rare (ones a 10 days). Or what should I do when it happens again. May be I need to do some tests while it is shaking, because ones it starts shaking it is doing that for minutes till I start driving. As far as I understand it is doing only one cylinder and I need to find which one . Chipper to replace one coil or injector, then four. Please any advises...

Reply to
Andrew

Change the plug wires. the higher energy spark in modern cars will wear out the wire much faster. The insulation and/or the inner conductor starts to break down. Spark energy is lost and results in mis-firing.

Reply to
David Hooey

The mechanic worked on your car. The very next day a problem arose that had never been there before. I suspect a high correlation between those two events. Just because it didn't throw a code doesn't mean there's not a problem, or that it cannot be isolated and remedied. But sounds like you need to find a better mechanic and describe what the first one did so he can focus his initial investigation there. If by "doughnut" you mean the gasket between the exhaust manifold and downpipe, and that he pried against the oxygen sensor to loosen the pipe, that's a logical place to begin. Oxygen sensors are very sensitive devices, for example, dropping one can ruin it because there is ceramic material inside that is fragile. Although it is designed to withstand very high temperature, it can be delicate. If you know he pried against it, you might want to try just replacing the oxygen sensor first, because the problem is intermittent and may not appear when testing.

Reply to
Daniel M. Dreifus

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