Questions and Answers
Tercel Engine Light
Q. Thanks for whatever help you can give. 1989 Toyota Tercel, 98,000 miles. First indication of possible problem was engine service light coming on intermittently and going out by itself about a year ago. 02 Sensor replaced. Sometime later, problem started re-occurring again, with light coming and staying a day or two then going off on its own.
At this time, did pass emissions test (May 2001).
About 9 months ago began smelling rotten egg odor after driving car for awhile then coming to a stop. This happened infrequently, then began occurring more frequently. Began to happen a lot at stop lights or when I stopped to drop a passenger off. Then light started coming on and staying on for longer periods of time. Auto repair shop reset light.
Light stayed off for about a week then came on again. Took it to another repair shop, light reset, but came back on with in about four days. Light is still on. Want to have it repaired by regular auto mechanics don't seem to diagnose the problem very well. Say it might be need a new catalytic converter, and one mentioned a Vapor Canister replacement. Both are expensive repairs, don't want to invest the money if replacement doesn't get rid of the smell or keep the light off.
The car runs well; never had much problem in the nearly four years I've owned it. Oh, when the car is cold acceleration is uneven with some hesitation; after about a minute or two, runs smoothly.
Added the following:
? Rotten egg smell coming from exhaust
? Engine light on
? No oil problem (oil changed every 3,000 miles)
? No idle problem
? No misfiring
? Doesn't burn an excessive amount of fuel
? No black smoke coming from exhaust
? 02 Sensor replaced in December 2000
? Passed emissions test May 2001Again, thanks for you assistance.
CaroleA. The rotten egg smell from the exhaust is making me think that you have an excessively rich fuel mixture. This is very likely due to a bad or mis-adjusted carburetor. There are not too many guys left out there with experience with carburetors so I think the best thing to do is to take it to a Toyota dealer. They will know best how to properly adjust the carburetor and determine if it is good or bad.
Since it seems to run fine otherwise, I would think a simple adjustment will correct the problem. I would also be interested in knowing what codes they got from the computer.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
