Hey everyone i'm new to the forums. I drive an 01 corolla.. it's not hooked up it's just my daily driver. i'm having issues with the check engine light and I thought this would be the place for help. ok so a few months ago the check engine light came on and it was a cat code so we replaced the cat. then a little while after the check engine light came back on and said bad cat again so we did the front O2 sensor. like maybe a week later it came on again.. same code so we did the other O2 sensor. It was off for maybe a week and it came back on. I took it to the place where I got the cat done and he took it off and said it looks fine. There's a little bit of carbon in it but he said it was fine. He even checked if it was the right cat and it was. No air leaks or anything.
I'm sick of putting money into it and getting nowhere. Someone please help!!
Or if anyone knows of a good Toyota garage in the southern Boston area that would be great too!

Thanks
Michelle

Hi there! first of all, i work in a toyota dealership. The first thing you should do when you have a check engine light is of course have it scanned by a OBD2 scanner which your tech did. In order to make sure their not ripping you off, make sure you tell them to give you the error code that sets off the engine engine light. then u can ask them to show you a list of error code and then you can see what the error code is. This is the way that people show do when your check engine light comes on. I see alot of times that people just pay but not knowing way the light is on.

Don't forget to keep all your detailed receipts so you can trace back to what worked and what didn't just in case the problem should occur again.

If you do try that same mechanic again simply because you've been going there for a long time, you should definitely complain, "I've already spent so much money with your company to fix the one problem several times and that problem has not yet been resolved." Make it a HUGE deal. Money doesn't grow on trees and the economy sucks so throw a fit (without disrespecting anyone, of course). They shouldn't even be charging you full price for re-repairing a problem they couldn't fix the first time.

If you're referred to a mechanic, let the mechanic know what you've been through and that a good friend recommended that particular mechanic to be a much better one. It motivates the new mechanic to do better than your previous one, and letting that mechanic know what you've already been through prevents that mechanic from making the same mistake.

the problem could be the cat he installed, if its not a toyota factory cat, it might not be sufficient enough causing the check engine light to keep coming on