Car shakes, turns off and several warning lights turn on

Tiny
LILY ALVAREZ
  • MEMBER
  • 2016 SCION IM
  • 1.5L
  • 4 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 25,530 MILES
I have a 2016 scion iA. I bought it as a lemon car. It started to give me issues before I even drove it for 2,000 miles. It has been in the shop for more than four times for this issue, once for several months. When purchased I was told of the issue that the car had (yeah. Shaking), but that it was fixed and was also under warranty and that all parts were replaced with original parts and the issue would not come back. Long story short, I contacted Toyota financial and took the car to the Toyota dealer, I was told that there was no problem with the car but Toyota financial wanted the mechanics to perform some tests. I was then contacted and told that there was excessive carbon build up in the engine but that this was not related to the shaking, past issue. I do want to return the vehicle because at this point I have had it with taking the car to the shop. Question here is, is it normal for a car to get excessive carbon build up? Is it related to the shaking of the car? Previous code cas p210100? Also, I purchased the car in 2017 with 11,680 miles, now it has 25,503.
Saturday, September 29th, 2018 AT 5:12 AM

9 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Hi and thanks for using 2CarPros.com.

Ugh. It sounds like you have a headache to deal with. First, any engine that burns fuel, will create carbon. However, at such low mileage, it is uncommon. I need you to double check the trouble code. It will be a P followed by 4 numbers. P2101 does not exist, but P2102 and P2103 do and both deal with the electronic throttle control. I attached a two pictures that discusses each code and what it is related to. Take a look.

As far as the lemon law, I believe the dealer has three attempts to repair a problem that is potentially dangerous. In this case, the car stalling or not accelerating is dangerous.

See if you can find the code. Also, if you have the car and can drive it, take it to a parts store and have them scan the computer to see if there are any additional codes stored. Let me know the results. If you have access to a scanner, here is a quick video that shows hot to use one.

.https://youtu.be/YV3TRZwer8k

I will watch for your reply.

Take care,
Joe
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Saturday, September 29th, 2018 AT 6:31 PM
Tiny
LILY ALVAREZ
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
This is a picture of the notes from the techs at Toyota. This was from the first time that I took it to the dealer for service.
It is still being worked on since wed 9/26/18. The engine is being pulled apart and it is being cleaned for the build up. The Toyota tech told me that the carbon build up had nothing to do with the car shaking but I do not believe that and since I did contact Toyota Financial I do want to provide as much information about how this is related so I can have Toyota buyback the car.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2018 AT 6:42 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Hi again. I would be liar if I told you I understood why the engine has to come apart for carbon issues. There are products that clean carbon from the fuel and intake system, including engine valves, and the tops of pistons. That don't require taking the engine apart. However, if carbon or dirt gets into a fuel injector, it will cause a misfire which will result in the check engine light flashing and the car shaking.

Did they tell you why the engine had to be taken apart other than a carbon issue?

By the way, the codes they provided are correct, but only the first 4 numbers after the P. No idea why they extended them.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2018 AT 7:43 PM
Tiny
LILY ALVAREZ
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
Well, what I was told was that It was not common for a car that new and with these miles to have excessive carbon build up. That Toyota Financial had the Techs at the Toyota dealer to do a detailed cleaning of the motor. Now with this I am thinking that since this happened it means that there is something else wrong with the motor or in the way that the fuel is processed because it is just being cleaned and have not figured out why this happened.
By the way thank you so much for all of your answers, they are helping a lot.
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Saturday, September 29th, 2018 AT 8:32 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
Hi Lily:

I wish I could provide more information, but honestly, in thirty years working on cars, I have never seen excessive carbon build up at that mileage on a relatively new car. The codes all point to the fuel system and accelerator and throttle control. However, if excessive fuel was injected into the engine, it should have caused a misfire. Hence, the check engine light flashing with very different trouble codes.

When you get the car back, would you consider letting me know how it is running for you? Also, I would love to actually know what they took apart and cleaned. Carbon? Unlikely based on the trouble codes they provided to you. What exactly is happening is a mystery at this point.

If you can, let me know,
Joe
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Sunday, September 30th, 2018 AT 6:52 PM
Tiny
LILY ALVAREZ
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
Not sure if you can read that but that is what the notes were on the most recent visit. My brother is the register owner and he talked to Toyota Financial and told them that he did not want the car since it us unreliable and it is ridiculous how many times it has gone in for service. So we are just waiting for a response. I love my car but honestly I need a car that I can actually depend on. Thanks for all your help.
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Friday, October 5th, 2018 AT 3:10 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 110,176 POSTS
He cleaned the intake valves. I am not sure why he would have taken it apart to do it or how he knew the "Intake Valves" were carboned unless he used a camera.

How is the vehicle running now?
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Friday, October 5th, 2018 AT 8:33 PM
Tiny
LILY ALVAREZ
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
The same, it shakes when in a stop light, its not that much as before but you can still feel it. It kind of comes and goes while the car is stopped. Like if it had a pattern.
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Friday, October 5th, 2018 AT 8:47 PM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
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When you feel the shaking, are the engine RPM's dropping? When at an idle, does the engine maintain a steady idle speed?
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Friday, October 5th, 2018 AT 10:24 PM

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