Toyota Sienna advice. Popped Code P0015! Help

[roylt]

Was taking a short vacation about 5 hour drive with the kids.

Down no trouble, filled up gas that night before bed at the hotel.
Next day drove around some and goofed off.
Third day drove around some / goofed off then headed for home.

Set the cruise at about 70 and didn't do anything but steer for about 180 miles. Check engine light popped on. Didn't notice any change at all. Cruise was still going strong.

Prayed a little as we were still about 200 miles from home and out of state.

Home and scanned it to find P0015. Googled and worried...

2008 with only 83000 miles.

First thought is to capture the freeze frame data then clear and see what happens. Have not driven since.

Looking for input. Thanks,

 

[powder smoke]

Best advice I can give you is buy a Chevy Made in the USA.
Chances are any Joe Blow down the road could help you. ps

 

[Dan in MI]

1st, you're getting a little too excited. The check engine light comes on when a component may no longer be functioning correctly for proper emission control. Unless it is flashing, or the car is running noticeably (really noticeably) poorly, it's not a death knell for your vehicle or going to leave you stranded.


P0015 is exhaust cam position over retarded. The list of possible causes is long, but most are simple. I would start with clearing the code and see if it returns.

 

[Mega Twin]

1st, you're getting a little too excited. The check engine light comes on when a component may no longer be functioning correctly for proper emission control. Unless it is flashing, or the car is running noticeably (really noticeably) poorly, it's not a death knell for your vehicle or going to leave you stranded.


P0015 is exhaust cam position over retarded. The list of possible causes is long, but most are simple. I would start with clearing the code and see if it returns.

This is great advice, heed it.

 

[blume357]

Really, from my limited experience it is just as likely to be a bad sensor as a real (usually minor) problem.
But I know how you feel, I hate it when one of those lights come on.... few years back I got aggravated at a driver in front of me and kicked down on our Ford Flex and passed the pokey car.... turbos kicked in a check engine light came on.. took a couple of days before I could get to my mechanic... just before that... light went off.

Oh and same thing happened on my wife's Porsche coming home from Florida.... ended up being a crack in the Gas Cap.

Low tire pressure light has been on in my work van (2008 E250) since I bought it 4 years ago. All (5) tires have 70lbs of air in them.

 

[gramps]

RUN!!!! Just teasing. Powder Smoke, Toyota’s are a Chevrolet design.
gramps

 

[graygun]

South Main Auto has many vids on YT and others like Patreon,FB. He has gobs of diagnostic equip and knows how to use it all very well...all makes and models. He may have one on that exact code for your vehicle.

 

[Doc Holliday]

'Buy a Chevy'...LOL...WHY would anyone want to step down like that?

 

[Jeepnik]

Exhaust cam over retarded? Any car that needs to tell you things like that is, oops can't say that anymore.

 

[Fox Mike]

Go here and look around: http://www.siennachat.com

BTW they are American made in Princton, Indiana.

 

[Captain America]

Dan in MI knows what he speaks of, could be anything, a hiccup, sensor, wiring, the car needs an oil change, or a mechanical problem.

 

[chuck]

'Buy a Chevy'...LOL...WHY would anyone want to step down like that?

WELL PUT.

 

[Gator89]

On a road trip yesterday, stopped for fuel and a cup of coffee. Two blocks out of the station, the check engine light came on in my F150. Drove another 300 miles, two stops with shut off and restart, light still on. After the fourth restart the light went out.

I had a Tundra a few years ago, if the weather was in the thirties and I was putting around in the deer woods, the check engine light would frequently come on. Once out on the hard road at higher speed the light would go off.

 

[Fox Mike]

Disconnect the negative battery terminal and then re connect it. Drive the car again and see if you get a light.

 

[roylt]

Thanks all. Plan to copy the freeze frame data from the CPU and then clear the code.

Checked oil and coolant etc. all looks like it should.

It was a hilly trip so maybe the low to high RPM shifts made the oil pressure fluctuate enough to fool the CPU?

Google is sometimes your friend and sometimes your enemy. What I mean is there is so much to read that it makes you think the worst. I need to do the simple check and reset before going over the deep end.

One thing I read was if left unchecked it can fail the cats which would cost more money.

Again thanks and I'll report back if anything jumps out at me.

 

[Bud0505]

Is the gas cap tight?

 

[roylt]

I was about 200 miles into a full tank of gas when the light came on. I did check it though.

 

[Dan in MI]

A loose gas cap has it's own code, or will have an evaporative fuel system code. (collection of fuel vapors in the fuel system)

 

[Acorn]

OP many of the late model cars have VVT(variable valve timing)solenoids. GM 2.4l are common to have trouble with these. IDK what size engine your Toyota has but Toyota and GM are cousins of sorts. I’ve heard from GM techs that you need to follow the factory specs on engine oil (Dexos, Dexos/2). Not using the right oil can cause VVT issues. I’m not saying you but some people think oil is oil. I’d do as suggested and clear the code and see what happens. If the check engine light flashes when your driving it can mean a misfire on one or more cylinders which causes unburned fuel to get to the cat converter and cause damage to it.

 

[blume357]

First I like Fords and would not own a Chevy (will explain the Chevy thing at the bottom) had a Ford Ranger with 100k on it and took it to my local mechanic for a tune up... 100 miles later the check engine light came on... they never could fix it... one of those mysteries....

As for Chevy... it seems there was (may still be going on) where every Chevy Van that came out had a defective paint job on the hood... I swear that 90% of the late model Chevy vans in my town the paint is peeling off their hoods..... You would think that if GM had any pride in their work they would fix this problem.

 

[ndcowboy]

I don't know how many thousands of miles I've driven with a check engine light on. With one old Jeep Cherokee I joked I liked the check engine light because it helped me read the dash gauges at night because the dash light didn't work anymore!

 

[Bull Barrel]

The paint problemwasnt just on Chevy vans. It was on all cars due to the EPA removing "harmful" solvents from the paints. A neighbor retired from Ford and worked on paint for exhibition vehicles.

 

[Colonialgirl]

First I like Fords and would not own a Chevy (will explain the Chevy thing at the bottom) had a Ford Ranger with 100k on it and took it to my local mechanic for a tune up... 100 miles later the check engine light came on... they never could fix it... one of those mysteries....

As for Chevy... it seems there was (may still be going on) where every Chevy Van that came out had a defective paint job on the hood... I swear that 90% of the late model Chevy vans in my town the paint is peeling off their hoods..... You would think that if GM had any pride in their work they would fix this problem.

Somewhere in the long ago (late 90's) the gubbermint forced GM and others (OHCHRISTLER) to make changes to the formula for the undercoat primers for environmental reasons; the net result was that the color coat would lose adhesion even with the urethane clearcoat on top and peel off BACK down to the primer. I don't know why hoods were particularly prone to this but that was the area on the Chevy Corsica that peeled. I COULD do a minor repair and make it look okay, but the original problem would persist and the ONLY complete cure was to remove ALL the coatings from the metal and start from scratch using a different primer.

 

[arfmel]

Best advice I can give you is buy a Chevy Made in the USA.
Chances are any Joe Blow down the road could help you. ps

Interesting suggestion. My bride's 11 month old Silverado 1500 has thrown two codes (p0300 and p050D I think) a total of 4 times since early May. Its been to two different Chevy dealers to be fixed. Had a total of 7 fuel injectors replaced, with just under 25k miles on it. I expect that the problem will occur again. Am buying a GM extended warranty on it this coming week.

These dang vehicles are so over-complicated nowadays I'm not sure anybody really knows how to fix them. They just throw parts at them hoping for the best.

 

[roylt]

Best advice I can give you is buy a Chevy Made in the USA.
Chances are any Joe Blow down the road could help you. ps

Interesting suggestion. My bride's 11 month old Silverado 1500 has thrown two codes (p0300 and p050D I think) a total of 4 times since early May. Its been to two different Chevy dealers to be fixed. Had a total of 7 fuel injectors replaced, with just under 25k miles on it. I expect that the problem will occur again. Am buying a GM extended warranty on it this coming week.

These dang vehicles are so over-complicated nowadays I'm not sure anybody really knows how to fix them. They just throw parts at them hoping for the best.

Lemon law varies by state but you may want to check into it. Good luck.

 

[roylt]

So I finally got back to the van tonight. took pictures of the freeze frame data and live info just for the heck of it. Clear the code. It was on E because I just wanted to get home after the long trip and didn't want to stop anyplace just incase I got a no start etc. Anyway over and filled it up then took about a 12 mile drive with the code reader plugged in so I could monitor the data stream. All seems to be fine. I guess the sensor didn't know what to do with cruise on for hours at a time. I guess I tricked the computer into popping a code??

So all seem good now. I'll report back if there is any sort of update in the future but for now I'm satisfied.

Thanks for the input,
Roy