On a recent business trip where I was, unfortunately, driving my wife's 2006 Toyota Camry, the Check Engine Light (CEL) came on after about 90 minutes of driving. I had no tools with me, but stopped within a few minutes at a garage and had them pull the codes -- and there were none! I then restarted the car and the light was off and remained so for the rest of the trip that day (about another 60 minutes of driving) and the entire return trip a few days later. There were no other symptoms other than the light.
I'd just write it off to gremlins, but my wife reports that the same thing had happened to her a few months earlier in the same car on a similar trip to the same city.
My questions:
- how can the CEL come on but there are no ODBII codes?
- is there any hope of troubleshooting this or should I just wait and see if it happens again?