So the other day I start my car and head to class, as I was going through an intersection i tried to accelerate a little, and my car kinda bogged down and took a second to accelerate. Then ____ hit the fans, my VSC light came on, and underneath where it says VSC that light was flashing, and my check engine light came on. I had a big exam for my class, so I took my car to advance after class. The guy said the code was reading "Running rich in bank 1"
Honestly that didn't help much, and my check engine light was not flashing, so I drove to my nearest dealership, the whole time my car would bog down on accelerating, and when I was stopped, my car would idle down to 100 RPMS. At this point I was ____ed off, I talked to the service guy, and these were his direct words "Well son, the reason why your care ain't running right is because that intake on there. See if you had the TRD intake your car wouldn't be having this trouble!"

That ____ed me off, ALL INTAKES ARE THE SAME JACKASS! THEY ARE PIPES WITH FILTERS ON THE END!

HE "diagnosed" my car and said it was something wrong with my MAF, later when I got home, the same ____ happened again.. But this time, my car would die over and over again. Not only did the dealership rape my wallet ($320) but the guy who helped me was utterly useless.. Now Im guessing it could be my O2 sensor, I checked all my Vacuum lines, and there is no whistling sound at idle, Also, my car is flooding with fuel and running "RICH" not lean, but rich. I can smell fuel everywhere near my car. Honestly, if its not my 02 sensor, could it be a bad fuel injector? Maybe a bad spark plug? But if it was a misfire it would throw a code...

Any advice would help guys, I appreciate it!

 

an idea. if ur still underwarranty. obvious the tech was a jack ___. find another dealership. put ur stock airbox back on and let them have at it. i honestly don't know much more than that. any other mods besides the intake?

 

Mods: I have the Tenzo R Intake,
Stock header with 2.5 inch catback, with a vibrant muffler on the end. Thats it.

My warranty ended at 36k. I hit 40k on monday...

 

clean ur MAF..... it could cause a car to die, and i've had that happen first hand

 

^^^ Try cleaning the MAS and if that doesn't help, it sounds like your primary O2 (AFR) sensor is going bad. I had the same thing happen to me at ~30,000 miles. I got a new Denso AFR sensor from Rock Auto for $125, problem solved.

 

I'm assuming by your screen name you have an 08 xb? I had the same problem with flashing dash lights and it was determined to be the engine harness. There is a TSB for the 08.

It could also very well be a bad coilpack, they are known to fail premature.

 

I have a brand new MAF on my car, and a $320 dent in my wallet from the dealership, and its even worse now, my car will barely stay alive.

 

Yes, it is an 08. Also, would it cause my car to act up that quickly? and would a bad coilpack throw a code about it running rich?

 

My wifes rav4 had the same problems... it was a bad coil.

 

Ok before you spend anymore more money go through your engine pay and start disconnecting and reconnecting sll your sensors. When I changed my header, Intake, exhaust and Intake manifold I had a similar problem. My car would idle very low and sometimes shut off on me. After I put everything back to stock I found out it was just one of the sensors had a bad connection problem solved ever since.

 

How does it idle? Is the motor shaking alot?

 

also i mgiht be a dick. but i don't pay the dealer if they don't fix my ____ to my standards.

 

Ok, here's an update, (Personally This is straight BULL____)
The jackass helping me said because I have a "Aftermarket air intake system" that my car was reading to much air? and apparently my air filter was so dirty that it wouldn't read the right air ratio. Now, before this goes any further I will be posting a picture of my air filter. Look here's a little background info on me, I am very very precise about my car, I keep my car clean, my engine bay clean, almost enough to eat off of. I am a Limo detailer for the biggest limo company in KY. Do you think I am dumb enough to let my own intake filter get dirty? NO. All and all I talked to the manager, I had to pay, that stupid ____ at the front desk won, because they through my old MAF away. Whatever, I have a $320 dent in my wallet, but keep watching, once I take my intake off I will show you my filter to show you how "dirty" it is.

 

i had an issue similar to yours, motor would lose power and then it would fine and all lights would on vsc off flashing and cel light on. i did a reset by disconnecting neg terminal and clean maf would clear for about a hour. found out it was an ignition coil, try replacing the failed one

 

If you want to fix your own ish and not rely on idiots like the ones you've been dealing with at your stealership, invest $100-200 in a OBD2 scan tool. Our ECU can usually tell you exactly what sensor has failed and that is usually the cause of most problems. Based on your symptoms I still suspect the AFR sensor but wouldn't rule out a bad coil pack either. A scan tool would tell you which is to blame. The only thing I'm certain of thus far is that the problem isn't your Tenzo intake or a dirty air filter. MAS, AFR sensor or coil pack. A scan tool will tell you and pay for itself very quickly.

 

As said earlier in this thread, the early '08s had an engine harness problem and there was indeed a TSB issued because of it. Many coils were replaced without solving the problem. The TSB includes a VIN# after which the engine harness should be good. Don't replace anything else without checking the engine harness TSB.

 

Pretty sad that the dealership didn't check that already but I wouldn't count on it either. Do you know a good place to check for Scion TSBs?

 

It's really crummy how well "educated" the dealership techs are/aren't. I used this thread to check my own VIN to see if my 08 was at risk.

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=31

The actual TSB is contained within the xB2 tech files packages I made available earlier. If you haven't done the download, then by all means do so (see the DIY section).

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/for...lay.php?f=1820

 

Thanks Trevor! Apparently I have the old wiring harness but have never had any problems because of it. Good thing too because I'm out of warranty as are most of the affected early 08 models.

Considering that this is a wiring harness issue, it doesn't seem likely to suddenly appear years later after tens of thousands of miles. My money is still on the AFR sensor being the culprit of the OP's problems.

 

Could be, but the problem never did show up right off the lot, it was always after some thousands of miles went by. I understand the coil packs are expensive, so if the O2 sensor doesn't fix it (AFR), I'd really pay attention to that harness.