DBS 2010 Emissions System Service Required

[Scottsanders]

Hi everyone,

I have a 2010 DBS which I generally drive around town - work, school run, supermarket etc. - so don't open it up that often, however, I have been on a couple of longer trips recently that involved some amazing mountain pass routes, so naturally I wanted to use the toys (Sports, Track mode etc.) to get the most out of the car.

On the first trip, within a few minutes of putting it into Sport mode and opening it up, the 'Emissions System Service Required' warning came on. I didn't notice any issues with how it drives, so carried on as normal, and then took it into the AM Service Centre upon my return to have the error checked. They reported that there was a leak in the vacuum harness, however, as I knew that I had recently changed the driving style very drastically, I asked them to reset the warning, and I'd monitor it to see if it came on again.

I drover it around town for a further two months, without the warning coming back on, so I assumed that all was OK.

I then went on the second trip pout of town, and the same happened again, although this time I didn't put it in Sports mode, but I was driving it hard when the warning light came back on.

My questions is this: Is this likely just the driving style changes messing with the emission system readings, or is it more likely that the leak is only really an issue when driving the car hard? And has anyone else seen this behaviour, and if so, does the Emission System warning reset itself after x no. of drive cycles, like on some other cars?

Thanks in advance!

Regards,

Scott

[Doggleg]

I have a 2010 DBS as well and used to get this occasionally. It always seemed to happen when the fuel tank was at a low level. An independent told me it was related to the fuel cap passing air into the tank. I bought a reader from Ebay and reset the alarm, which takes about 30 seconds, dead easy.

I don't do many long trips in the car so I stopped letting the tank get below a quarter full and it hasn't happened again since. If I remember correctly, it happened on my old V8 Vantage as well and the dealer reset it.

[Scottsanders]

Thanks for your reply! Out of interest, which OBD device did you buy? There are loads, so keen to get one that I know works with Aston!

[leerandle]

Just get an OBD reader and confirm the code.

Until then, you'll just get a million replies about what the problem is and how to fix it.

Usually non critical, but always safer to check.

[andyvvc]

Nox sensor on my V8. I think i had (all four?) replaced when it was diagnosed because (if one was faulty and old) the others were also probably gonna fail. One pre CAT, one post. (Two CATS iirc)

No issues since that.

[F1NDW]

On my V12 Vanquish the emissions system does its system check only after the car has been travelling over 60mph for a certain time. When I originally got the car I experienced very similar symptoms to yours. The fault light would only come on after I he'd been travelling on the motorway at over 60 for about 5 minutes continuously (suspect this was the time required to trigger the system check). The actual fault tuned out to be a crack in the emission valves located under the front right hand side wheel arch.

[Scottsanders]

Thanks for the replies, gents! I've ordered a ThinkDiag OBDII scanner, as apparently they work well with the twin OBD computers on the V12's - will post if I find anything of any use.