please help emissions light

please help emissions light

Author
Discussion

grangey

Original Poster:

2 posts

197 months

Tuesday 25th December 2007
quotequote all
can anyone tell me why my emissions light keeps coming on and off on my dash the car's a 2.2 astra coupe can anyone help? also it seems to be usein alot more petrol. cheers phil

Edited by grangey on Tuesday 25th December 12:03

stevieturbo

17,271 posts

248 months

Tuesday 25th December 2007
quotequote all
Because there is something wrong, and it needs fixed ?

It could be many things, but kinda hard to diagnose over the net without any real information. It would be wiser to take it to a competent garage/mechanic, to diagnose the problem.

Possibilities if its using fuel, could be airflow meter or lambda sensor. But without seeing the car, that is just a guess, and changing bits at random could end up costing more than paying someone to do the job properly.

grangey

Original Poster:

2 posts

197 months

Tuesday 25th December 2007
quotequote all
cheers for the reply i was thinking about the lambda sensor think ill try that first thanks again phil.

Mikey G

4,734 posts

241 months

Tuesday 25th December 2007
quotequote all
grangey said:
cheers for the reply i was thinking about the lambda sensor think ill try that first thanks again phil.
Rather than run around in circles and end up spending lots of money for a simple fix just go and get it plugged in to a diagnostic machine.

eliot

11,443 posts

255 months

Tuesday 25th December 2007
quotequote all
Most of the garage muppets are only going to randomly change parts until they get lucky, and charge you for the pleasure. If you shop around, you should be able to get a new lambda sensor for about £40-50 and they are quite easy to fit, so you might as well try that first as it costs the same as 1 hours labour anyway.

stevieturbo

17,271 posts

248 months

Tuesday 25th December 2007
quotequote all
Although TBH....it would be rare for a Lambda fault to throw a CEL ( unless its a more modern car with 2 lambdas )

Try here for Lambda sensors if you cant source locally. Although you need to determine which one you need.

http://www.lambdasensor.co.uk/main/mindex.htm

I still say take it to a competent garage ( if you can find one )


Pigeon

18,535 posts

247 months

Tuesday 25th December 2007
quotequote all
What do the spark plugs look like?

eliot

11,443 posts

255 months

Wednesday 26th December 2007
quotequote all
Pigeon said:
What do the spark plugs look like?
Indeed.
The duff lambda on the wifes 325 didn't throw any codes,just that during steady driving the little mpg needle kept moving around,rather than staying put.

Vixpy1

42,625 posts

265 months

Wednesday 26th December 2007
quotequote all
Air flow meter.

ihatesissycars

951 posts

203 months

Saturday 29th December 2007
quotequote all
Take it to a main dealer. I work for a Vauxhall dealer and we charge £50 inc to diagnose faults and you get the added bonus that we actually find whats wrong.

Alot of small garages read fault codes off but have no idea of what to do with them so they spend alot of the customers money replacing things that don't need it.

Also its a populer misconception that a fault code is 100% the answer to a fault, not true. If a fault has occured that will cause the engine to cut out 9 times out of 10 it will log an afm "low reading" code so the small garage gets hold of that and replaces the afm only to find it makes no difference and the next time it cuts out (because the original fault was never fixed) it'll log the code again so they go and stick another afm on it, and another, and another etc etc.

A main dealer is your best option that way you can people who know what they're doing look at your car and guide you in the correct direction.

It'll cost you less in the long run.

Edited by ihatesissycars on Saturday 29th December 08:56

stevieturbo

17,271 posts

248 months

Saturday 29th December 2007
quotequote all
ihatesissycars said:
Take it to a main dealer. I work for a Vauxhall dealer and we charge £50 inc to diagnose faults and you get the added bonus that we actually find whats wrong.

Edited by ihatesissycars on Saturday 29th December 08:56
No offence......



But that'll be a first for a main dealer !!!!! Defo not like the main dealers in my area !!!!
They do have the equipment in most cases. Pity none of them know how to use it !!!

Ive seen plenty of times when there has been a simple communications error with the ecu. So they immediately say its a faulty ecu..
You purchase it, and there are no refunds. Seen it far too many times with some customers, when in fact the problem was rather straight forward to find.

Its why I never reccomend anyone to go to a main dealer. I always say find a competent garage. But that in itself can be a mission sometimes.

Edited by stevieturbo on Saturday 29th December 13:06