Did my garage have me on?
Discussion
So, I drive a 1.2 Clio, 2003. The engine management has been playing up ever since I got it a year ago - the electrical warning light comes on randomly and the car goes into "limp mode" limiting the revs to about 2500.
Last time I tried to get it diagnosed the lambda sensor was replaced - 2 months later the same problem happened again.
I've taken it to a different garage this time, dropped it off this morning, got a phone call at work to say it was all sorted, diagnostics showed something had short-circuited and they'd replaced the accelerator pedal. I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly, and I got to the garage as they were closing, so didn't have time to chat. But they have actually replaced the accelerator pedal, to stop the engine management playing up, which was caused by something short circuiting. Maybe I'm being thick, but what can short circuit that requires the actual pedal replacing? :S it wasn't expensive or anything, and the car does now work, I just can't work out what the actual problem was!
Last time I tried to get it diagnosed the lambda sensor was replaced - 2 months later the same problem happened again.
I've taken it to a different garage this time, dropped it off this morning, got a phone call at work to say it was all sorted, diagnostics showed something had short-circuited and they'd replaced the accelerator pedal. I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly, and I got to the garage as they were closing, so didn't have time to chat. But they have actually replaced the accelerator pedal, to stop the engine management playing up, which was caused by something short circuiting. Maybe I'm being thick, but what can short circuit that requires the actual pedal replacing? :S it wasn't expensive or anything, and the car does now work, I just can't work out what the actual problem was!
its not as simple as it sounds - the fault code does not tell you exactly what the problem is and often you have to replace a few bits before you find the true cause of the problem, sometimes there is no short cut to this unfortunately.
I've had this with Fiesta's (EAC fail) and BMW Minis where the throttle pedal is one of the first things that you change with some fault codes (as its cheap and easy to change) but until you use it for a bit you wont know if its really sorted it out. Each time I have changed throttle pedals it turned out not to be that problem so you may have more troubles..
I've had this with Fiesta's (EAC fail) and BMW Minis where the throttle pedal is one of the first things that you change with some fault codes (as its cheap and easy to change) but until you use it for a bit you wont know if its really sorted it out. Each time I have changed throttle pedals it turned out not to be that problem so you may have more troubles..
Edited by rallycross on Friday 1st July 18:46
My wife's Clio engine management light came on. Fault codes came up with for various things, one of which was brake light switch faulty which I think was a bad earth on the back light cluster, another fault was the egr valve but despite changing the latter the light would not stay out for long. Fortunately the running of the engine was unaffected and after a month or two the light stopped coming on.
Nothing is simple on modern cars and your accelerator pedal is probably fly by wire and affecting another circuit and changing it could or has sorted it out.
Nothing is simple on modern cars and your accelerator pedal is probably fly by wire and affecting another circuit and changing it could or has sorted it out.
The days of the throttle pedal being a device to pull and push a cable similar to a bicycle's brakes are long gone. There's a switch inside the pedal housing which works in the same way as a trigger throttle on a Scalextric set. The ecu interprets the signal generated and adjusts the fuel accordingly.
If you look over at the back of the engine there is the ECU with a metal cover over it. The cover can work loose then it cuts through the ECU wires and causes all kinds of fun.
Its a pig to get off and involves careful use of a small allen key.
You are better off without the cover.
Another source of problems is the small valve in the top of the throttle body gets gummed up. Causes hot start and hunting problems.
Its a pig to get off and involves careful use of a small allen key.
You are better off without the cover.
Another source of problems is the small valve in the top of the throttle body gets gummed up. Causes hot start and hunting problems.
rallycross said:
its not as simple as it sounds - the fault code does not tell you exactly what the problem is and often you have to replace a few bits before you find the true cause of the problem, sometimes there is no short cut to this unfortunately.
I've had this with Fiesta's (EAC fail) and BMW Minis where the throttle pedal is one of the first things that you change with some fault codes (as its cheap and easy to change) but until you use it for a bit you wont know if its really sorted it out. Each time I have changed throttle pedals it turned out not to be that problem so you may have more troubles..
This. Fault codes tell you an electrical item is out of it's tolerance. I've had this with Fiesta's (EAC fail) and BMW Minis where the throttle pedal is one of the first things that you change with some fault codes (as its cheap and easy to change) but until you use it for a bit you wont know if its really sorted it out. Each time I have changed throttle pedals it turned out not to be that problem so you may have more troubles..
Edited by rallycross on Friday 1st July 18:46
But a good garage would get in there with scopes and multimeters and find the problem, rather than just throwing money at it.
If the throttle pedal was an electronic one, and one of the resistor tracks inside is damaged, then it'll give a bad signal to the ECU, which will bring up a fault code.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff