Mil light & mis-fire

[ttmr]

Hi all, brain picking time, Cerb just had major service ,all good, now,as above Mil light & buzzer on continuously,accompanied with low rev mis-fire, seems to clear a bit when revved. Ignition leads/coil packs ???

[Tanguero]

What faults does the diagnostic software say are being logged by the ECU?

[Jimm218]

I had to get a hair dryer on to my ECU connector to sort this fault on mine. Topping up the coolant had caused it to run down the cable and into the ECU connector. It was showing faults on the lambdas.

[Nickccc]

There's no way liquid running down the cable should be able to get into the ECU, as it should have the plug going in from the bottom. If it hasn't turn it round could save you an ECU replacement.

[amazon]

Nickccc said:

There's no way liquid running down the cable should be able to get into the ECU, as it should have the plug going in from the bottom. If it hasn't turn it round could save you an ECU replacement.

As I know from experience! Might be worth adding some silicone around where the points where cables etc comes through the into the car whilst it's fresh in your mind?

[Jimm218]

Mine has been sorted don't worry. It was coolant as it was pink.

[pmessling]

I would head towards lambda sensors myself from experience

[ttmr]

No coolant added for over a 100 miles,all spot on after service, hasn't had leads or coil packs for at least 4 years (15000 miles)so may change them anyway as they do appear to be consummables. Haven't got the kit ( or wit ) for diagnostics,have to consider educating myself for the future.

[Tanguero]

If you can't connect to the ECU with the diagnostic software then you need to take it to a garage that can. Trying to troubleshoot without knowing what faults the ECU has logged is blind guesswork. The MIL light is telling you that there is a fault logged - you need to know what it is.

The software is freely available and there is plenty of advice on here as to how to make it all work.

[Jimm218]

ttmr where are you based? Im in oxfordshire and have the kit to look at your ECU and plenty of spanners and would be more than happy to help you out if I can.

[Nickccc]

As above, I've got software and lead, I'm also seoth east so if your local don't mind having a look.

[Tanguero]

If you have just had a major service it might be worth giving whoever did the service a call. It shouldn't really be running badly having just been serviced.

[ttmr]

Many many thanks for the offers Jimm & Nick and for the advice Peter,I'm in Worthing,spoke to Andy at APM who did the service and he's coming by tomorrow evening(suspects lambda fault).If it is I will probably do it myself,hope its fairly straight forward??

[ttmr]

Many many thanks for the offers Jimm & Nick and for the advice Peter,I'm in Worthing,spoke to Andy at APM who did the service and he's coming by tomorrow evening(suspects lambda fault).If it is I will probably do it myself,hope its fairly straight forward??

[Tanguero]

Lambda sensors are straightforward if fiddly to change. The trickiest bit I found is reaching the connectors. Undo the sensor from under the car - they are one in each down pipe just before each cat, then fiddle down behind the big fuse to find the wiring and pull them up. Connect the new sensor to the harness before dropping it back down and then screwing it in from underneath. You don't have a hope of doing up the connector if you try to do it after fitting the new sensor to the exhaust. Having a crows foot spanner helps a lot with the sensor.

Do get equipped to use the diagnostic software, it is essential if you are going to work on the car yourself.

[ttmr]

Thanks again Peter, what sort of lap top do I want,I understand an older one with a serial port?

[Tanguero]

One with a serial port is perhaps easiest, but a USB to serial adapter can be made to work ok. It really only needs to be pretty basic if you are just using it for the ecu software. You will also need a cable which will depend on whether your ECU has a 9 pin on board or a 3 pin connector wired in.

The software is available from http://www.thetvrsite.com/ or http://www.tvr-cerbera.co.uk as are the workshop manuals which you might find usefull.

[ttmr]

Bloody Mil light has gone out and car running perfectly!! 7 times I tried it over 2 days and fault always there, car is taking the p***, have to check the fault code out still.

[Tanguero]

A favourite for causing that problem is water leaking into the lambda sensor connectors. Causes horrible misfire for a few days then all goes away when it dries out. I ended up replacing my connectors with proper waterproof AMP ones.

[FarmyardPants]

ttmr said:

Bloody Mil light has gone out and car running perfectly!! 7 times I tried it over 2 days and fault always there, car is taking the p***, have to check the fault code out still.

APM fixed it over the phone