engine mgmt light up £££££££???????

**Agtrak100** · Thursday 5th February 2009, 18:32

Hi People
recently aquired a rather nice Saffron C70 T5 (1999 ). after my 850T5 ( t19g +3" pipe ) expired...A very sad Loss...
The engine management light came on yesterday....
symptoms..
just as this cold / damp spell started when I start the car in the morning or late at night from cold... the idle is very lumpy and the engine will die if I dont set a fast idle in the accelerator pedal for about 30 -40 seconds, then the engine is fine... I had this for a few days before the light came up, and the symptoms remain.
I have been advised to have the compression checked for head gaskit condition... anything else to look for... as I haven't noticed the car using coolant?
Any help would be great

Many thanks
SteveT

**jez.w** · Thursday 5th February 2009, 18:47

Split vacuum/ air leak?

**Agtrak100** · Friday 6th February 2009, 09:22

MMM... would that clear itself after 30 - 40 secs fast idle ...if it was vacuum hoses the symptoms would stay surely ????
thanks anyway

**jez.w** · Friday 6th February 2009, 09:31

Sorry, I missed the bit about light going out if you fast idle.

**princepugh** · Friday 6th February 2009, 10:20

Sounds like damp in the ignition to me - not sure if the C70 is coil, dizzy, HT leads or coil packs to plugs, either way start with the basics.

**MisterC1501** · Friday 6th February 2009, 11:23

In my experience whenever the engine management light has illuminated on the dash, it has always had something to do with the Mass Air Flowmeter (MAF). If you take it apart whatever you do is DO NOT touch the sensor.......it's fragile...trust me!!

I have seen some MAF cleaner on ebay for about £5, so might need a clean. Is your air filter dirty, since the MAF is generally next inline to this.

To reset the engine management light, disconnect the battery for 5 mins, then reconnect and the light will have gone out. Make sure you have your radio code otherwise no noise in the cabin!!

**Agtrak100** · Friday 6th February 2009, 19:04

All very strange this...
got in this morning.. the usual for the last few days, engine mgmgt light up and had to fast idle for about 40 seconds, and then OK but light still on......
however when I had to got out later this morning .... light out and then no fast idle required... great....
then later
it started and then cut out, so turned off for a few seconds.. still nothing, off again for about a minute then tried again and off we went eventually ... no mgmgt light... weird... MAF sensor is about 2 months old..... and I had that go with the old 850T5
I will check plugs etc sunday as its due oil change and It will get done this Sunday.... You might be right with cold and damp getting in some where.
upwards and onwards.... hopefully....
bye the way fitted OVLOV strut brace took 20 mins including mug of tea.. great....
Going to fit my old 3" pipe off my old 850 when the weather gets abit better, that should liven things up abit, then a remap....
Many thanks
SteveT
RHRC

**Terminator** · Saturday 7th February 2009, 06:13

Originally Posted by princepugh

Sounds like damp in the ignition to me - not sure if the C70 is coil, dizzy, HT leads or coil packs to plugs, either way start with the basics.

A 1999 C70 is almost certainly going to have the ME7 setup, which is coils, electronic ignition etc.

The problem is likely to be a duff sensor or a coil failing. You need to get the error codes read to pinpoint the problem before shelling out and trying to fix it by trial and error.

**Agtrak100** · Sunday 15th February 2009, 19:23

Many thanks people
I have gone down the road of a bit of damp creaping in.... so today had a right go under the bonnet.. WD40and and air compressor.... nearly a large can of WD later engine bay imaculate.. and it runs ok.
So
I plugged in my crappy fault code reader and got the generic code P0300 ( random misfire detected )....
Before I started doing anything today when I started the engine the light came up again... but this time flashing, rough idle then ensued for about the usual 30 seconds.. then all OK and light goes out, I am now thinking down the lines of cold starting ( what used to be the choke ... in the coal fired days )...... any ideas....
by the way
Cleaned / gapped plugs and checked the coil wiring last weekend..

Many thanks
SteveT

**marwen** · Sunday 15th February 2009, 19:40

Hey Steve, sorry to hear your having problems.
I'm having similar problems with intermitent MGMT light and it really pees you off!!!
Try looking on this website:-OBD-codes.com
type your code in and it will give you a breakdown of the code, probable cause and some suggestions as to where to start looking fisrt.

Good luck mate.

Regards, Mark.

**Wombatbomb** · Sunday 15th February 2009, 19:49

Originally Posted by Agtrak100

Going to fit my old 3" pipe off my old 850 when the weather gets abit better, that should liven things up abit, then a remap....
Many thanks
SteveT
RHRC

If your DP is decatted then your ME7 will throw codes all over the place, these cars don't take kindly to having no CAT. Also, the ME7 has 2 x O2 sensors, so you'll need a boss welded into the DP after the CAT to allow fitment of the second sensor.

**Agtrak100** · Wednesday 25th February 2009, 21:23

Hi Chaps and many thanks for the help/tips.....
I have not yey fitted the 3" system, andf It will have a cat in it and two sensors, 1 upstream and 1 down stream of the cat, so all should be well..... when I do fit it.
The problem is still there hope fully the chaps @ LVM will plug it into thier machine and get a more accurate code. The strange thing is that now the weather is getting warmer the symtoms are less prevalent...MMMM
Any way more greif has occured.... I'm begining to not like this C70... especially compared to my old T5 ( with remap and T19g with the 3" pipe )... Bloody window on the drivers side has gone down but wont come up, it happened the night before I was due to leave the car at the Luton airport
over the weekend as I was away...'kin great, car door in bits, indarkness managed to chock the glass up with wood.... I am picking new swich up tomorrow, I just hope the bloody motor isn't US as well......

01c70t5 · Wednesday 4th March 2009, 17:31

Sounds like the problem I had on the C70 when the coil pack when, only it sometimes kicked in when warm too.

The advice I was given was to give it a spirited drive until the EM light stayed on

Random misfire would certainly drop in to the coil pack territory too.

**Agtrak100** · Monday 9th March 2009, 20:51

Hi Chaps
Many thanks for the replies..
to bring this up to date....
I took it to LVM, and they plugged into their Volvo Laptop... missfire on cyls 1,2,3,4... but not 5
they rekon the ECU is on its way out... now I'm ...kin lost

Bring Back my 850

Many thanks
SteveT

**LeeT5** · Friday 31st July 2009, 01:46

Originally Posted by Agtrak100

Many thanks people
I have gone down the road of a bit of damp creaping in.... so today had a right go under the bonnet.. WD40and and air compressor.... nearly a large can of WD later engine bay imaculate.. and it runs ok.
So
I plugged in my crappy fault code reader and got the generic code P0300 ( random misfire detected )....
Before I started doing anything today when I started the engine the light came up again... but this time flashing, rough idle then ensued for about the usual 30 seconds.. then all OK and light goes out, I am now thinking down the lines of cold starting ( what used to be the choke ... in the coal fired days )...... any ideas....
by the way
Cleaned / gapped plugs and checked the coil wiring last weekend..

Many thanks
SteveT

You shouldn't use WD40 around your ignition components as it is oil based and thus attracts all the **** and dirt and will not stop arcing of damp leads! Your better off using carburettor cleaner. This will disolve the oil, grease or crap from the components and then evaporate to leave a completely dry and clean surface, not one that is all slimey and moist from WD! I doubt very much the problem is damp anyway beacuse your engine is ME7 and doesn't have leads, cap and rotor. You need the codes read or you'll be wasting your time and barking up the wrong tree.

**LeeT5** · Friday 31st July 2009, 01:49

Originally Posted by Agtrak100

Hi Chaps
Many thanks for the replies..
to bring this up to date....
I took it to LVM, and they plugged into their Volvo Laptop... missfire on cyls 1,2,3,4... but not 5
they rekon the ECU is on its way out... now I'm ...kin lost

Bring Back my 850

Many thanks
SteveT

Well lets hope they at least clean and dry all the multiplugs associated with the ECU, injectors first before they replace your ECU and check wiring.

Can't you get hold of an ECU from a donor car first to see if fault disappears?

**siamblue** · Friday 31st July 2009, 03:29

Originally Posted by LeeT5

Well lets hope they at least clean and dry all the multiplugs associated with the ECU, injectors first before they replace your ECU and check wiring.

Can't you get hold of an ECU from a donor car first to see if fault disappears?

It's a dreaded ME7 Lee, as you say just check all of the connections,

Gary

**paullus** · Friday 31st July 2009, 20:18

Re your drivers side window. Mine has just done exactly the same but I removed the switch, dismantled it, which isn't that difficult. Blew out all the fluf and crap which had got on the contacts and sprayed it liberally with WD40. Hey presto it's fixed. This is a common problem caused by dirty contacts.

**LeeT5** · Friday 31st July 2009, 20:40

Originally Posted by siamblue

It's a dreaded ME7 Lee, as you say just check all of the connections,

Gary

I know m8, thats what i said later on in that response.

Probably confused things by mentioning cap and rotor....was just making the point that you shouldnt use wd40 on ignition components at all. It's not good practise. Dry and clean not wet and oily!!

**Agtrak100** · Thursday 26th November 2009, 13:33

Chaps
sorry i've been away a bit .. however. you will not belive this....... I replaced the battery in the remote for the alarm, and hey presto.. it appears that the alarm was not fully dissarming.... or am I talking crap......
Now I have a duff Bank 1 lambda sensor... what is the cheapeat fix, or
what will happen it I put the old bank 1 sensor from my 850T5

SteveT