Engine Management Light

[heisthegaffer]

Hi all, a friends Corsa 1.4 auto 98 vintage I think has an intermittent fault where her engine management light momentarily comes on then goes off, sometimes coupled with a loss of power and satys on until she takes her foot off the throttle. Any ideas?

Thanks

[r1ot]

Have a look at this website as it will tell you how to interrogate the ECU for the fault code if any, might save you a whole world of problems and expense at the dealers

http://www.topbuzz.co.uk/info/fault_codes/fault_co...

[jamesj]

Hi,
Thanks for mentioning TopBuzz,
I have a fault with a 2.0Ltr Ecotec Omega, I have had several garages plug in their testers but they will NOT connect ?????
OSmeone suggested the ECU so now I can have a look my self.

My basic problem is that the Engine management light is on, The engine will only rev to 4500ish rpm,( then its like it has a Revlimmitter ) the last Mot it failed on Exhaust emmissions and I think this is why the car was parked neatly 3 eyars ago. Its far too good to scrap so I want to fix it.

Cheers
James

[Yanayaya]

heisthegaffer said:

Hi all, a friends Corsa 1.4 auto 98 vintage I think has an intermittent fault where her engine management light momentarily comes on then goes off, sometimes coupled with a loss of power and satys on until she takes her foot off the throttle. Any ideas?

Thanks

I have seen this problem before, you may notice it more on a moterway or duel carraigeway. Basically there are two possible faults that I would check first. Initially you want to have your O2 sensor checked. It may be dirty. Additionally you will want to check for any leaks on the air intake pipes since your AFM may be reporting incorrect data to your ECU which will effect your fuelling and so on causing power issues. That are the two main issues I know of, one of which happened to me and gave the same symptoms

1: Check your O2 (aka Lambda) sensor
2: Check air pipes for leaks.
3: Have the AFM (Air Flow Metre) hot wire checked.

I hope this helps

[Yanayaya]

jamesj said:

Hi,
Thanks for mentioning TopBuzz,
I have a fault with a 2.0Ltr Ecotec Omega, I have had several garages plug in their testers but they will NOT connect ?????
OSmeone suggested the ECU so now I can have a look my self.

My basic problem is that the Engine management light is on, The engine will only rev to 4500ish rpm,( then its like it has a Revlimmitter ) the last Mot it failed on Exhaust emmissions and I think this is why the car was parked neatly 3 eyars ago. Its far too good to scrap so I want to fix it.

Cheers
James

You can paperclip test your ECU if you follow top buzz. I have a Cavalier Turbo 4x4 and Vauxhall's computers can never talk to it. Its strange. Anyway with regards to your issue, when the EML goes on the engine enters what we call "Limp Home Mode" meaning it does not allow your car to exceed certain amount of revs, which is the limiter effect you are feeling (and it does this by design to perserve your engine). This is something you will need to check out very soon to carry on enjoying your driving. Update us as to how you get on with TopBuzz's guides and the error codes you recieve.

Remember that to clear your ECU's fault log you will need to disconnect your battery for 15 mins.

Edited by Yanayaya on Wednesday 25th February 16:38