Chris_R
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| posted on 10/11/04 at 08:39 PM |
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Every day car
Where to begin?
Over the weekend I took the exhaust off my Cavalier in order to weld a split in the pipe and allow me to replace the petrol tank. Because
there's no break in the pipe between the cat and the downpipe (there probably should be, but mine's had a section of pipe welded in) I
took the whole thing off including the manifold and later had to separate the manifold from the rest of the exhaust.
The petrol tank eventually came off and with some effort the new tank went on, then came off, then went back on again.
When it was time to put the exhaust back on it all went together well, but as I managed to shear one of the bolts that secured the downpipe to the
manifold I had no choice but to run it with three of the four bolts in place. As a result the seal was poor and gas was blowing from the joint.
On the way home the engine management light came on. My initial suspicion was that the blowing manifold was effecting the lambda sensor so at the
soonest opportunity got a replacement set of bolts, a new gasket and some replacement studs. All were fitted tonight and the exhaust sounds fine.
Once again whilst travelling home the light started coming on... I have four theories.
1. Whilst removing the exhaust the lead attached to the lambda sensor suffered some stress. Theory one is that the wiring/connector has been damaged
and the light is coming on as a result of an intermittent disturbance in the feed to the sensor.
2. When the tank was put back on one of the flexible fuel pipes may have been caught between a hard place and a hard place and as such may be
restricting the flow of fuel to the engine.
3. When replacing the tank some debris got caught up in the works and is restricting the flow of fuel.
4. None of the above is right and I don't have a clue.
If anyone can offer any thoughts or experience I'd be most grateful.
Oh and I'm supposed to be off to Dumfries on Sat so need to get it fixed sharpish, else I'll be for it.
Cheers Guys.
[Edited on 10/11/04 by Chris_R]
A bit of slapstick never hurt anyone.
http://www.chris.renney.dsl.pipex.com/
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EKroth
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| posted on 10/11/04 at 09:06 PM |
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 Sounds like you might have damaged the Lambda Sensor - maybe broken the wire near one of the ends. It doesn't sound like the fuel-related
ideas. they might feel like a vacuum-leak on a carbed car, or something like that...
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Hellfire
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| posted on 10/11/04 at 09:41 PM |
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I'd go for option 1 too....
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Mark Allanson
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| posted on 10/11/04 at 10:04 PM |
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As ever the eternal optimist, it could just need a reset. Dealership job unfortunately, but there is a dodge, something like shorting pins 1035 and
5673 whist standing on one leg and sticking you left index finger in your right ear
Someone here may know the real way?
If you can keep you head, whilst all others around you are losing theirs, you are not fully aware of the situation
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ceebmoj
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| posted on 10/11/04 at 10:37 PM |
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hi I cant remember the pins to short of the top of my head but it will give you a blink code. wict will tell you any DTC's if ther are any
stored you can the diconect the battry for 15 mins wich should clear the DCTs or you can conect the pins.
on a sde note if any one has a europian car I have acess to the electronic test kit for it if you need a hand. wit that tipe of fault.
ceebmoj
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JohnN
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| posted on 10/11/04 at 10:42 PM |
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I've had 3, two litre, petrol cavaliers, the engine management light coming on intermittantly, with no obvious lack of performance or fuel
economy (always averaged 38 to the gallon, mostly motorway), was "feature" of all of them.
A colleague also had the same experience, he attributed it to cheap supermarket petrol.
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Chris_R
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| posted on 10/11/04 at 10:44 PM |
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I'll pick one up tomorrow for a couple of quid at the local scrappers, prolly the easiest way. Cheers guys, much appreciated.
A bit of slapstick never hurt anyone.
http://www.chris.renney.dsl.pipex.com/
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Chris_R
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| posted on 10/11/04 at 10:46 PM |
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Sounds familiar. I've had no signs of any performance loss at all. mostly happens at high revs, but not always the case.
A bit of slapstick never hurt anyone.
http://www.chris.renney.dsl.pipex.com/
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Andybarbet
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| posted on 11/11/04 at 12:09 AM |
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On the Vectra - if you turned the ignition on and off about 20 times without actually starting the engine, it reset the eng. management light so if it
was only a glitch, job done ! May work on the cavalier ?? Had a mate who worked for Vauxhall and i thought he was pulling me leg when he told me but
it sorted the wifes car out - worth a go anyway cos it's free !
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PioneerX
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| posted on 11/11/04 at 09:18 AM |
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Chris,
I have had Four Cavs over the years and all suffer a little from the Engine Managment Light coming on and going off. It needs to be one for a few
seconds (I think 5 off the top of my head) for a fault code to be registered and even then if it goes off and does not come back on for three ignition
start (again from memory, not good) the code will be removed.
The link below had a PDF that shows how which lines to short of the Diagnostic plug to get the Engine Management light to flash the stored codes. Also
it shows the codes for the particular ECU you are using.
Hope this helps.
Performance Locost Files
Regards
Simon
[Edited on 11/11/04 by PioneerX]
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jollygreengiant
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| posted on 11/11/04 at 11:52 AM |
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I've got a scanner, does most Ford, Vauxhall & Rover up to 1995.
Another fault on some of the Vauxhalls that I come across is if the resistance across the air flow meter goes out of range (worn air flow meter) then
that turns on the light if you set the mixture to its correct level at a service. Cure was set the mixture till the light goes off (usually rich
mixture) & advise customer. A rich mixture being usually prefered to Management light being on, OR, cost of new airflow meter.
Enjoy. 72 Days to Go.
Beware of the Goldfish in the tulip mines. The ONLY defence against them is smoking peanut butter sandwiches.
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Chris_R
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| posted on 11/11/04 at 09:52 PM |
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Thank you everyone for your Help.
Simon that PDF is magic. Shorted the pins, turned on the ignition and the light started flashing out the error code. 13 for Oxygen Sensor. Going to
get a new lambda tomorrow and hopefully problem solved.
The dealership quoted £136 in VAT for a new one, but old faithful (KB Autoparts at Newburn) have one for £35 inc VAT.
Thanks again everyone.
A bit of slapstick never hurt anyone.
http://www.chris.renney.dsl.pipex.com/
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PioneerX
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| posted on 12/11/04 at 02:26 PM |
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Chris_R,
Glad I could help.
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