EML light on

[Patrick Bateman]

Only came on last week and according to the garage the diagnostics were showing a misfire(s).

I'd found for quite a while now that often when starting from cold it was misfiring when initially driving away then everything is totally fine after <30s.

Garage is recommending new ignition leads and spark plugs as a starting point. The spark plugs were changed by the previous owner, less than 25k miles ago, 4 years ago. Given you have to remove the inlet manifold, would it still be worth doing the plugs while it's off or are they unlikely to be the source of the issue?

Another occasional issue the car can have is struggling to start initially, just for a second or two. It has failed to start on a few occasions but the second attempt is always instant ignition. Curious if it could be linked.

 

[Jekyll]

Plugs cost £35. While the inlet is off, I'd do them, seen as there 4 years old.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Got a supplier for the plugs at that price?

 

[Jekyll]

@George@RTR_Parts

 

[bloke]

get it to someone who knows what they are doing. if they've got half decent diagnostics then they can find the problem. if they're 'guessing' at plugs and leads ask them if they will cover the cost of them if it doesn't sort the misfire.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Plugs and leads seem to have solved the issue. Hopefully I'm not jinxing it but one of the old leads did look like s**t.

 

[STEVE.M]

Plugs and leads seem to have solved the issue. Hopefully I'm not jinxing it but one of the old leads did look like s**t.

Another occasional issue the car can have is struggling to start initially, just for a second or two. It has failed to start on a few occasions but the second attempt is always instant ignition. Curious if it could be linked.

Did it make any difference to this?

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Don't know yet, that's so temperamental that it's impossible to predict. The car had been starting just fine recently.

 

[bloke]

Plugs and leads seem to have solved the issue. Hopefully I'm not jinxing it but one of the old leads did look like s**t.

leads won't log a misfire. it will be back :tonguewink:

 

[Patrick Bateman]

What do you think it would be then?

 

[bloke]

presuming the fault code was in relation to when it was running rough for you and not a historical code then injector or lambda. live data will point you in the right direction easy enough, it' pisses me off when you get a garage who plug a reader in, see a code and then do what they did with you and say 'just try this and see if it works'.

 

[Darren S]

Did it sound like a Scooby when idling? Strong smell of fumes too?

I had the EML come on, on Sunday. Very quickly (in the space of a few miles) it started to run like crap too. Got it trailed back and had a decent code reader put on it. It came back with "Cylinder 2, injector circuit, short circuit to 12v". Nabbed a new injector in the ECP Halloween sale and had it fitted today. Everything's fine again now.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

No, it's always had strong fumes though I suspect that might be to do with the remap the previous owner had.

Touch wood I've not noticed any misfire since, and it seems to be starting the exact same way every time.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Well the EML did come on again the other week while sitting at 70 and I did wonder if it was the same thing but the diagnostics say the catalytic converter.

I'd have been a bit surprised if it was the same thing as the car has been starting consistently well since the leads were changed and the misfire just after starting has never re-appeared.

 

[bloke]

what did diagnostic say? same garage you used before?

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Reviving this. Had it in at a specialist recently for aux belt and a few other things, got new injectors which cured the misfire code which did end up re-appearing but yesterday the EML came on again.

Just got my new code reader on it and it's relating to the cat again.

Assuming the cat itself isn't on its way out, O2 sensors the likely culprit?

 

[MRBILLYUK]

Try swapping the lambda sensors round . Could be your Cats knackered or blocked . I saw one on here not that long ago that was blocked . If you do a search you might find it.

 

[flebay]

As above take the cat of and hold it up to the light, should be able to see trough it, any dark patches means its blocked in that area.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Ok cheers.

Given it was November when it first appeared and has only just re-appeared, is that likely to hint at one or the other?

 

[bloke]

that's your precat lambda, nothing to do with the cat. graph the lambda and see what it's doing, chances are the misfire has killed it off.

i won't say i told you so :tonguewink:

 

[Patrick Bateman]

that's your precat lambda, nothing to do with the cat. graph the lambda and see what it's doing, chances are the misfire has killed it off.

i won't say i told you so :tonguewink:

What exactly do you mean by 'graph the lambda'? And do you mean it's killed the cat or the lambda?

New ignition leads sorted a hesitant starting issue I was occasionally having so it wasn't for nothing.

I only went to the specialist recently as it needed the aux belt done, they're too far away to warrant just nipping to every single time there's an issue.

 

[bloke]

will of killed the lambda, the cats take all sorts of abuse.

need to look at the lambda and see how it's switching, range and frequency of it. or if it's done over about 80,000 miles you may as well just bin it and stick a new one on, think the recommended life by bosch is 90,000 miles?

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Just recently ticked over the 100k mark so be as well just replacing it I think. Cheers.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Light came on again so took the opportunity to have a fiddle with my code reader. Here are the live values-



Forgive the orientation. What does the S1 and S2 signify in that? Pre and post cat?

 

[bloke]

yup, pre and post. lambda looks slow, got a graphing facility on it? stft is a bit off but could be lambda related.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Yes although I didn't think it looked the clearest.

What do you mean by slow? What sort of readings are you looking for and should the post cat always be a static value?

 

[Patrick Bateman]

Had the pre-cat sensor replaced and the EML has come on again with the same code.

 

[flebay]

Had the pre-cat sensor replaced and the EML has come on again with the same code.

How much have you spent so far?

 

[Patrick Bateman]

How much have you spent so far?

On this issue just the O2 sensor.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I'll get a video of the live data again when I get a chance. I forgot to film it when I checked but the numbers did look different to what I've posted before.

Could it simply be the post-cat sensor as well?