Engine warning light back after sensor change

BOSTIK

Looking for a bit of help here. Suzuki Baleno 146k miles on clock, 1.3 litre engine.

Had the lambda sensor replaced last month after the engine warning light came on. The mechanic mentioned that the spark plugs were a bit sooty during the last service, which took place @ c. 138k miles back in May, so the sensor was probably on the way out then. Warning light disappeared after sensor change, and the car was rechecked with the diagnostics machine and no faults were shown. Grand, or so I thought.

Only problem is that the blasted light is back again. Just appeared when I was driving home one evening, and was still there this morning. I’ve been in touch with the mechanic who’s taking the car in next week for a look, but I was hoping somebody out there might be able to point me in the right direction.

The sensor’s hardly blown already, has it? The car is fine for oil and water, and most of its driving is done on the open road @ 80-100km per hour. Only thing is that it has a tendency to cut out if idling for a period, even since the sensor was replaced, but will restart immediately on the first turn. It doesn’t lose any power when it’s moving, and ticks over reasonably well for a car with such mileage.

I should add that I’m no expert on cars, but it has not been neglected and has been regularly serviced since I got it, and was in good nick beforehand. Timing belt was changed at 126k miles, so that shouldn’t be the problem.

richie_rvf

I would be fairly sure the new sensor is ok, what can happen though is as the ecu 'learns' again this can trigger the engine light, sometimes it will go out again in time, day or so depending on how you drive.

It may also be something else of course, sometimes when certain sensors are replaced the 'problem' can move elsewhere. With the mileage on your car it could well be the case that some other sensors are failing, it just happened to be the case that the Lambda sensor was worse than the rest and showed up on the diagnostics.

bring it back in and plug in the diagnostic tool again, only way to really know for sure.

HTH

Richie.

BOSTIK

Thanks, Richie.

The light has been on for over a week now, doesn’t seem as if it’s going to go away by itself. A couple of times before it’s come on after the car has cut out, usually when stuck in heavy traffic for a bit, but disappears again after a few spins, usually within a day or so.

I was just wondering was it misfiring because of the leads or plugs, or something else, because otherwise it seems fine. It definitely doesn’t like being stuck in traffic, such as the 25 minute tailback which I had to endure yesterday.

Just though I might be able to give the mechanic a pointer.

richie_rvf

I don't know much about your type of car but on others there are various reasons why it would cut out while being stuck in traffic - I think that description should be enough to point your mechanic in the right direction.

If the leads and plugs are old it might be worth changing them anyway.

Could also have something to do with the intake system on your car, the air flow sensor, idle control valve, intake piping was cracked etc...

Richie.

BOSTIK

Must ask him about the leads. The plugs were definitely changed after each service.

Hopefully the diagnostics machine won’t tell me an expensive story. The lambda sensor wasn't cheap:(