Engine Management Light

darsar

Two quick questions guys;

Can a car pass the NCT with the engine management light showing on the dash?

When a car is in for repair ( the engine management light came on), does the light go out as soon as the new part is put in or does the light on the dash have to be turned off manually be the mechanic?


Reason I ask is I sent my car into the garage on Wednesday, got it back Friday and the engine management light is still showing. Even though they did the work on it.

Jam

Sids Not

AFAIK they wont test the car if any warning lights are showing...the garage should have reset the ecu provided the part replaced was related to the warning light..

alo1587

They will test your car,but it will fail because for the warning light being on.Your mechaanic should have cleared the fault after he fitted the new part.Does he have a diagnostic equipment/fault code reader?

darsar

When it was plugged in to read the fault it came back 'air intake faulty'.

They said they think the manifold flap needed to be taken out and cleaned but if that didnt do it then it would need replacing. So that got me thinking that if they could say 'if that doesn't do it', it must mean a correct working part would turn the light back off?? otherwise thay could have cleaned the flap and then manually turned the light off?

The thing is I just gave them €285 for two hours labour and feel robbed because the light is still on. To make it worse my tax is out and can't NCT the car with with the light on thus going around untaxed. They said to replace this flap it is €400 plus vat plus two hours labour so I'm looking at 700 to get this light off before arrears on tax and NCT fee's

When it rains, it pours:mad:

Muckie

What type of car have you got, some older cars can have the C.E.L./Engine

management light switched off by dis-connecting the car's battery for

20mins. You could be lucky.

Forgot to add, write down your car's radio code before you do this(thats if its a code one).

je55ie

Hi I rang the nct before my car went for a test as the EML was on and they told me that it wont fail and the car did pass but ABS Lights and air bags lights will fail.

Sids Not

Handy to know that...;)

darsar

Jessie that's the stuff I want to hear !

The car isn't driving any different at all, just this light popped up so I brought it in and they telling me all this high price things that 'may be' causing the light to come on!!

Muckie, it's an Audi A3 2004.

Mr.Diagnostic

Jamegg, the description of the fault code that you have given is not an actual description of any existing fault code. Because of this it is impossible for anyone here to judge what is wrong. Also you do not say if the car is petrol or diesel. It is possible they gave you a wrong description or you picked it up wrong.

The light is on because there is a fault. If the garage was able to read the code then they would be able to clear the code too, along with the light. The light is still on because the code is still present. The code is still present because the fault is still present. Ie it is not fixed.

€285 to do what? From what you posted it seems that they charged you and said the light may go out but if not then they will charge you more!

You need to get a second opinion before you throw good money after bad.

The engine light being on will not be an NCT failure in itself.

Seth Brundle

jessie37 wrote: »

Hi I rang the nct before my car went for a test as the EML was on and they told me that it wont fail and the car did pass but ABS Lights and air bags lights will fail.

An airbag light being lit will not result in an NCT failure. AFAIK the only light being on that may cause a failure is the ABS light!

sogood

kbannon wrote: »

An airbag light being lit will not result in an NCT failure. AFAIK the only light being on that may cause a failure is the ABS light!

Engine management light definitely not a fail. I put a car through and passed with the same thing. I even asked the tester beforehand to save him the time if it was going to be an automatic fail and he said, "No, no problem, we see that all the time" So, from the horses mouth! (We all have our crosses to bear!)

darsar

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

Jamegg, the description of the fault code that you have given is not an actual description of any existing fault code. Because of this it is impossible for anyone here to judge what is wrong. Also you do not say if the car is petrol or diesel. It is possible they gave you a wrong description or you picked it up wrong.

The light is on because there is a fault. If the garage was able to read the code then they would be able to clear the code too, along with the light. The light is still on because the code is still present. The code is still present because the fault is still present. Ie it is not fixed.

€285 to do what? From what you posted it seems that they charged you and said the light may go out but if not then they will charge you more!

You need to get a second opinion before you throw good money after bad.

The engine light being on will not be an NCT failure in itself.

Thanks Mr. D,

It is a diesel car. I have just posted what I have been told so far. Exactly, €285 to do what!!!! They said the manifold flap needs cleaning and thats two hours labour. If that didn't work they thought it would need to be replaced (€410+VAT for the part and another two hours labour)! I said go ahead and clean it hoping it would work. The more I think of it the more I feel robbed and soft for not going back straight away because I got a phone to say 'Sir, your car is ready, here is the bill'. No mention of the light still being on! I have just wrote the €285 off as stupidity on my behalf. This is a main repair centre not a garage down a side lane.

Can you tell me what a manifold flap actually does? Im thinking just leave it as I have no other problems so I will fix it when I have to i.e car wont drive. Just dont have near €1500 to spend in the same month on it.

PS I was also told that the error reading 'Air intake faulty' could be a 1000 different things so I understand it is impossible for anyone on here to judge..

Dirty_Diesel

Firstly, 142.50 yoyo an hour for labour? And labour that did absolutely nothing for your car?

Secondly, there is no throttle plate (manifold flap??) in a diesel engine. The revs are determined by the diesel pump.

An air intake fault could be the mass airlflow meter. This may just need cleaning, or around 80 yoyo part exchange if its a VAGE tdi. What car is it btw?
The only other thing around the intake is the egr (exhaust gas circulation) valve. These also get clogged up and can be cleaned, but if it needs replacing could cost 150 or more.

Basically, I think you got shafted :mad:

darsar

Dirty_Diesel wrote: »

Firstly, 142.50 yoyo an hour for labour? And labour that did absolutely nothing for your car?

Secondly, there is no throttle plate (manifold flap??) in a diesel engine. The revs are determined by the diesel pump.

An air intake fault could be the mass airlflow meter. This may just need cleaning, or around 80 yoyo part exchange if its a VAGE tdi. What car is it btw?
The only other thing around the intake is the egr (exhaust gas circulation) valve. These also get clogged up and can be cleaned, but if it needs replacing could cost 150 or more.

Basically, I think you got shafted :mad:

In hindsight without doubt I was shafted. I was dealing with the senior advisor in a leading repair centre so thought I was safe. The charges broke down as €105 per hour labour plus 13.5% VAT and the rest sundries. Maybe one other thing I dont recall but it is small in price if so.

It is an Audi A3 2.0 TDI.

Mr.Diagnostic

jamegg wrote: »

Thanks Mr. D,

It is a diesel car. I have just posted what I have been told so far. Exactly, €285 to do what!!!! They said the manifold flap needs cleaning and thats two hours labour. If that didn't work they thought it would need to be replaced (€410+VAT for the part and another two hours labour)! I said go ahead and clean it hoping it would work. The more I think of it the more I feel robbed and soft for not going back straight away because I got a phone to say 'Sir, your car is ready, here is the bill'. No mention of the light still being on! I have just wrote the €285 off as stupidity on my behalf. This is a main repair centre not a garage down a side lane.

Can you tell me what a manifold flap actually does? Im thinking just leave it as I have no other problems so I will fix it when I have to i.e car wont drive. Just dont have near €1500 to spend in the same month on it.

PS I was also told that the error reading 'Air intake faulty' could be a 1000 different things so I understand it is impossible for anyone on here to judge..

What you post here I think changes it very slightly. The labour charged was €285 and they cleaned the flaps as well as (mis)diagnosed it for that? If that is the case and you, when asked, gave them the go ahead to do the work then I think the bill stands. They should not have told you the car was ready as it obviously was not fixed. If this is what happened then I think the bill is fair(ish), aside from the fact they messed up the diagnosis.

If cleaning the flaps did not cure it they should know after doing that work if the manifold needs to be changed or not so I would not be inclined to allow them fit one.

The manifold flaps they are referring to are butterfly valves in the intake which shuts off a section of the manifold. I wont go into detail as regards their function but they should be able to actually diagnose if they are at fault.

Without knowing what the fault is it is not possible to say that you should leave it. It would be better to get it diagnosed at least.

Some fault codes point a tech in a specific direction to test. Unfortunately, some codes don’t and require further testing. This is what sorts the men from the boys in diagnostic terms.

Get a recommendation for a good diagnostic specialist who will test beyond fault codes.

darsar

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

What you post here I think changes it very slightly. The labour charged was €285 and they cleaned the flaps as well as (mis)diagnosed it for that? If that is the case and you, when asked, gave them the go ahead to do the work then I think the bill stands. They should not have told you the car was ready as it obviously was not fixed. If this is what happened then I think the bill is fair(ish), aside from the fact they messed up the diagnosis.

If cleaning the flaps did not cure it they should know after doing that work if the manifold needs to be changed or not so I would not be inclined to allow them fit one.

The manifold flaps they are referring to are butterfly valves in the intake which shuts off a section of the manifold. I wont go into detail as regards their function but they should be able to actually diagnose if they are at fault.

Without knowing what the fault is it is not possible to say that you should leave it. It would be better to get it diagnosed at least.

Some fault codes point a tech in a specific direction to test. Unfortunately, some codes don’t and require further testing. This is what sorts the men from the boys in diagnostic terms.

Get a recommendation for a good diagnostic specialist who will test beyond fault codes.

I don't dispute the fact I gave the go ahead on the work and as I have said I wrote off the money as stupidity from myself. So aside from being down in pocket and feeling like I handed over that hard earned money for no visable rewards, I cannot afford to take it to the next step as things stand. So, lets say they are correct and the flap needs replacing, am I doing major damage by ignoring the light on my dash now assuming what they diagnosed is correct?

As far as I am aware, the plugging the car into the computer part at first was free.

Mr.Diagnostic

If they have removed the manifold to clean it they should know if it needs to be replaced or not. They should also know if the flaps being dirty was the problem or not. Its not clear from your post if they have done this work or not.

Yes, you could potentially be doing damage but there is no reason to assume they are right in their diagnosis.

darsar

Mr.Diagnostic wrote: »

If they have removed the manifold to clean it they should know if it needs to be replaced or not. They should also know if the flaps being dirty was the problem or not. Its not clear from your post if they have done this work or not.

Yes, you could potentially be doing damage but there is no reason to assume they are right in their diagnosis.

Yes, they have done the taking off and cleaning part and never told me it needs replacing.

So it seems they covered themselves by saying 'if this doesn't work you'll have to get it replaced', and then just let me discover the light still on myself while I am fobbed off and next customer is being dealt with.....

Poor customer services I feel. I mean, nobody took time out to really explain in a simple to understand way of what work was being done or needed to be done. I know a little bit about under the bonnet and underneath of a car but not enough to know what is going on now.

Mr.Diagnostic

jamegg wrote: »

Yes, they have done the taking off and cleaning part and never told me it needs replacing.

Well then I think it is very unlikely its a manifold problem.

jamegg wrote: »

So it seems they covered themselves by saying 'if this doesn't work you'll have to get it replaced', and then just let me discover the light still on myself while I am fobbed off and next customer is being dealt with.....

Sounds that way. very poor show.