NCT & ENGINE WARNING LIGHT

Dempo1

Hi,

This might have been covered before. I am due an NCT test in two weeks, completed one last year and the car passed no problem. Its an 04 Suzuki Ignis Sport.

My concern is the engine warning light comes on and off, this was occuring on the last test. I have spent a fortune including a new Cat Convertor (which was not required), the car has been at a Suzuki Main dealer and another Garage and had full diagnostics done and no errors are showing up. Mechanically the car is perfect, no other lights such as those now being checked on the NCT test, ABS, AIRBAGS etc are coming on. Bizzarely the engine warning light goes off when i fill the petrol Tank and i only have 55k miles on the clock.

Can anyone advise either on this annoying light or will it be an issue with the Test.

Thanks in advance

Yawns

Did you tell the main dealer that the light goes off when u fill with petrol? Could be a number of things from sensor to fuel pump etc Go to a different garage to get a diagnostics done imo

Dempo1

Yawns wrote: »

Did you tell the main dealer that the light goes off when u fill with petrol? Could be a number of things from sensor to fuel pump etc Go to a different garage to get a diagnostics done imo

Thanks Yawn, yes i am on my third garage. My original Mechanic (for many years) took the car for almost two months, then took it upon himself to send it to a main dealer who decided to fit a new cat convertor (€600) without asking. The light remained on and the my new mechanic has done numerous diagnostic checks. I think you could be right re sensors and fuel but this did not prove to be the issue in my recent full service. My issue seems to be a common problem in cars over 4 years, i have read various similar problems on Boards.ie with other models. My car was in storage for two years (worked in the states) i thought originally the placing on a new battery before big initial service might have been the issue. Mechanically the car is perfect, just worried this light showing up might cause the car to fail NCT although they don't specifically mention this light, instead other warning (safety) lights.

Cosmo K

Don't worry, engine management light is not a failure.

VinnyTGM

It is probably something to do with the fuel filter or the fuel pump.

mondeo

Take the bulb out... My lancer run about was showing the light a day before the test and I decided to get my own back on murphys law..:D
I fixed the problem at a later date.

Carstuck

I had a similiar problem with a Suzuki Grand Vitara with the engine light. Turned out to be the air flow meter. Got it done at a main dealer & they had no problem finding the fault.

Gary ITR

Dempo1 wrote: »

Bizzarely the engine warning light goes off when i fill the petrol Tank

Are you sure it's not the petrol light? :pac:

Yawns

Onkle wrote: »

Are you sure it's not the petrol light? :pac:

Dempo1

Hillarious Guys, and thanks sincerly for the advice, yes i can assure you its not the Petrol Light, LOL!:)

I too had a grand vitara and it may just be the problem, I bought the car to a local independent mechanic, it took him five minutes and €20 to find the fault. He was able to turn the light off but it came back on after a while. Planning on meeting him outside the centre, let him plug in his machine and head over for the test! Lol

****ing main dealers, two to date, almost €1.5K including an unnecessary Cat Convertor.

It does seem like this issue may not cause a fail althought the mechanic said it may?, I will keep you posted

beam99

On some of the vehicles in the USA , the check engine light can come on for a loose gas cap, It would do no harm to check the seal on the cap or replace it.

drBill

Agree with Cosmo K.
My car passed the NCT last year with its engine warning light on.

rodneys

mondeo wrote: »

Take the bulb out... My lancer run about was showing the light a day before the test and I decided to get my own back on murphys law..:D
I fixed the problem at a later date.

if you do this now they can fail you for a "non functioning warning light"
better to let it go thru and keep your fingers crossed even though this light is currently not a fail but sometimes it can depend on the testers!!:mad:

Dempo1

drBill wrote: »

Agree with Cosmo K.
My car passed the NCT last year with its engine warning light on.

Hi drBill, yes mine also passed this time last year and with the light on,the problem being all these new additions to the test came in this april.

Dempo1

rodneys wrote: »

if you do this now they can fail you for a "non functioning warning light"
better to let it go thru and keep your fingers crossed even though this light is currently not a fail but sometimes it can depend on the testers!!:mad:

Hi Rodneys, yes i agree, i asked the mechanics if taking the bulb out was an option and they advised against this, apart from the fact it would cost an arm and the leg in terms of labour to get at the bulbs.

My course of action is to completely fill the tank (as explained previously) the light bizzarely goes off any time i completely fill the tank, it normally stays off for about a 1/4 of a tank. If the car fails on this issue i will re book and meet my mechanic outside the test centre,let him plug in his gizmo to turn out the light and hopefully get a pass.

Fingers crossed for this thursday in Tullamore!

Gilhooley

You shouldn't fail due to an illuminated engine warning light. Mine has been on for 4 years and through two NCT's. I have had several tests done to determine the warning light issue but to no avail. It was never brought up during either of my NCT's and passed both.

Dempo1

Gilhooley wrote: »

You shouldn't fail due to an illuminated engine warning light. Mine has been on for 4 years and through two NCT's. I have had several tests done to determine the warning light issue but to no avail. It was never brought up during either of my NCT's and passed both.

Hi There, the above is what i thought but having completed the Test last week i was informed by the Centre it would have failed if the light remained on, in addition if systems lights did not come on, at ignition stage, a fail would also be registered. There are so many conflicting opinions on this subject and the NCT need to clarify the situation. To save grief and unnecessary second test, i had my mechanic switch off this damned light outside the NCT Centre using his code reader. The fault code is so irrelevant to general running of the car it made more sense to have the light disabled.Unfortunately it only stays off for a limited time but more than enough time to get through the test which i passed. I have been through the ringer on this issue, including a Main dealer who could not diagnose the fault (amazing how an individual mechanic, working from a small work shop could detect the issue after 2 minutes), in the mean time i was billed by a main dealer for an ECU ad cat converter at a cost of over 1.3k, and after all that the Light stayed on. By the way, the car only had 35k o the clock at that stage, a year ago. (Long story but car was in storage)

My humble advice to anyone having the same issue, is to follow my lead. These engine management light warning issues can lead to enormous expense with rarely the issue affecting general performance of the car.My mechanic would have advised immediate action if the error code was of a serious nature, mine thankfully was not.

Just a humble thought.

Gilhooley

That is strange as according to the link below, only certain indicators will cause an NCT fail and the "check engine" isn't one of them!

Malfunction indicators for Airbags, Electronic Stability Control and Electronic Braking / Anti-Lock Brake system.

Vehicles will be checked to ensure that, where fitted, the dashboard warning lights for Airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems and Electronic Braking Systems (EBS) / Anti-Lock Brake system (ABS) are working correctly. The vehicle will fail if any of these warning lights are not working correctly.

http://www.ldrivers.ie/blog/2010/04/14/new-nct-checks-from-april-2010/

DannyBuoy

Dempo1 wrote: »

...was informed by the Centre it would have failed if the light remained on, in addition if systems lights did not come on, at ignition stage, a fail would also be registered. ...

It may fail the emmisions test if the engine management light was on, not because of the engine management light but because of what may be turning it on, ie an issue with the engine management causing out of limits emmisions readings. Engine management light isn't covered in the April '10 revisions to the test.
Source

Dempo1

DannyBuoy wrote: »

It may fail the emmisions test if the engine management light was on, not because of the engine management light but because of what may be turning it on, ie an issue with the engine management causing out of limits emmisions readings. Engine management light isn't covered in the April '10 revisions to the test.
Source

Yes indeed, i have been through the wars, worn the t-shirt and checked all the details on the NCT test re warning lights etc. It does not mention the engine management light hence my initial concerns. I can only report on what i experienced and less than a week ago.Whilst no mention of the Engine management light is mentioned on the NCT website or manual, i was clearly informed not just by three mechanics but the actual tester after the test was completed that if the Engine management light was staying on, it would likely lead to a fail, i guess when you see people failing for wiper blades, one light not working etc, it can only be assumed an engine management light staying on could petentially be a far more serious issue. Given the 100's of possible error codes etc who is to know.

Having had my car through full servicing and the new cat convertor (open to debate if it was required at all) i knew my car was mechanically and safety sound.

As explained, greater clarity on this issue would be nice from the NCT and its up to customers to make a judgement call, get the light turned out (about €50) to cover mechanics time or leave light on, go through the test with a Possible Fail.