2001 Corsa C engine management light?

Hi all,

Daughter passed her driving test last Monday and has been taking herself to work and round and about in her 160K Corsa C 1.2 ever since. ;-)

Tonight after work she rang me to say her engine management light was on and what should she do (she'd checked the oil level was ok). I suggested she drive the few miles home gently and I would have a look in the morning.

She just came in and said the light had gone off about half way home? Any ideas what could be the cause (ie, is it coming on then turning itself of a 'known' thing)?

So, interested to see if there are any faults stored I wondered if one of the cheapo code readers on eBay might be of use (if only for the S&G's)?

Something like item 230644533100 ?

Cheers, T i m

p.s. She has just moved back from Scotland, got a part time job and passed her test. Insurance went up from £600 TPF&T to £2600 (£400 for the 60 days to the end of the term and (hopefully) her 3rd year NCB). Apparently only £60 of that was the driver status change and change of use (added 'commuting'), the lions share of the increase was moving back to an EN postcode. ;-(

Reply to
T i m
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does she use cheapo petrol in it? corsa is known to put on the light as a result of the knock sensor triggering. The older the car, the warmer the weather, harder driving and the worse the petrol the more likely this is.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

I think she / they (b/f) would just use one of the local stations that wasn't the most expensive. I think such is a Jet if that means anything. The other is a BP. However they have been using both for quite a while and this hasn't happened before. Could be a bad batch of fuel I guess?

Oooerr.

Apparently it came on on the way to work (after about 2 miles) and was still on when she went to come home. It went off again after another couple of miles (after being parked up 4 hours).

The journey is mostly 30 - 40 mph stuff, fairly flat and rarely empty.

They filled up at the normal petrol station (Jet in this case).

Would the fact that the knock sensor triggered be recorded?

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

probably, but after several starts without fault it will be erased.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Ah, thanks. I'll get her to keep an eye on it.

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

I bought a USB-PC version of one of those, and while it did work, the software 'solution' was far from straightforward - of doubtful provenance and quite complicated to use.

I've just moved 10 miles from city/on-street parking to semi-rural/off street and my premium has about halved - from about £450 to £260.

If I ever drive anything flash car insurance could well be a factor in deciding where I live.

Rob

Reply to
Rob

By 'PC version' did you mean just a PC based code reader or was it the PC version of the actual model I referenced (just so I understand correctly please. Obviously your answer would influence any purchase).

I wonder if that really reflects the risks or are they just taking the p?

I like the priority. ;-)

Daughter would have us move up to Scotland but I think we are too old for that size of upheaval. Plus, when she was living with her b/f's family you had to drive 5 miles to get the bus, here they can walk to pretty well everything (she worked part time in Dumfries for a few months and that was a 50 mile round trip. Even at 50mpg it knocked quite a hole in her £5/hour, 4 hours a day wages and would add up to quite a bit over the year (£1250 at £6 / gallon)).

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

I mainly use a launch c-reader which does the majority of normal cars. I have tried a couple of pc based ones without success.

Reply to
Mrcheerful
[...]

I bought one of the cheap ELM327 units from eBay. The first one wouldn't communicate with the vehicle at all. The seller was very helpful in sending me alternative free pieces of software, but it still didn't work.

He sent me a replacement unit which works very well. Even with the basic software supplied, it will read all generic OBD-II codes, and reset the MIL, which was all I wanted.

If you are prepared to cough up for something like the ScanXL software, together with the vehicle-specific modules, you can do a lot, still using the cheap interface.

If you have a laptop available and want to go down this route, I would suggest getting one before you need it in case you have the same problem as I did. Note also that none of the free pieces of software are the sort of thing a complete PC numpty would find easy to install and use, although I would expect most folk here would have no problems.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

If that's the V it looks a little expensive for the sort of thing we might need it for, assuming a cheaper one works etc. ;-)

Looks good though and something I would live (especially the VI) if I was a) doing more of that sort of thing, b) didn't only have one car young enough for it to work on and c) had a mate with a Suntune thingy. ;-)

In fact I just popped down there and put it on and it came up with an error relating to the ERG valve? He reset the code so if it comes up again we can be better informed re the cause etc.

Cheers (to all),

T i m

Reply to
T i m

Oooh, even cheaper. ;-)

Oh. ;-(

Good to know, ta.

Again, nice to know there is the option (for the future etc).

I'm on a roll now so would have to be getting /something/. ;-)

Does yours give all the live data etc Chris? That looks interesting to the like of me (I love telemetry etc).

Do you remember which seller you used please as it's better with the devil you know etc (email works if you would rather not say here).

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m
[...]

Yep. There are a number of free OBD-II programs that will work with the ELM327; the one supplied is EasyOBDII. You can have a look at the functionality that is provided with a quick Google.

The seller's eBay store is here:

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He sells lots of code readers and similar, and currently has the one I bought at 13.95GBP delivered. At that price, it seems silly not to ;-)

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

most common thing with the egr valve is getting a bit of coke stuck in it

Reply to
Mrcheerful

It's the OBD interface one end, and a USB plug the other. The PC reads the data via USB/software. I wouldn't recommend the version I got - it's too much hassle, and IIRC the software was rather flakey/prone to crashing.

I don't feel it's risk-related - but it's difficult to tell.

In the not too distant future on my retirement I'll have few qualms about selling up and moving somewhere less expensive - can't see my (teachers') pension amounting to much at this rate ;-) Around Dumfries is very nice apparenlty . . .

Plus, when she was living with her b/f's

Yes, I know a 17 year old does much the same - seems to spend all her minimum wage on petrol.

Rob

Reply to
Rob

Done, nice, thanks.

Quite. ;-)

Thanks again.

T i m

Reply to
T i m

OK thanks. So, is it cleanable or just one of those things that can come and go at any time anyway?

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

it is usually easily cleaned, but lumps of coke can come through at any time, particularly with cheapo fuel :) On some models the egr can be removed and blanked and with a software mod subsequently ignored by the engine management. (which shows how often they are a problem.)

Reply to
Mrcheerful

Noted. ;-)

Thanks. I guess only time will tell now.

Cheers, T i m

Reply to
T i m

So, installed and running on XP no probs and seems to see both our daughters 2001 Corsa C and my mates 02 Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin. However it doesn't seem to fully see his wifes 02 Focus 1.6 Zetec (well it gets to step one on EasyOBD but no further).

It is interesting driving along with the thing in Live Data mode (as a passenger of course ) and I'd like to see if I could put a fault on our Corsa to see if I can reset it (any ideas how I could do such simply and safely please)?

I'm thinking an Android tablet / app bluetooth might be a cool way to interface this sort of thing (if you were doing so more regularly).

I'm still to get any Linux based app to work (although I do know the kernel has seen the ELM327 as I can 'talk' to it via screen in terminal).

Cheers and thanks again for the heads up. ;-)

T i m

Reply to
T i m

disconnect something such as maf sensor, throttle position sensor, cam sensor, egr valve etc. it will still run but should show the fault.

Reply to
Mrcheerful

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