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61

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 11 August 2023, 18:03:53 »

On Omegas disconnecting battery tends not to turn off EML for those Non Present codes that keep the EML on (generally emissions ones), because the Non Present code is still, well, present

Another tip on the V6 Omegas to reset fuel trims and other BLMs is to purposely put on a fault (eg, unplug MAF) wait for EML to come on, then clear the codes.  Clearing an engine ECU code on these also resets all the BLMs.  Handy for generic readers than can't otherwise reset BLMs.


LZ - keep that device in the glovebox. They are small and don't get in the way, and has the potential to get you out of trouble

Oh yes TB, thanks, I have now TWO of those devices in the glove box!

I feel quite modern and up to date now!

62

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 10 August 2023, 20:38:24 »

What were the codes?

As I quoted previously:  0170
                                   0173

 

63

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 10 August 2023, 18:02:33 »

Nice to hear that you got it all sorted Lizzie 👍

Thanks Rangie!

It was only due to the great pool of knowledge on the OOF that I did.

64

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 10 August 2023, 11:28:22 »

I eventually bought BOTH the scanner recommended by Dave (many thanks for that Dave) for a reduced price of £3.83, AND a OBD2 for reduced price of £9.98 from Amazon.  The first one will be delivered on Friday, but the second arrived yesterday.

So this morning, after reading the simple instructions and watching a video, I had the device plugged into the car, connected it to the “Car Scanner” app loaded onto my phone, then cleared the codes -  engine light went off immediately!

All this done within 3 minutes max!

I did seriously consider the wise recommendation by DG to just disconnect the battery for free, but on balance I wanted to do the full scanner exercise, for the first time ever, to gain experience, all for under £14.  In the end it was far quicker to use the scanner than any other method to clear the codes.

Thanks though for all the advice you all gave me.  It really helped!

This certainly has made me think yet again of how different keeping a modern car on the road is to the old days;  no electronics, no codes, just ‘simple’ mechanics in my Austin A40!
Just had to deal with broken valves, tightening the tappets, overhauling the carburettor, adjusting the fuel mix, and adjusting the timing.  All real mechanics stuff! 

65

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 09 August 2023, 10:21:53 »

………….
The first thing might go unnoticed until you had used the brakes. Now imagine finding out that you have no brake assistance on the M1/25/20 when the traffic ahead suddenly stopped. By the time your brain has caught up, you're in the back of the car in front. At speed. ……

That happened to me on the A30 on my way to Cornwall many years ago. Flat out in my V8 Vitesse when I noticed the traffic in the distance braking to a standstill. I braked fairly hard but then heard a pop, and the brake pedal went solid. I did manage to stop but it was tight and a scary experience.
On investigation, the brake servo chamber had rotted at the join and the vacuum had blown a hole in it. 

Not sure my underwear would have survived that failure!!

Even when working SD1 brakes were always crap (I'm sure Vitesse ones were better than standard though), I have memories of getting plenty of smoke from them when stopping (eventually) from motorway speeds in my younger days     I know the Met fitted different wheels so they could accommodate Jag XJS calipers which says it all really

Lizzie, can't say i've read every post on this thread but if not mentioned already, i'd tighten up the vac hose fitting to the plenum (17mm spanner on the inner fitting and 19mm on the outer - tighten the 19mm nut while holding the 17mm). There was a known fault with that pipe rubbing through from contact with the AC pipe if the spacer wasn't fitted, my first Omega suffered this which caused a slightly spongy brake pedal (but no problem pulling up the car in fairness) and diabolical fuel consumption.

Yes, thanks VXL V6, all done when I found the nut was not tightened up.

I am now going to check the A/C spacer.

66

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 20:11:21 »

What!!!
How and why please.  You are scaring me now!

The loose nut on the side of the plenum as you put it is the vacuum line for the brake booster.

If it had come undone then you would have no brake servo and a massive airleak directly into the inlet manifold. The second thing would see the ECU add fuel to try to keep up.

The first thing might go unnoticed until you had used the brakes. Now imagine finding out that you have no brake assistance on the M1/25/20 when the traffic ahead suddenly stopped. By the time your brain has caught up, you're in the back of the car in front. At speed. Granted that's a worst case, and it's not a question of blaming or pointing fingers, but if they, as a garage, did or didn't do something accidentally, deliberately or otherwise, then they have a legal obligation to put it right.

A point I did allude to much earlier today but you chose to skim read.

Your first port of call should have been to call Serek and ask why your vacuum pipe nut was loose and secondarily why the EML has come on following very recent work at SOS and go from there.

I understand now

The brakes were great though, after Serek had replaced the rear pads. So, maybe we were at risk, but nothing showed.

But that nut on the pipe was loose, so why didn’t that fault show in the way you suggest?

67

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 20:08:13 »

a simple bluetooth ELM327 OBD2 dongle from amazon or ebay (£5 ish) and a free copy of the TORQUE app on your phone if android
plenty of youtube videos 

Thanks for that tip Dave.

I have been studying the ones on Amazon, but there seems to be a whole range of prices.  I do not need one that covers diesels or trucks, so which price range / brand is the right one for an Omega please?

Certainly between £15 and £35 is a price I am prepared to pay, but...........................what is really the best?

if you've GOT TO spend that much then just buy several of these £4.59 items   or similar 
(that listing says UK stock with Economy Delivery Royal Mail Tracked 48)

OR
buy just one @ £4.59
put the rest of the budget in a metal tin (it can't burn a hole in your pocket then) 

    Thanks Dave, I have just ordered one, saving me greatly!

68

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 18:09:58 »

Might be worth using a small cable tie to secure the hose to the plenum, as its split and in the habit of coming off.

Indeed!  I have taped it up tightly with heat resistant Gorilla Tape, plus used a jubilee clip,  so at the moment it is VERY secure

69

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 18:07:04 »

Thanks Dave and DG.

I will try the battery disconnection first, as I wouldnt know where to plug in a dongle

Failing that I will just see my Vx dealer to get them to rectify.  PS After reading another thread on dealers reading the codes, perhaps I will not!!

It is not worth driving the 232 miles round trip to see Serek.   

You don't know what has triggered the codes, and it has only happened since having work done.

As I see it's you have three choices:

1. Take it back to Serek to fix.
2. Pay another garage to diagnose and correct it. Which will include going over any work recently done.
3. Ignore the whole thing and hope it goes away.

232 miles may not be "worth it" but the savings you are trying to achieve will cost far more than a tank of fuel. Especially if he hasn't done simple stuff like checking everything disturbed is correctly fitted.

And whilst it is incredibly noble of James V6* to offer to work for near free, that doesn't address the fact that the work you paid Serek to complete has potentially caused issues and as a commercial garage he has an obligation to fix any issues resulting from work done and having anyone else look at it will waive your right to recourse.

Not wanting to over egg the omelette, but if that vacuum pipe had come loose then you could have been left with a runaway engine and no brakes. Whilst driving home with your grandson.

* He hasn't yet and not should he.

I understand where you are coming from DG.  But I place no blame on Serek as he did all the work I required to a great standard, in just a few hours, and charged a very fair price.  I drove the car all the way back over the 116 miles without issue.  I then used the car around town all weekend.  It was only yesterday morning that the split, loose, breather pipe came to the surface. n I knew this pipe was not perfect at my last service in 2022, but it did still offer a good seal for the breather /plenum.  When Serek refitted the plenum he made the pipe seal well again, but sods law is that the split was slightly worse after it was refitted, and eventually gave way.  In no way was Serek responsible for this in the scheme of things as it was just bad luck that the pipe failed yesterday, but now I have fixed that issue, and tightened a loose connection.

Although the light is showing now, I am confident, as much as we can ever be with cars, that the cause of warning light staying on after codes were created, has been fixed.  It is now just a case of cancelling down the codes.  Then the problem will be fixed.  If not, it is something more serious and, although I do not understand the meaning of the "Fuel trim malfunctions", I will just take the plenum right off and take the opportunity of carrying out a major service, earlier than planned, with the replacement of the offending breather pipe whilst I can.  I feel there is little point in taking the car back to Serek

So that is the plan, which is not really much of a challenge compared to what I have had to historically do on my personal cars.  I will sort it!

 

Apparently he didn't 

That "loose connection" should never have been loose. Notwithstanding the split hose.

You have identified two issues, one of which was present following previous work and still unresolved and another that might have killed you or your grandson.

If that's to a great standard, then you have much bigger problems.

What!!!
How and why please.  You are scaring me now!

70

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 18:05:17 »

It’s always handy to have a code reader in your car, regardless of make. Most of the cheaper code readers (dongles) easily fit in the glovebox or the cheaper generic type can be tucked away in the boot. You have it with you at all times then.
I used my Autel to read and clear codes successfully on my Omega 3.2 on many occasions. Mine also does live data but only works on engine codes. I carried a Carly dongle in my BMW’s and I carry OBDEleven (VAGCom) dongle in our Audi’s.
If I lived nearer I’d clear the codes for you , is there nobody within a sensible distance. 

Yes, I have decided to buy one no matter what happens with the codes over the next few days.

Thanks for that sentiment YZ250, but no OOF is thin on the ground in this part of Kent so I will do what I can myself - well, at least to start with!!

71

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 18:02:06 »

"Fuel Trim Malfunction" means the ECU is having to inject more (or less) fuel into the engine than it expects to in order to get the lambda sensor readings into range. This can be caused by either an inlet manifold air leak, or an exhaust leak.

The ECU measures the amount of air entering the engine from the MAF (Mass Air Flow Sensor) on the side of the airbox. Once it knows how much air is going into the engine, it calculates how much fuel to inject to burn all the oxygen most efficiently - the ratio is called stoichimetric and is (approximatley) 14.7g of oxygen per 1g of petrol. So the ECU calculates the fuel injector duration based on that mix.

The lambda sensors measure the results of the actual combustion. If the exhaust is too rich, it tweaks the injector duration down a bit. If the mix is too lean it tweaks it up a bit. There are limits on the amount of tweaking though, and if the ECU cannot get the exhaust to be spot on within these limits then it will throw these trouble codes.

An air leak on on the inlet manifold allows unmetered air into the inlet manifold, which the ECU hasn't 'measured' by the MAF sensor, so the ECU doesn't inject enough fuel to burn the mix, and the lambdas see a lean exhaust. If the leak is big enough then you get these fault codes.

The ECU learns and remembers the fuel trims over a long period. On most systems you can reset them back to default by disconnecting the battery for 10-15 minutes. Don't know if this works on a 3.2 though. Some systems also clear the trouble codes after a number of error free starts - typically 50 or so.

I still doubt the breathers are responsible - I ran my car for a few weeks with them disconnected although that is a 3.0. The Brake servo pipe is another issue - that's quite big and if it's loose enough could allow a lot of air unmetered in. Tighten it up. Now. It's also possible to mess up the 6 O rings between the plenium and the manifold.

Thanks for that

I have taken that on board, and will decide what action to take once I try to cancel down the codes

72

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 16:14:29 »

Thanks Dave and DG.

I will try the battery disconnection first, as I wouldnt know where to plug in a dongle

Failing that I will just see my Vx dealer to get them to rectify.  PS After reading another thread on dealers reading the codes, perhaps I will not!!

It is not worth driving the 232 miles round trip to see Serek.   

You don't know what has triggered the codes, and it has only happened since having work done.

As I see it's you have three choices:

1. Take it back to Serek to fix.
2. Pay another garage to diagnose and correct it. Which will include going over any work recently done.
3. Ignore the whole thing and hope it goes away.

232 miles may not be "worth it" but the savings you are trying to achieve will cost far more than a tank of fuel. Especially if he hasn't done simple stuff like checking everything disturbed is correctly fitted.

And whilst it is incredibly noble of James V6* to offer to work for near free, that doesn't address the fact that the work you paid Serek to complete has potentially caused issues and as a commercial garage he has an obligation to fix any issues resulting from work done and having anyone else look at it will waive your right to recourse.

Not wanting to over egg the omelette, but if that vacuum pipe had come loose then you could have been left with a runaway engine and no brakes. Whilst driving home with your grandson.

* He hasn't yet and not should he.

I understand where you are coming from DG.  But I place no blame on Serek as he did all the work I required to a great standard, in just a few hours, and charged a very fair price.  I drove the car all the way back over the 116 miles without issue.  I then used the car around town all weekend.  It was only yesterday morning that the split, loose, breather pipe came to the surface. n I knew this pipe was not perfect at my last service in 2022, but it did still offer a good seal for the breather /plenum.  When Serek refitted the plenum he made the pipe seal well again, but sods law is that the split was slightly worse after it was refitted, and eventually gave way.  In no way was Serek responsible for this in the scheme of things as it was just bad luck that the pipe failed yesterday, but now I have fixed that issue, and tightened a loose connection.

Although the light is showing now, I am confident, as much as we can ever be with cars, that the cause of warning light staying on after codes were created, has been fixed.  It is now just a case of cancelling down the codes.  Then the problem will be fixed.  If not, it is something more serious and, although I do not understand the meaning of the "Fuel trim malfunctions", I will just take the plenum right off and take the opportunity of carrying out a major service, earlier than planned, with the replacement of the offending breather pipe whilst I can.  I feel there is little point in taking the car back to Serek

So that is the plan, which is not really much of a challenge compared to what I have had to historically do on my personal cars.  I will sort it!

 

73

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 15:51:42 »

a simple bluetooth ELM327 OBD2 dongle from amazon or ebay (£5 ish) and a free copy of the TORQUE app on your phone if android
plenty of youtube videos 

Thanks for that tip Dave.

I have been studying the ones on Amazon, but there seems to be a whole range of prices.  I do not need one that covers diesels or trucks, so which price range / brand is the right one for an Omega please?

Certainly between £15 and £35 is a price I am prepared to pay, but...........................what is really the best?

74

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 14:45:20 »

....
Yes, I have just knocked on the head a dealer wiping the codes!!

Go on .... what have they quoted you?

Nothing yet, but I have read the other thread on this subject and them being quoted £141...............!!!
Maybe, just maybe, I will get a freebee if I talk nicely to my dealer where I know the General Manager....................

But at the moment I am going to try the DG approach, then the suggestion by Dave, which this video on Youtube covers both:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93F7KGMk5og

That is when the weather improves down here!!

75

Omega General Help / Re: Engine Management Light On

« on: 08 August 2023, 14:27:25 »

....

I will try the battery disconnection first, as I wouldnt know where to plug in a dongle

it's in the fuse box under the steering column

Failing that I will just see my Vx dealer to get them to rectify.

 ...

You'll pay handsomely at a main dealer ....

Thanks Andy

Yes, I have just knocked on the head a dealer wiping the codes!!