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[amba]

hi everyone...this is not an april fool although you may think that i am !!!driving home last night along motorway..well should i say crawling through speed cameras..when i put my foot down felt a bit of a jult ...but no noise..car then acceleratedand seemed to be fine??as really sunny didn,t notice that engine managment light had come on so after a few miles pulled over and as a good vauxhall driver stopped engine.got out and checked under car but no fluid etc..nothing fallen off under bonnet..so thought would it start again...to my surprise it fired up ..ran smoothly but light stayed on ....as had 30 miles to get home drove slowish but all seemed to run fine ...when at home switched off and again checked everything visible but no evidence of problems......later started car again and she fired into life and settled down to an even tickover as allways.....took out for another short drive to see if problem was still there....all runs fine but light is still on.......now yes i know that light has come on to register that a fault has occured and has been stored in brain..my question is .....as i need to drive about 100 miles today will i be doing any damage???have arranged for electrical fault man to put on meter on monday which i assume will indicate the fault registered ..or is the best action ..Orange light Don,t drive??seems odd as is running perfectly...had fault reading before when wouldn,t run and that was MAF meter..any pointers would be helpfull

[JamesV6CDX]

What year is your car? You could do the paperclip test.....

[amba]

Hi James...1998 2.5 elite auto..have read about this paper clip trick but dont understand it fully?

[JamesV6CDX]

See http://www.topbuzz.co.uk/info/fault_codes/fault_codes.pdf

It's a peice of cake.. you just short a couple of pins in the diagnostic socket (in drivers footwell fuse panel).. count the flashes on the engine management light... and identify the codes you get with the list

The Above link explains all...

[amba]

Thanks alot James for info..does it need to be a paperclip?or any bit of semi rigid wire..just enough to short across connectors??waht do you think about car being driven ..as code has been logged could it just have been a one off or am i likley to do irrepairable damage

[hotel21]

Any wire will do the same thing, just you can bend the paperclip into the correct shape.

As to driving, its unknown until the faults that are flashed out are listed and interpreted.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Note also.....MAF sensor failure does NOT cause non-running.......so I suspect an original fault is still lingering about....

The thud will have been the engine going into limp mode and resorting to a default ignition and spark map....plus the light lit.....clearly the fault is still present or the light would ahev gone out.

If you flash the fault codes out and post them we can advise as to the cause and comment on if its safe to drive any distance or not...

[amba]

Really shouild be at work ..anyway ha..have opened fuse cover and according to cover plug is for diagnostic...it is black and seems to have 8 holes each side..right side appears to have position 1-6 with a metal connecter..no,s 7/8 are blank....on left side position 1 is metal connector...no 5 is connectre as well but all others seem to be blank..it is viewed as right side closest to drivers door and bottom being closest to car floor...hope that makes sense??...aftre finding paperclip which was plastic coated(healt and saftey)stripped both ends and proceeded to push both ends into holes at position 1 and 2 on right side.....nothing happened (was worried would be electricuted )am i in the right place and what actually flashes ?to allow me to read this morsed code ..sorry but it is a sunday

[TheBoy]

Pins 4 and 6 are the ones to be shorted!! (or 5 and 6 - pin 4 and 5 are electrically connected anyway).

[amba]

thanks...will try that later when get home and report code....just checking ..position 4 and 6 on right hand side ..paper clip in and then count code of flashes on orange light??

[Marks DTM Calib]

Heres the connector pin out diagram

[amba]

Thanks for picture of pins...is no1 the bottom right..closest to foor and drivers door or is it top left..nearest centre of car and closest to dash board???..i have tried connecting papaerclip across what seemed to be 4 and 6..right side counting from bottom ??would i be right in saying if i disconnect the battery..wait several minutes and then reconnect the light (orange ) will go out???the fault will still be logged in computer but will not re-illuminate until fault occurs again...it is strange that car runs fine ..just dont like warning light on..will then get it fixed or cleared in morning...thanks again...

[Marks DTM Calib]

Pin 1 is top right.....

The ECU light will remain lit until the fault is fixed.....it will go out as soon as its fixed and hence the fault must still be present.....disconnecting the battery will make no difference

[Marks DTM Calib]

Just rotated the image so it matches the positioning on the car for you....

[amba]

It is simple when you know how..a big thanks for bearing with me.

I have read the codes as flashed out and they are as follows:

12..seems that is the diagnostic standard?
59..inlet manifold valve 1..low voltage
73..air flow sensors (afs)...low voltage.

Can i fix these or do they need any repairs..or just resetting??
thanks ....andrew