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[Kevin Wood]

Would it be fair to say that every time a check engine light comes up it MUST trigger a code to be stored in the management system or can a light show and NOT always trigger a code?

Normally a code would be stored even if the fault has cleared and the light has extinguished, but there may be exceptions. :-/

I can think of two other possibilities here:

1) The code reader is fundamentally incompatible with the car and, instead of reporting that it has failed to communicate with the ECU, is reporting "no fault".

2) The code reader is communicating with the ECU happily, but the ECU reports no current faults (only stored ones), so the code reader reports no faults. This is very unhelpful. If it's an intermittent fault you want to know the code is stored!

Have you tried deliberately causing a fault (E.G. unplug an easily accessible component) and checked to see if it will then read a code?

For cheap code readers your choices are between a "cheapo tech 2" complete with very flaky software in a foreign language that will attempt to read codes from several systems on an Omega. Some find them quite usable. Others have no success at all.

For the 2.2,2.6 and 3.2 engines an ELM327 based USB/Serial cable will read the engine only, and also display live data. In my experience these are much more reliable, generally in english and well worth getting if accessing older Omegas is not a requirement.

Kevin

[Entwood]

For engine only faults I bought an ELM327 and with the software on laptop it worked .. ish .. but was a pain to connect and use. It now sits in the garage doing not-a-lot

So I bought the maxscan which lives in the boot, requires no laptop or external power, reads stored and current faults as well as limited "live" data.

It is NOT a tech2 .. but it does do all the engine parameters, and at £80 was the equivalent of one visit to the stealers ... it has been used 3 times on my motor, twice on other miggies, and on a couple of other makes at work .. if its OBDII.. it will work .. so more than paid for itself.

Just my thoughts .. nowt else ..

[TheBoy]

There is an FAQ about code readers


Light coming on for more than just a flicker should store a code.


2.6 and particularly 3.2 suffer lamda codes due to a crap design.  Other engines are fairly resilient to false emissons codes.


2.2 is likely to be a cam sensor, but you need to find that telltale 0340 code before changing parts willy nilly



Lastly, sounds like that rac one is a bit poor to be honest - much like rac branded tools like jacks and stands...

[acura]

Thanks all for your input.

Got a refund from Argos today and will look for a better reader but can't pay the earth for it.

Before I took it back I tried the RAC on my wife's Rav4 and got the same results with the exception that when it got to the bit where it checks all the systems for readiness it listed the MIL (check engine) light as having a status of OFF, which is correct. On the Omega the MIL status was ON, which also could be correct. The sales blurb on the reader stated the MIL could be switched off but I found no way on the menu to do this. Or could this be only when a recorded fault is cleared?

Confused  :-/