Vauxhall Emissions Warning Light

kirsty12_2

I had this issue with a Astra i've just got rid of (not because of this). It was a emission sensor & the total bill from the dealer was £94. The light never did come on again.

hareng

Its a common problem on most Vauxhalls since, to my knowledge 2001.
Nothing to do with EGR, mine was blanked off, all other plumbing ripped out and electronically cheated.
As regards the ECU that was only 20% reprogrammable usually done by real world driving, think its 30 mile below 3000 rpm.

Mine was the oxygene sensor heater which only affected cold starts, so who cares. Now upon clearing the code with engine warm and going through ECU the learning curve, it will come on when you have a downpipe leak, another common problem with flexi joints.

Therefore could be a lot of things.

vax2002

A guy round here takes the throttle body top off and cleans the edges of the butterfly valve with wet and dry and solvent then cleans the body out with carb clean and the light of doom stays off until it needs doing again, usually ever 10-20.000 miles ish, but his cure works for petrol vauxhalls.
He says if the valve does not seal and air creeps in it throws the light on with various codes.

Strider590

vax2002 wrote: »

A guy round here takes the throttle body top off and cleans the edges of the butterfly valve with wet and dry and solvent then cleans the body out with carb clean and the light of doom stays off until it needs doing again, usually ever 10-20.000 miles ish, but his cure works for petrol vauxhalls.
He says if the valve does not seal and air creeps in it throws the light on with various codes.

Yeah, the throttle bodies do cause some strange problems on Vauxhalls, if they're motorised (ie an electronic throttle = no throttle cable), they have a habit of sticking and then blowing themselves up (not literally).

I had an issue with occasional erratic idle, removed the air intake and sprayed the throttle valve with WD40 (makes a pretty decent carb cleaner), has run smooth ever since.

DaveW007

Well because I have persisted in complaining to Vauxhall they have contacted a local dealer and arranged for the dealer to establish why the emissions control light is on. The dealer has agreed to do the diagnosis for FOC. Just hope it isn't going to be expensive to actually cure the fault although I feel that I shouldn't have to pay as it was only after 3 weeks ownership of the vehicle that the light came on!

Fingers crossed I should know later today although a previous dealer said that the ECU needed updating which didn't cure it!!!

Paperbird

Faultfinding with the dealers computer can be a lot more than just reading the fault codes that are stored. It can read and record live figures from sensors etc. if the person using it knows what they are doing.
The problem is that too many main dealers probably only have one person capable of using the system correctly and no one that can use it to anywhere near it's full potential.
I took my car in to have the towing module activated to show trailer bulb failures and when I got it back they had managed to turn off the door deadlocking and the alarm,
I took it back the next day and after 90 minutes the workshop manager came out and said it couldn't be turned on because my car was not fitted with the deadlocking or an alarm system. I told him it had it when I bought it and had it the day before when I brought it in.
Another 60 minutes and my car is driven out of the workshop, I went out and spoke to the mechanic who said sorry about your long wait but everything is now set to what I wanted.
It turned out he had been off work the day before and out on a recovery that day when my car came in and he was the only person working there that knew anything about how to use the system, the idiot who had tried to activate the towing had managed to put everything in delivery mode and turn off all the security features.
Anyone taking their car to this main dealer in Yorkshires largest town while this one mechanic was off ill or on holiday would probably not get a correct diagnosis of any faults on their car.

DaveW007

I must admit I do not have any faith in Vauxhall any more. I've had this fault on my car 3 weeks after I had it. I took it back and asked to have it repaired or replaced etc. The dealer said that it is common on the vehicle I have etc. I explained that had I known that I wouldn't have bought it. It was a case of put up with it. I've since been to another dealer who updated the ECU which didn't cure it and I've also had an auto electrician replace various sensors to no avail.

I'm anxious to get it sorted now as warning lights are part of the MOT.

DaveW007

I'v had a call from the dealer and they have advised that a MAF sensor needs replacing and the ECU needs updating.

I'm not mechanically minded at all but is an O2 sensor the same as a MAF sensor?

If so this has already been replaced previously when the ECU was last updated and it didn't cure it!!!

Rolandtheroadie

My old 1999 Vectra gave a MAF sensor fault when the EGR needed a clean.

colino

Makes sense it's the MAF (and thats not an oxygen sensor) as apart from the electrical code it throws out (if for example the wiring is broken or the MAF is disconnected) it rarely sends a clear message that it is itself faulty, but its incorrect signals causes phantom fault codes and poor running that can be badly interpreted as meaning something else. You then get into a cycle of replacing perfectly good components and the fault remains just because the tech hasn't a scooby what they are doing.