Looks like dealer removed engine management bulb...help please!

creased-leach

Ok, in September my OH bought a Mk4 Mondeo. It was ex fleet, bought from a place specialising in van sales that buys from auctions.
It was a high miler, but had main dealer FSH.
On test drive, the EM light was on, dealer put it down to a sensor, but said he'd get it checked & fixed before delivery- we also insisted on a new MOT.
When he called to say the MOT was done, I asked if there were any advisories- he said just the light, but it was now fixed.
He also stated (despite my querying it) that the Mk4 had a camchain, not belt- this was incorrect.

Fast forward to now. My OH is now away, and won't be back (or even contactable) for months. We love the car- but I think it's sounding a bit "tappety."

I found out how to run the diagnostics via the console earlier- and during the light test guess what? No EM light, just as I was starting to suspect.

To add to the mix, I started a new job on Friday- and it's driving based.
There's no way I can afford legal advice at the moment- and I can just imagine the short shrift I'd get raising the issue with the dealer.

Any advice would be appreciated, good news would be especially welcome but if I'm up the swanee I'd rather know!

motorguy

creased-leach wrote: »

Ok, in September my OH bought a Mk4 Mondeo. It was ex fleet, bought from a place specialising in van sales that buys from auctions.
It was a high miler, but had main dealer FSH.
On test drive, the EM light was on, dealer put it down to a sensor, but said he'd get it checked & fixed before delivery- we also insisted on a new MOT.
When he called to say the MOT was done, I asked if there were any advisories- he said just the light, but it was now fixed.
He also stated (despite my querying it) that the Mk4 had a camchain, not belt- this was incorrect.

Fast forward to now. My OH is now away, and won't be back (or even contactable) for months. We love the car- but I think it's sounding a bit "tappety."

I found out how to run the diagnostics via the console earlier- and during the light test guess what? No EM light, just as I was starting to suspect.

To add to the mix, I started a new job on Friday- and it's driving based.
There's no way I can afford legal advice at the moment- and I can just imagine the short shrift I'd get raising the issue with the dealer.

Any advice would be appreciated, good news would be especially welcome but if I'm up the swanee I'd rather know!

Ring the dealer. Tell him you wanted the problem fixed, not the symptom removed.

If he doesnt play ball, go to Consumer Direct / Trading Standards. They love that sort of thing.

TrickyWicky

To be honest, the engine sounding tappety and the EM light being on with a bulb removed is going to be two different things.

The tappety issue wouldn't be picked up by sensors anyway as they're mechanical things that are not monitored. That might just mean your engine needs some attention.

As for the bulb being on in the first place, it's not uncommon. My neighbour had a brand new skoda. Within the first month the EM light came on. The dealers ran every test they could on it and never found out what was wrong. The car ran fine, they replaced sensors and it just stayed on the whole time. In the end they just took out the bulb and told him about it. He was more than happy with it and continued driving it.

You admit it's a high miler, I'm afraid you can't expect it to run like a perfect new car and even if it did, as I just told you some of them have the EM light on for no apparent reason too!

forgotmyname

Did you not notice the fact it stopped lighting up when you put the ignition on?

Get in touch with them and record your calls or only contact them in writing.

Get yourself a cheap OBDII code reader and see what codes are popping up.

Possibly an EGR fault.

Which part of the country are you? Sounds like a place where i bought mine. But i had no issues. Coalville?

If your near the Midlands i have a reader.

arcon5

I had the EML come on a month or so ago (MK3 Mondeo)... cleaned the EGR valve (although wasn't as blocked as expected tbh) and a couple of days later light went off and never re-appeared. Although it could of course just be a coincidence.

The job itself though is quite straight forward to do and should take less than an hour.

creased-leach

Thanks guys.
I was married to an ex mechanic for a very long time, and picked a lot of stuff up. However, it was very much "older" car stuff- pre computer, electronic jiggery-pokery. Added to that, I know naff all about diesel engines (although I did do some reading up about DPF's) and their peculiarities.

I lift the bonnet of the Mondy & there's an expanse of plastic where the engine & auxillaries should be...

As for not noticing, no, I simply didn't. I was expecting glow plug lights to come on, and did some research to find out they shouldn't- that's what I thought the "gap" was in the array of lights. Add to that the fact that I'd been driving an 18 year old Renault, on which virtually no electricals worked...

As for the running, I'm aware it shouldn't run "as new"- but she was picked for the robustness of the engine, and was well cared for as a fleet car.

The reason I'm vexed is "we fixed it" is very different to "we made it look like we fixed it by taking the bulb out. As an added bonus, should there be trouble brewing under the bonnet in future you'll be lulled into a false sense of security"

forgotmyname, thanks- but I'm in Kent!

I think I need to allocate some of my first pay packet for some fault finding. Make absolutely sure that the bulb has gone awol too (although I'm pretty sure)
Anyone who can point me in the direction of a decent garage in SE Kent who won't either rip me off, or speak to me as if I'm five just because I'm female, please let me know!

CrazyRed

SE Kent?

Not sure quite where you mean there, but if around the Herne Bay area, I can personally recommend Express Garage in Sea Street.

If Ramsgate/Sandwich then I understand that Highway Motors are very reasonable - I personally haven't used them, but the PO of my current car did and looking at the invoices presented for work on the car, they don't appear to be rip-off merchants.

If you mean around North Kent (Dartford), then I've had good experiences with Orchard Garage in Dartford (and bad experiences with another garage in Dartford whom I'm too polite to name).

Some of the Mondeos suffered with injector issues (especially the TDCi as I understand it) and this could be quite expensive to put right - no way should someone have just removed an EML bulb without finding out the cause for it to be lit. An injector, or two, on it's way out could account for the change of engine note (sounding 'tappety') and the EML light but it really needs to be plugged into diagnostics to ascertain what is at fault here.

Simply playing a guessing game from behind a monitor will lead to lots of money being spent on unnecessary replacement parts.

If you're in the Medway Towns, then go and see Peter at Rochester City Diesel - he's an absolute expert on all diesel engines and will be able to help you if there is anything wrong with yours - granted, he's not the cheapest, but he does know what he's talking about!

HTH

Oh, and don't worry about the 'expanse of plastic' when you lift the bonnet. Underneath those covers are the self-same engines that you'll be familiar with from the past, just with a few more electronics and sensors on them - the basic 'oily bits' are as near-dammit the same.

forgotmyname

The glowplug light comes on when you 1st turn the igntiion on. You wait for them to go out which is only a few seconds on modern cars.

It should not light up after that. If you have a turbo or fuelling fault the glowplug light flashes to show its in limp home mode.
With reduced power. Like it switched the turbo off.

creased-leach

Crazyred- hugely helpful post, thank you. I'm closer to Sandwich, but a trip over to Hernia Bay could be warranted if I can get time. I did have injector issues in the back of my mind.

Forgotmyname, I was looking for glowplug lights after asking if there was anything I needed to know about driving a diesel. However, never having seen them on the Mondy I looked into it and apparently they'll only come on if it's uber cold. That's what I assumed the gap in the row of lights must have been- it was a couple of weeks between test drive and delivery, and with a new baby in the house there was no way I was going to remember where each warning light was!

forgotmyname

The light should still come on when you switch the ignition on to show its working.

They still heat up unless the engine is hot. They normally go out within seconds of it starting unless as you say its very cold. Then they stay on for a little while after.

Not as long as the older cars where they could stay on for several minutes. Or stay on until the revs rose above a set value.

scaredofdebt

The glow plug light always comes on regardless of temperature as they are used as part of the emissions control. They are only needed to help with starting if the temperature is below around minus 20 celcius, but always used for the emissions, so the light always comes on when you first turn the key for a second or two.

My light was coming on as I had a problem with the injectors and they do sound a bit tappety I suppose if they are knocking. Could be you are due a/some new injectors as they need replacing over time. Not cheap unfortunately, hope it's something EGR related.