engine management light?

Hi all,

Started hippo just now to go and pick wife up and red engine management light is displayed on dash?

When you start it, the revs blip up to about 1750-2000 for about half a second, then returns to normal idle.. Drives fine, doesnt miss, no smoke, but i only drove a mile and a half in it to pick wifey up,..

Seemed to struggle when pulling up a small hill.. it usually flies up there in 2nd?

The only friend of mine with a hawkeye has sold it to help fund a new motorbike, so i cant scan for codes

Has anyone eperienced this problem before, and if so how did you go about fixing it?

It started normall this morning, i did about a 25 mile round trip to the beach (didnt go on any sand or anything) and all was well? Hippo was on the drive for about an hour between coming back from beach and going to pick wife up, and fault has suddenly appeared?


99 2.0 XEDi L series

Update:-

Disconnected battery for an hour, took out air filter, cleaned, inspected pipes for blockage, checked all wiring reconected battery, Engine light still on.

It goes out after self test when the key is at position 2, but as soon as you start her, revs blip up for a half second then she returns to idle and engine light (red) comes on.

I took her for a 4 - 5 mile spin an she's very down on power.. No black smoke, no funny noises, and you can hear the turbo spooling up as normal.. It revs all the way to 5000 rpm, but just takes an age to get there, and its she's sluggish on hills too..

If anyone whos had this problem can throw some info my way, id be much obliged.. Failing that its my local 4x4 specialist monday morning

This could be something silly / simple like a split turbo hose - I had similar type symptoms when a hose split - couldn't see it when looking at idle speed

Get someone to rev up a bit while your inspecting the hoses.

I renewed with silicon ones.

If not hoses you really need an OBD scanner.

Thanks singvogel,

I initially hough split/loose turbo hose too, as it happend to me years ago on my old pug 306 Dturbo.. I just dont understand wht the revs blip when i start it?

New update:-

Started hippo this morning after it sitting on the drive all night & engine management light comes on at ignition for test, then goes out!! Hipo drives normal? Full power.. sweet as its always been. Stop at petrol station about 1 mile from my house, fill up with diesel (1/4 tank already in it), start hippo...

engine managment light and reduced power....

FFS!!!!:doh:

Any L series peeps out there who can give me pointers?

Had wifey rev it on the drive while i looked around engine bay.. No sucking or whistling noises or hoses collapsing, nothing appears out of place..

Right at the bottom though, around the bulkhead theres a bit of fluid dripping onto the very back of the sump gaurd.. At first i thought it was just from the air con condenser, but then realised the aircon aint been on since yesterday morning.. And there seemed quite a bit of fluid there.. not your usual lttle pool of condenser liquid..

Could this be a source of my problem?

Any tips would be fab before it goes to the indy 4x4 specialist tomorrow..

By the way, book says the engine light should be amber, but mines red? Is this normal?

Another update,

Well, went out onto the drive last night about 11:30. The car had been stood there since 4pm, so was freezing cold & i gave it a bash.

I started it 15 times with no engine light at all.

Started it this morning to take kids to school, no light.. Drove the mile to school, dropped kids off. But before i pulled off, i cut the engine then started it again

Engine managment light on and revs 10 1500 rpm on start up

Im taking the car to my local iny 4x4 guy to get it hooked up to the scanner.. Ill report back with the problem, as it seems like a vague one at the moment..

Obviously, my wallet will be lighter too..

Good luck, mate.

Please keep us updated with how you get on.

Cheers Pal,

Well, had it back. Computer says its the MAF sensor. My mechanic (who is very honest and no nonsense) said he took it out and cleaned it (which usually does the trick) but it didnt make a difference.

He only made 1 phonecall to a parts shop, and they quoted him £175 for the part. He said hed ring me in a day of two once hes sourced a cheaper one, as he said that was extortionate.

I had a quick look of fleabay, and used ones for a L series start at £20 buy it now??

This bloke has never messed me around before, and didnt charge me a penny today for plugging iinto diagnostics, taking apart air pipes, cleaning MAF sensor and refitting..

But im wondering the following

a) should i risk buying one off ebay (new OR used) and gamle its the right part
b) is it hard to change this sensor myself
c) if it is easy, i do do it, and it is the right part, will my engine management light go off by itself, or will i have to go back to the garage, cap in hand (and be cheeky) and ask him to reset it for me.

Advice please friends..

PS im on the works computer at the mo (in in work til 10) so cant surf the web for hints and tips on changing the MAF sensor, as most websites are blocked.. So if anyone has some advice for me, post it on 'ere and when i get home tonight i can surf the web without restrictions.

Andrew.


99 L series 2.0 XEDi

£175 sounds about right - that's the going price for a new genuine known brand MAF from a Motor Factor. Bosch or Pierburg MAFs usually come with a years guarantee.

I would wait and see what your no nonsense mechanic comes up with.

I think buying a £20 MAF is too big a gamble - it might work for a very short time.

Changing a MAF is pretty simple - loads of threads on here.

Check the threads on here too for diagnosing a duff MAF. Try running with it disconnected for example. If things improve at low revs you probably do have an out of spec MAF.

Check here for some more info and ideas:

Pierburg mafs from tuning-diesels.com

Sinvogel,

Thanks for all your advice mate. I thinh since they guy has been good enough to do all of todays work for nowt, the least i can do is see what price he comes back with to supply and fit one..

Ill keep you posted on what happens next.

Guys,

If i unplug my MAF sensor, in theory should the engine management light go out?? I ask cos ive seen a few threads on here stating on a TD4, you can pull off the MAF sensor, and then the ECU automatically thinks its -5 celcius..

I was thinking that if i do this in my L series, and my light goes out and it runs normal, its definately my MAF sensor, and i wouldnt be throwing money at a part i dont need?

If it stays the same, that would mean the fault is somewhere else wouldnt it?

How long would it take a DIY mechanic like me to change a MAF sensor?

Update,

Saw a video on YOUtube showing how to change a MAF sensor on a freelander. Since it was disgustingly easy, i went down to my local motor factors this morning, bought 1 new genuine BOSCH MAF, installed it and...
The engine light is still on!!!
Now half of me is thinking that the error codes need to be cleared by plugging it to a ODB scanner, thats why the light is still on..
But the other half of me doesn’t think this will work as when the car is stone cold (after about 3 hours), the engine starts and runs as it should with no MIL/engine management light? Im in work til 10 tonight now, so when i go start her up to home, we’ll see what she does.. Got a funny feeling that it will run fine home, then as soon as i get to my drive, switch her off, then start her back up, she’ll start with the MIL light on again.

Surely it’s a temperature sender or something somewhere else in the engine?
About an hour after I changed the MAF, ironically my local no nonsense mechanic rang me to ask for my chassis number so he could look into getting a MAF for me.... I told him what I’d done.. At first he said that the light is still on because the ecu aint been reset, but then I reminded him that it doesn’t come on when it’s cold.. Which stumps him?? He said to pull the multiplug out of the MAF sensor when the light is ON and the hippo is down on power, then get back in and drive it.. If it’s still down on power with the plug out, the fault is somewhere else.. If id drives as normal, but with just the MIL light on, the fault lies with the new MAF.
I tried it with the plug out and it still revs to 1500rpm when you start it, and is still down on power with the MIL light on.. I rung him back to tell him, he ruled out the new MAF being faulty, but he just doesn’t get why the car is still down on power, but at the same time he said the code was definitely saying MAF sensor failure and nothing else.

Does anyone have any ideas on what to do now? Has this happened to anyone else?

Hi all,

I got to the problem by reading my haynes manual from cover to cover..

The culprit is a failed coolant temperature sensor on the left hand front side of the engine block. I pulled the sensor off and started it, and the MIL light is out and the acr drives perfectly, with no suprise revving to 2000 rpm on startup.

The replacement sensor was £11 from euro car parts, and took 5 minutes to fit.

glad you got it sorted mate, always like a happy ending.

Cheers Cox!

Always nice to have a cheap solution.. especially before xmas... my credit card was starting to wince!

newcyboots said:

Hi all,

I got to the problem by reading my haynes manual from cover to cover..

The culprit is a failed coolant temperature sensor on the left hand front side of the engine block. I pulled the sensor off and started it, and the MIL light is out and the acr drives perfectly, with no suprise revving to 2000 rpm on startup.

The replacement sensor was £11 from euro car parts, and took 5 minutes to fit.

Click to expand...

I thought I'd fixed mine after replacing the exhaust intermediate pipe and end box .I took it for a drive and the light flickered on and off occasionally again .Bought and spilled in some injector cleaner and took it for a good blast on the motorway ,light stayed off . When the revs dropped the light came on again . The temp gauge didn't rise so I thought of this thread .As far as I can remember the temp gauge worked ok before .

I ordered a CTS from the local factors €25inc. and will be in in the morning .Dealers wanted €31+vat and would have to wait 5 working days at least .

in a maf is a diode thats all

teddywood1 said:

in a maf is a diode thats all

Click to expand...

I'm not sure sure what your getting at ,but I have cleaned the MAF and am reluctant to purchase a new one . I will have to find out if the synergy thingy is a direct replacement to the original MAF sensor .

Wulf,

Good luck mate - let us know how you get on.. Ever since i changed the coolant temp sensor, the MIL light has stayed off.

Just to let you know, the temperature guage on the dashboard of an L series is off another sensor.. So if your coolant sensor is screwed (like mine was!) your dash temp needle will still read normal as its on a different sensor and curcuit!

Good luck.

Newc

I turned the key twice before I replaced the CTS and the light came on . I replaced the sensor and the light went off , but came back on after I dropped the bonnet . I disconnected the MAF and the light went off , but came back on again .

Sometimes the light comes on then goes off .Dropping the bonnet can make the light come on , so I think it might be a break somewhere in the loom most likely at the maf ,but I checked it and it seems ok .

I don't know if its the MAF ?

Would the engine light come on if the thermostat were broken ?

Can a maf be checked ,to see if its broken ?

Should I just fork out for a new maf ?