Emission Control System light (Flashing)

[AllanMarr]

Hello,

First post here, quite simply looking to see if anyone's had this problem before.

I drive a Seat Ibiza 1.2 12v MK4 3 door

I was driving it pretty hard last night when I was in a rush to get somewhere, then on the motorway the Emission control system light came on (flashing) and my car started to lose all power (Not a single bit of pull on it, felt like a constant engine braking) I ended up at the side of the motorway with my engine off then turned it on five minutes later and the light was off. As far as I can tell full acceleration is back as well (slightly scared of pushing it to hard in-case it happens again) I managed to drive home and to work today without a problem.

In a recent service it was flagged up my exhaust was deteriorating, I know this could be linked. But could it be highly possible the fact I was pushing it pretty hard it somehow managed to clog the exhaust or overwork it causing only a temporary problem?

Any insight to this would be appreciated (trying to avoid taking it to a garage, unless necessary)

 

[FR_MATT]

If you were pushing it you wouldn't clog it up, the opposite if anything

 

[philje123]

This can somtimes be caused by the throttle pedal. It may have received an errornous signal from the pedal and that would trigger the light and the engine going into limp mode.

I wouldn't worry too much if it cleared itself. If it comes back then there may be a problem somewhere but more likely to be a dodgy sensor.

 

[AllanMarr]

Cheers for your input Philje123,
I'm hoping its a-lot to do with the recent wet weather we've been getting here. I'll update this thread with any advancements.

 

[shep0706]

I have a 1.2 ibiza and my car is fine around town but as soon as i open it up on the motorway the engine light comes up, scanning with vagcom brings up the bank 1 lambda sensor below threshold

It may be worth investing in a vagcom cable to scan your car (i think mine cost about 10 quid from ebay) or take it to a place that can do diagnostics as it will bring up why it went into limp mode.

 

[AllanMarr]

I had a diagnostic's check on my car and it brought up the code;

P0302 Cylinder 2: Misfire detected.

The spark plugs got changed and pretty much everything like checking for leaks in the fuel didn't bring up any faults, the coil's got tested as well and they seemed to be fine.

The car's back in the garage today because the lights still persistently coming on however it's not loosing rev's until it reaches about 60mph.

 

[AllanMarr]

Well, The car has been in and out of the garage for the past month, everytime we think we've got it the damned light comes on yet again.

Its had coils and plugs replaced, connecting wiring has been tested. Countless compression tests with no defined variations. Injectors and fuel filters have been cleaned, It's been checked for any fuel pressure leaks or cracks in the air intake pipes etc.

Pretty much everything that can be thought of. But it still comes up with this flashing light and claims of misfire when plugged into vagcom.

Anyone got any thoughts or similar experiences on this?

 

[VWscooby]

Faulty bulb in emissions light? Sounds stupid but my mate had engine warning light one for ages, stripped most of the car and it was the solder on the back of the dashboard feeding the light breaking down!!

Silly but worth a check if you have done everything else, especially if the car is driving ok.

 

[RUM4MO]

Faulty bulb in emissions light? Sounds stupid but my mate had engine warning light one for ages, stripped most of the car and it was the solder on the back of the dashboard feeding the light breaking down!!

Silly but worth a check if you have done everything else, especially if the car is driving ok.

Just one problem with that theory, from the previous poster's text, scanning the car shows a "miss fire" error code stored - so that will be bringing the light back on.

 

[RUM4MO]

Well, The car has been in and out of the garage for the past month, everytime we think we've got it the damned light comes on yet again.

Its had coils and plugs replaced, connecting wiring has been tested. Countless compression tests with no defined variations. Injectors and fuel filters have been cleaned, It's been checked for any fuel pressure leaks or cracks in the air intake pipes etc.

Pretty much everything that can be thought of. But it still comes up with this flashing light and claims of misfire when plugged into vagcom.

Anyone got any thoughts or similar experiences on this?

Maybe I'm wrong, but has there not been an issue with some earthing round about that area with some cars - though maybe not reported on this forum (though maybe on VW or Skoda foreign forums) - maybe I'm being a bit vague, but I'm sure that I read something about that "earthing causing one injector to report misfiring" over the past week - though that report was a few years old originally. I'd reckon that you are open to any ideas so that is why I'm adding that one in.

 

[VWscooby]

Just one problem with that theory, from the previous poster's text, scanning the car shows a "miss fire" error code stored - so that will be bringing the light back on.

Yeeeeah, dunno how I missed it saying that!

 

[AllanMarr]

As far as i'm aware the car is mechanically sound, it feels smooth enough when i'm driving and such which is leading me to believe its some sort of electrical fault causing the computer to trip.

For example one night it'll perform fine and withstand me trying to push it hard enough to get the light on, then the next day it'll come on in a casual drive and vice versa.

You wouldn't happen to know where you read this report would you RUM? I'll float the idea to the mechanic who's working on it and taking quite a keen personal interest.

 

[RUM4MO]

I've had another look on the web for the source of the info I passed to you, and so far, I have not been able to find it - though so far I've only used the phrase "VAG PETROL ENGINE MISFIRE DUE TO EARTHING ISSUES" - I had only blundered on it a few days ago.

 

[AllanMarr]

I'll have a look around google as well then see what I can pick up.

Think the garage has located the fault though apparently frayed cabling from the injector connected to the cylinder misfiring, hopefully this isn't a red herring however.

 

[shep0706]

Hope you get this sorted

I got mine sorted today by a new catalytic converter turned out the egr valve was loose and was making the car run lean which made it run hot and then destroyed the cat causing it to block all the exhaust fumes and put them back into the cylinders causing miss-fires to come up on the ecu and the car was down on power and juddering.

 

[RUM4MO]

I'll have a look around google as well then see what I can pick up.

Think the garage has located the fault though apparently frayed cabling from the injector connected to the cylinder misfiring, hopefully this isn't a red herring however.

Any update on this problem?

 

[AllanMarr]

Any update on this problem?

I never managed to find anything on google.

The mechanic has convinced himself that the valves are clogged and stick at certain temperatures or under certain condition so he's just been running valve cleaner through it and telling me to give it a good run.

Problems died down alot to be fair plays up on cold mornings but apart from that it's usually fine. I've not really been about recently so i've not had a chance to get on top of it at the moment but i'll keep updating this.

 

[AllanMarr]

Well after many months of trying to get it fixed I accepted her fate bit the bullet and got myself a 10 plate Ibiza FR in candy white!

Stealers problem now!