Engine Diagnostic light on - what do I do ????

[lauradee3]

The engine diagnostic light came on on my 04 Ibiza 1.2 sx today. The Revs keep dropping and when I'm trying to pull away (eg from sitting in traffic or at lights) it's really sluggish and feels like it's gonna stall, I have to rev it quite a lot to keep it going.

I haven't got a clue what to do apart from take it to a garage but don't want to use my local Seat dealership due to bad experiences (of being fleeced) in the past. Do I HAVE to go to a Seat garage or can any garage figure out what's wrong with it and fix it?

Please, please help (with noddy language please - I had to get my manual out to even figure out what the light WAS!). Thanks!!

 

[T. Spark]

Hey Laura, and welcome to the forum! Hope it was under better circumstances.

First off all, a engine diagnostic light can range in so many things being wrong, from something as simple as a dodgy sensor. To real problems lol.

Where abouts are you based? The first plan of attack would be to take a look at what error code the ecu has, via VAG-COM.

Any good garage should have this, however as have many members on here so if your local to someone, im sure they would be happy to help.

When you say the car feels sluggish, and feels like its going to stall. Does it struggle to get above 3,000rpm once your moving? As if its lost all power? If this is the case, its in a 'limp' mode which is basically a safe mode so you can limp it to a garage. This within itself is nothing to worry about, as once you fix the problem, and get rid of the error code/s your car will be back to normal.

Hope this helps a tad

T.

 

[lauradee3]

Thanks T.Spark! I think it must be in limp mode - I did just about get it up to 50mph but it took a lot of work (and p'd a load of people behind me off too!).

I'm based in Hamilton, near Glasgow. It would be great if someone has a vag-com nearby! Can't really afford a big bill just before xmas iykwim!

 

[Leigh15]

It could well be a coilpack failure - your car is about the right vintage for it.

How many miles do you have on the clock? The coilpacks are a known weak point and as such they have an extended warranty on them - 60,000 miles or 5 years - whichever occurs first.

The symptons you describe do sound like a coilpack failure - basically one of the cylinders won't be firing or will only be firing intermittently if a coilpack fails. This gives a very rough idle (especially on the 3 cylinder 1.2) and the car will feel like it's trying to stall all the time.

You need to get this looked at asap - if you do have a failed coilpack, unburned fuel will be passing into the catalytic converter - this can cause the converter to fail if prolonged. Catalytic convertors are very very expensive, so you don't want to be buying a new one!

It may be worth a quick call to SEAT UK on 0500 222 222 as many cars around the age of yours came with 5 years free breakdown assistance that many owners do not realise - not exactly sure on the dates for this, but SEAT UK will be able to confirm.

Hope you get it sorted!

 

[RUM4MO]

I'd think with a 3 cylinder engine you'd be hard pushed to get it going when one coil had failed, also I'd hope that the fuel injector to tha tcylinder would be switched off when a coil fault was detected by the engine management system. I think that there is an idep VAG specialist in your general area - cheaper rates that any VAG oufit. Remember your local VW or Skoda dealer could look at this for you if you think that they would be any better than the local Seat gang (they aren't Uncle Arnie are they?). Look up your yellow pages as I think that there are some indep VAG specialists near you - maybe in Glasgow or Falkirk etc, certainly there is Starperformance - but they are across just above Kirkcaldy.

 

[Leigh15]

It will run - my father's 1.2 lost a coilpack last year - it wasn't happy, but it did run

 

[RUM4MO]

It will run - my father's 1.2 lost a coilpack last year - it wasn't happy, but it did run

Bet the poor thing would not be happy at all - was it not trying to escape from the car!

 

[james.l]

laura, where abouts in the UK are you, we could try to find someone local to your area from the forum that will have a copy of a diagnostic program called VAG-COM. This software will be able to diagnose exactly what the problem is, and also if there is a dodgy sensor that needs replacing, at lease this way, you know exactly what is wrong, and can find out how much it will cost to fix. hope this helps.

 

[james.l]

i should really read previous posts

 

[james.l]

great minds t.spark

 

[lauradee3]

Thanks v much guys - went to "Uncle Arnie" yesterday, correct all round - coil pack failure fixed for £87 inc diagnostic test. Could have done without the cost but wasn't as bad as I'd feard!!

My car is an 04 plate - should this be under warranty then and what do I do now? Can I get that money back from Seat or is it a matter of knowing that before I get the work done? Have I been done?

 

[Nath.]

As said there is a 5 year or 60k miles warranty on coil packs. if your car us under 5 years old and has less than 60k on the clock it should have been done for free.

 

[lauradee3]

aaaaahhhhh, I have 70k on the clock, I guess that negates the warranty eh? nuts!

 

[Leigh15]

Afraid so - bad luck

 

[T. Spark]

Atleast its sorted

As Leigh said its a commonish fault, I used to own a 1.2 MK4 on a 04 plate also, and one of mine went, limp mode all the way down to Sheffield which was fun. I needed a new cat, but all under warrenty at the time.

Good mention about Seat Assist aswell, I have a 05 plate car, yet also get 5 years free