Ibiza 1.4 16v EML flashing

[iggletiggle]

Hi guys,

haven't been on here for a while but have an issue come up this morning and can't find anything on the search.

I have driven the car up the road today (2003 Seat Ibiza 1.4 16v approx 75k miles) and after a few minutes of running fine the engine management light start flashing and the car seemed down on power slightly. When stopped the car seems to be idling rough and hunting a little bit..

I am waiting the RAC to have a look as I'm at my partners parents in colchester and haven't got anything here to help me out - Any ideas what it might be (a huge list of possibilities i am sure)

If helps i have had the CAT and cam belt changed this week, has done approx 100 miles since cat change.

Not sure if it is EGR valve issue as had this before - around 6 years a go - but no issues since.

Any help appreciated !!

Cheers

Mike

 

[Arkaig]

Sounds like a misfire. Could be as simple as a spark plug, or could be a coil pack.

Did it only start after the belt change? The timing could be out.

 

[RUM4MO]

One thing to consider, if the CAT has been replaced, has the Lambda sensor(s) also been replaced, it would be clever to change them and the CAT at the same time as a degraded S1 sensor might have caused the CAT failure. Now if the sensors have been replaced, they should have been replaced with VAG parts and not aftermarket ones as they can be troublesome - they should not be troublesome but it seems they can be. As this fault only happens after a short period of running, it does point to the Lambda probes as they are ignored until they are given enough time to heat up - although there are lots of other things that could be causing this, I'm sure that the RAC will be able to tell you what fault codes have been logged.

 

[Arkaig]

Good point about the sensor. It has also been known for garages to damage them while removing/ refitting the cat, or to not tighten them up fully, or even to forget to plug them back in.

Those latter points are free and simple to check. If you look down the very front centre of the engine you should see a pipe with a metal cylinder protruding at about 45 degrees with a cable coming out of it. Check the other end of the cable is plugged in fully. If you have the right size spanner you can try nipping up the sensor too.

Failing that, as rum4mo says Next step of diagnosis would be to get the fault codes read. Its cheaper to buy a reader off eBay and do it yourself than pay a garage. If you post the error codes here we may be able to diagnose further. If not, the codes should help a garage proceed further anyway.