Can I cry a little bit?
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- ALP
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- Location: Gravesend Kent
Can I cry a little bit?
Oh dear.Here we go again.Listen you knowledgeable lot.Having just replaced my front pads and brake caliper,my exhaust emissions light has stayed on.The fault codes indicated a faulty lambda sensor.This has been replaced but the light still glowers at me ,daring me to open my wallet even wider.
My trusty mechanic has suggested using a can of cataclean,before embarking down the catalytic converter route. Any ideas please?
My trusty mechanic has suggested using a can of cataclean,before embarking down the catalytic converter route. Any ideas please?
IIRC, the lambda sensor is upstream of the catalytic converter so I would be surprised if the reason for the fault is coming from there.
You might want to look at air and fuel feeds to the engine as an "out of limit" supply will cause the engine to run rich/lean and throw the lambda sensor in the exhaust gases.
A dirty MAF, for example, would affect the air inflows and this in turn may be as a result of a dirty air filter.
A decent fault code reader should give you an idea of the fuel trim on each cylinder or bank of cylinders too.
HTH
C
You might want to look at air and fuel feeds to the engine as an "out of limit" supply will cause the engine to run rich/lean and throw the lambda sensor in the exhaust gases.
A dirty MAF, for example, would affect the air inflows and this in turn may be as a result of a dirty air filter.
A decent fault code reader should give you an idea of the fuel trim on each cylinder or bank of cylinders too.
HTH
C
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
- greenelekta
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- Location: Gravesend Kent
Can I cry a little bit?
Many thanks for the suggestions, but after a leisurely drive this morning and a couple of stops for shopping and lunch,the light went off when I started the engine and remained so for a 20 mile drive home. What do I do now? If this car wasn't such a delight to drive I would p/ex it .
However,it is everything I've desired in a car and I cannot envisage myself in anything else. It's been a lot of fun,which is what driving should be.
However,it is everything I've desired in a car and I cannot envisage myself in anything else. It's been a lot of fun,which is what driving should be.
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- Location: Gravesend Kent
Can I cry a little bit?
Ah yes.It's a 2000 X reg B3 3.3 coupe.It's done 108,000 miles.
I remain of the opinion that there is a problem with fuelling that is affecting the exhaust gases.
Worst case scenario is that the head gasket is failing between cylinders, causing unburnt fuel to pass into a neighbouring cylinder and then being pushed past the sensor.
Do you have any of the obvious pointers to this - grumbly on tickover, pinking under load and worsening fuel economy?
Mind you, any/all of these could be present if the fuelling is wrong so a compression test would identify/eliminate possible culprits.
Worst case scenario is that the head gasket is failing between cylinders, causing unburnt fuel to pass into a neighbouring cylinder and then being pushed past the sensor.
Do you have any of the obvious pointers to this - grumbly on tickover, pinking under load and worsening fuel economy?
Mind you, any/all of these could be present if the fuelling is wrong so a compression test would identify/eliminate possible culprits.
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
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- ALP
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:03 am
- Location: Gravesend Kent
Can I cry a little bit?
Hello Charles.Thank you for your suggestion ,but I've not noticed any of the symptoms you've offered.
It starts on the button ,pulls like a train and runs as smooth as.....silk?
It starts on the button ,pulls like a train and runs as smooth as.....silk?
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- ALP
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Mon Jul 15, 2013 10:03 am
- Location: Gravesend Kent
Can I cry a little bit?
The Forum strikes again,or at least Mr Lovibond has.
Charles, your assessment was spot on.The a/f ratio was way out,making the lamda sensor indicate a fault.
So spark plugs cleaned,MAF sensor cleaned, air filter cleaned.breather pipes taken off,cleaned and replaced.
Guess what?
Exhaust emissions deteriorated warning light goes off and remains off .
Many thanks.
Charles, your assessment was spot on.The a/f ratio was way out,making the lamda sensor indicate a fault.
So spark plugs cleaned,MAF sensor cleaned, air filter cleaned.breather pipes taken off,cleaned and replaced.
Guess what?
Exhaust emissions deteriorated warning light goes off and remains off .
Many thanks.
Re: Can I cry a little bit?
Happy to have been able to helpKentish man wrote:The Forum strikes again,or at least Mr Lovibond has.
Charles, your assessment was spot on.The a/f ratio was way out,making the lamda sensor indicate a fault.
So spark plugs cleaned,MAF sensor cleaned, air filter cleaned.breather pipes taken off,cleaned and replaced.
Guess what?
Exhaust emissions deteriorated warning light goes off and remains off .
Many thanks.
Now I need to sort out a similar problem on mine Runs beautifully apart from a rough tickover which isn't worsening - so it isn't an ignition coil breaking down. Fuel consumption remains very good and no other noises issues so a bit of a clean-out of the air system is probably needed - as you have done.
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Did you get it sorted Charles?
E46 B3S Saloon
E46 330Ci
Golf VR6 loved for 7 years and then went bang at 7K rpm, sadly missed
So many other cars, faves below
Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia
Triumph dolomite 1850 (With Sprint wheels of course!)
Fiat 131 Supermiafiori
Mercedes 250CE Pillar less coupe (my first car!!)
E46 330Ci
Golf VR6 loved for 7 years and then went bang at 7K rpm, sadly missed
So many other cars, faves below
Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia
Triumph dolomite 1850 (With Sprint wheels of course!)
Fiat 131 Supermiafiori
Mercedes 250CE Pillar less coupe (my first car!!)
Mine was a different problem which we finally located as cracks in the exhaust manifold which were allowing air to be drawn in on tickover - thus affecting the gases passing the lambda sensors - but when under load, the exhaust gas pressure was such that air could not be drawn in.scalesg wrote:Did you get it sorted Charles?
The cracks were where the three branches came together on each manifold bank so some quick welding and the problem went away.
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!
I see, interesting.....
My B3S sounds like it has a leaking exhaust during the first 30 seconds of starting, it's like a hole opens and then shortly after it just stops, like something has closed up. Engine idle is sometime a but up and down during this time but then just disappears....
I am not worrying about it, but knowing the manifolds do crack is good to know for diagnostics later on down the road
Glad yours is all good
My B3S sounds like it has a leaking exhaust during the first 30 seconds of starting, it's like a hole opens and then shortly after it just stops, like something has closed up. Engine idle is sometime a but up and down during this time but then just disappears....
I am not worrying about it, but knowing the manifolds do crack is good to know for diagnostics later on down the road
Glad yours is all good
E46 B3S Saloon
E46 330Ci
Golf VR6 loved for 7 years and then went bang at 7K rpm, sadly missed
So many other cars, faves below
Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia
Triumph dolomite 1850 (With Sprint wheels of course!)
Fiat 131 Supermiafiori
Mercedes 250CE Pillar less coupe (my first car!!)
E46 330Ci
Golf VR6 loved for 7 years and then went bang at 7K rpm, sadly missed
So many other cars, faves below
Ford Orion 1.6i Ghia
Triumph dolomite 1850 (With Sprint wheels of course!)
Fiat 131 Supermiafiori
Mercedes 250CE Pillar less coupe (my first car!!)
Hi,scalesg wrote:I see, interesting.....
My B3S sounds like it has a leaking exhaust during the first 30 seconds of starting, it's like a hole opens and then shortly after it just stops, like something has closed up. Engine idle is sometime a but up and down during this time but then just disappears....
I am not worrying about it, but knowing the manifolds do crack is good to know for diagnostics later on down the road
Glad yours is all good
That's standard operating proceedure from a cold start.
The fuelling and timing are altered along with the air pump running, all this is done to pre-heat the cats to reduce exhaust emissions....
Cheers,
Gavin:)