Wednesday, October 02, 2013 - 06:22 pm, by: Trevor Marsh(Tma7)
I keep getting this orange symbol coming on on my TT's dash (see photo). I've checked everything as far as oils, coolants, lubricants etc but still it comes on. It's not always on. I can go a couple of days and it seems to have disappeared but then, just as I relax the damn thing comes on again!
Does anyone know what this refers to? What other things could I check?
I'm almost at the point of shoving a bit of tape over the dash in that area to make it disappear permanently.
Thursday, October 03, 2013 - 08:57 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
It's the check engine light - means one of the sensors is telling the ECU something isn't right. As Blake says, you'll need to get a diagnostics code if it's not something obvious - if you have the POV pack dash like me, then I think the only option is to find someone with the required OBD plug and software - and the Soarer is so old it's pre-OBD-II, so its basically propitiatory. Might be some flash codes available though, someone on here will probably know.
Thursday, October 03, 2013 - 10:02 am, by: Michael Sinay(Mikey)
Just open the little black diagnostic box in the engine bay next to the intake manifold, get a paper clip and bend it and put it in Te1 and E1 ports at the same time then turn on your ignition and the engine light will flash a numerical code to you. Google the error code number.
Sunday, October 06, 2013 - 07:05 pm, by: Trevor Marsh(Tma7)
Thanks everyone. My apologies for not replying earlier but I've been ill. I'll do the paper clip trick that Michael suggests tomorrow and advise back. Thanks again.
Monday, October 07, 2013 - 10:25 am, by: Trevor Marsh(Tma7)
OK I did as suggested and the little orange symbol flashed 5 times. Then a pause, then twice. So 5 and 2. I let it repeat itself and it was the same. This was with the engine ignition on but the engine not running. I just googled it and someone else on the 'net had had the same code and it was deemed to be 'knock sensor error'.
I believe this is supposed to be something to do with the fuel pump.
I cannot remember the last time I gave my TT any welly as we all know how expensive petrol is nowadays but the car seems to be running OK.
The only thing I can think of, that may be causing this is that where I live, where I drive into town (virtually every day) there's a hill. It's more a gentle slope of about a mile long. Well, hands up, I have been putting the TT into neutral and coasting down that hill in order to save a bit of fuel. Could that be what's setting this error code up?
Yeah, I know I probably shouldn't be doing this but money is extremely tight at the moment (and the foreseeable future) and every dollar saved on fuel can go to paying bills.
Anyway I'm sure I'll now get a few lectures.
But either way, if anyone can shed a bit of light on this, I'd appreciate it.
Monday, October 07, 2013 - 10:53 am, by: Trevor Marsh(Tma7)
The interesting thing (having read on both Soarer Central and other sites now) is that like some others, the light won't come on straight away. It will sometimes not come on for a few days (of driving).
Also, when the light does come on, if I stop the car, turn the ignition off and then re-start the car and drive away, the light won't come back on straight away. Sometimes it will come on after 4 or 5 K's but other times it doesn't (although I rarely drive more than 20 K's each trip).
Regarding my (probably inexcusable) 'fuel saving whizz'- quite often the light comes on when my missis is driving on her own (and she doesn't put it into neutral ever).
From what I've now read, the knock sensor is only triggered when the 'knock' itself is of high frequency. So I suppose just going over slightly poor quality tarmac roads wouldn't 'jolt' the sensor?
I'm wondering if removing the car battery for a minute would reset the ECU and make this annoying problem go away. If not is there another way to reset the ECU? I don't even know where the ECU is or what it looks like.
While being a massive fan of the Soarer (I've had my 1991 TT for 12 years now) as you can guess I'm absolutely no mechanic. I just use my car to get about with.
Monday, October 07, 2013 - 08:01 pm, by: Michael Sinay(Mikey)
It's the same error I've been getting for a long time, but only just getting the time now to look for the problem. Why do you say its fuel pump related? It most often seems to be caused by a problem with the wiring or the connector going to the knock sensor from what I've read.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013 - 01:11 am, by: David Grima(Maltezr)
Trevor resetting the ecu is easy, just take off one of the terminals on your battery for about 5 or so mins then bolt it back up... start your car and take for a drive, so it can relearn your driving style etc, also it may or may not reset any diag codes... and BTW, the ecu is located under the carpet on the front passenger side where your passenger rests there feet.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013 - 01:27 am, by: Michael Sinay(Mikey)
No the easy way to reset the ecu is go to the fuse box in the engine bay next to your power steering reservoir and pull the ecu fuse for 20 seconds. Thats it, done.
Tuesday, October 08, 2013 - 09:03 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
The knock sensor detects fuel igniting in the cylinders before the spark (pre-ignition, pinking or knock) - could be wiring, or could be the sensor needs replacing. Won't have anything to do with coasting in neutral (which I'm told, won't save any noticeable amount of fuel as far as I can tell - some even claim it may use more)
Sunday, October 13, 2013 - 05:32 pm, by: Trevor Marsh(Tma7)
Well I've gone all this week without coasting in neutral and the orange light only came on once. Before, the light was coming on every other day. Coincidence maybe?
However I'm going to do as suggested and reset the ECU to see if that does the trick. Regarding why I spoke of this relating to the fuel pump- That was just one of the first posts I read on the 'net. I now realise it's not related to the pump.