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Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:43 pm
by pburgess22
Hey all.

Hope someone can help out of point me in the right direction. Driving to work this morning and the engine management light came on. Took it in for a diagnostic and they said the fault code was showing a lack of fuel so i was running lean.
They suggested I change my fuel filter which i went out to the nearest europart and purchased the part and replaced it myself.
The car is still running very lumpy and mpg is down the toilet.

What are some other likely suspects ? I figured maybe the fuel pump in the tank perhaps ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Phil

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 5:33 pm
by Maisonian
Dunno if it helps, but I've had the same fault code after heavy footed driving before.

Tracked it down to either;
- too much air in the mixture (aftermarket induction kit fitted)
- faulty MAF sensor

After two trips of 'normal' driving the warning turned off again and MPG restored. I think my issue was to do with the ECU trying to compensate for the extra air intake by changing the fuel:air mixture.

Have a peek at your air filter and clean the MAF sensor with some electrical cleaner. Then drive like you're taking the queen for a leisurely trip down the road & see if all' gravy after that.

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 6:48 pm
by Gazza292
What exhaust you got? :)


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Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 7:15 am
by pburgess22
Something I've just realised is that revs are not dropping correctly to idle. If I rev it in neutral it drops down to 1400 hangs there for a second drops down to 1000 hangs again and finally drops to about 750-800rpm when it sits really rough. I had it warmed up last night and took it out and held it at the red line for about 30 second in third gear and had no earning light appear. So I don't think a lack of fuel is actually the issue as surely it would have shown up doing that. Will have a look at the air filter later today. Going to drop it in with qwikfit at 10 and see if they can diagnose anything and if not it will have to wait to go to another garage tomorrow.

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 9:05 am
by Maisonian
Just got the standard R Exhuast on at the moment.

It's a tricky one to get to the bottom of, that fault code can be a number of things; start with the cheaper/easier checks first off I'd imagine.

Best ok luck!

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:08 am
by pburgess22
Got it booked in tomorrow morning to have the fuel sensor changed so hopefully that's the end of it. The guy at the garage did say it could be any number of things but that's the likely candidate. Fingers crossed.

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 5:52 pm
by pburgess22
Just an update. Garage seems to think its a coil pack issue but have to wait until Tuesday now to get it looked at. On top of that they think there could be a blockage in the fuel line or pump Exaggerating the problem. Typically this all happens at once and on a bank holiday.

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 6:27 pm
by Addymk2
Have you got a multimeter? You can test the coil packs yourself

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 10:52 pm
by pburgess22
No i don't have access to a multimeter annoyingly. Seems like a really easy thing to check and replace myself.

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:48 pm
by Addymk2
You can pick them up from Maplin etc for £10-20, it's cheaper than paying a mechanic an hours labour and you've got it for life

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2017 11:22 am
by pburgess22
Maybe doing some shopping tomorrow then. To be honest the cars done 92000 miles so it could probably do with a new set of coils anyway and if that's the first thing a garage is going to do I would rather do it cheaper myself.

Re: Engine warning lighting. Running lean.

Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:07 pm
by pburgess22
Changed all four coil packs this morning and its made some improvement I think. Still a visible miss fire when looking at the engine. Going to get it into a garage somewhere tomorrow and see what they think. I'm hoping for spark plugs and not fuel injectors but time will tell.