Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

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john the baptist
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Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby john the baptist » Mon Oct 08, 2018 8:57 pm

Hi

Is it true that like the UK in Spain any warning lights on the dash will be an automatic ITV (MOT) fail??

I have an engine light on my zafira which comes on and off every now and then and obviously Im very concerned as ill need to have it tested soon.

Can anyone offer any advice?? Will resetting the engine management system by discontenting the battery for 10 minutes be enough?????

are these bluetooth plug devices in that reset things via an app any good???

is this how the EU are killing off cars over 15 years old!!!! who can afford a new car these days??

Please if anyone can provide any info ill be very grateful.

Many thanks in advance

John

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costakid
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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby costakid » Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:04 pm

you could try disconnecting the battery for 30 minutes not 10. This sometimes deletes faults although they may come back. Dont bother buying a cheap diagnostic kit, waste of money in my opinion. Not sure on the zafira set up but you could try the old car dealer trick and remove that bulb for the ITV.

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby john the baptist » Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:14 pm

how on gods earth do you get to the bulb?? i cant be through the engine bay!!! or do you have to take the dash off from the inside????? cheers for the advice. On the internet these devices are meant to do the trick but it seems too good to be true as everyone will be doing it.

Also do you know if they will automatically plug in a diagnosis reader as part off the test??? I go to Estepona ITV which is 100 times nicer than Algeciras as there are no trucks military vehicles and gypsies LOL. what are the the spanish who are poor (ie) like most of us doing about it??? we need our MPV as we have one car and €32k for a new zafira with auto box is rediculous especially as its a 12 week wait from the factory in Germany.

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby El Cid » Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:24 pm

Under the recently introduced new ITV rules, they can plug into the OBD port which almost all modern cars have. Also, I doubt that there are bulbs that can be changed or disabled in the display as they are probably tiny LEDs.

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby TorreDelAguila » Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:08 pm

No point in removing the bulb - it's one of the warning lamps that the tester will expect to see working, and then extinguish.
You could always ask your Opel workshop to read the fault list (probably about €40?) to see why the light is coming on.
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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby olive » Tue Oct 09, 2018 12:05 am

Just join an owners forum.

Bread and butter stuff.

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby 1bassleft » Tue Oct 09, 2018 12:23 am

FWIW, I had my Spanish car ITV'd in July and nobody plugged anything into the obd2 port. I'd have to read through (actually, find) the advisory notes for ITV inspectors but the MOT changes for 20th May (intended to harmonize EU roadworthiness rules) require the eml to come on with ignition and go out when the engine is started. Not doing so is a failure, even though emissions tests might be passed. Unlike the UK MOT, where I sat with bad coffee and Pirelli girls for company while the mechs did everything, my Antequera ITV had no diagnostics plug in and I'd be hard pressed to say the dash was much glanced at while they asked me to do x,y,z. Still, you don't want to cross your fingers and hope (although lots of old Berlingo owners were revving like crazy in the queue, trying to blat the worst of the black out).

If you have intermittent flashing of the orange eml and don't have a diagnostics set up, you could do the pedal test that Vauxhall/Opel handily have. Rather than write a "how to", you'll see plenty of Youtube vids. Get a pen + paper ready to write down the codes. You can then look up on the internet what those codes are telling you to narrow down the cause. Better still, sign up to the Vx forum that best fits your vehicle (just seen olive's post as I submitted). That's what I did when I got the Combo Tour and the advice can be really handy. Include details such as engine type (eg, 1.7CDTi) to get more accurate help faster.

As it's your only car (and I'm going to guess it's a diesel) you don't want to ignore these things, never mind the upcoming ITV. What might be a simple, occasional misfiring that's an inexpensive fix can be left long enough that ,eg, the catalyst is poisoned or the DPF completely fouled up and you then have an expensive fix.

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby wollie » Tue Oct 09, 2018 4:11 am

This may be of use. The last car i had a 2007 Nissan which is still alive as i sold local.
There was a light used come on, if i disconnected battery for say an hour it stayed on, however when left disconnected over night it stayed off for about 200 km.
I have also heard of people adding a few litres of kero to effect omissions on the test for older diesels, my nephew was telling and he is mechanic...

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby TorreDelAguila » Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:14 am

The record of some faults will be wiped (on some cars) when the battery is disconnected (for a short or long time).
Minor faults may not bring on the EML, but if they continue to re-occur, with eventually reach a threshold where the light does come on. Disconnecting the battery (or erasing the fault list with a diagnostic tool) starts the fault count all over again.
Serious faults bring on the EML immediately.
Chris

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby john the baptist » Tue Oct 09, 2018 9:46 pm

thanks everyone my zafira is a 1.8 16v petrol automatic. I've had the code professionally checked out twice and the list is very long however my old school Moroccan mechanic spoke to the fluer verde people (as he cant read) and understood what was required mechanically. I paid several times to get the light reset but it eventually comes back on thats why I asked if its worth getting one of the €20 plug in blue tooth devices with an app to reset it just before the test. emissions is not a problem the petrol auto is old school german built not the new electronic glass cars that break down after 6 months. 240,000 km and still going strong (sort of anyway) its a van a car a seven seater a go kart with one hand one foot driving, i even have the kids drive it on private land when they were 10. its got a sport button that mean no kick down required. i even drive it in the campo where SUV would not dream of going because they are €50k

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby 1bassleft » Wed Oct 10, 2018 1:24 am

The general purpose OBD2 bluetooth devices (I have a cheaper option - about £4 and linked to Torque on my smartphone) will clear codes but the light will reappear as soon as the malfunction is detected - which could be immediately. Have I read your post correctly - that your Morroccan mechanic has fixed the issues, but the resetting has not been done correctly? That suggests that the garage(s) used a generic device and you will have the same problem.

I have Opcom (Opel) diagnostics with me here. The only problem is I (long story) had a laptop issue. I can fix that, or install on another laptop of mine, but I'm not fully conversant with the workings of Opcom because of the issue. However, if you are nearby to my location, it might be worth trying it. Opcom is much more useful than generic devices, but can make a bad situation worse if used clumsily so we would have to do a bit of research before clicking "continue".

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby 1bassleft » Wed Oct 10, 2018 1:34 am

A look at this video confirms it's not a tricky procedure, so long as the exact model is correctly entered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYGBbNovBoE

If the problem is fixed, Opcom should make the light and the error codes go away (better success rate than a generic, at least). If the problem isn't fixed, Opcom is not a magician; the code and light will come back.

If you're not near my area, and time is on your side, consider the merits of €30 or so on Opcom clones and your laptop as opposed to a smaller sum on a generic device.

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby john the baptist » Wed Oct 10, 2018 10:51 pm

thanks for the info my mechanic got the car started and running, the list of -problems on a full diagnosis was 4 pages. he basically l got told how to get the car going again and its doing great (considering) just worried as an ITV failure as it cant be fixed as its too expensive compared to the value of the car.

Im sure everyone has a car and has to go through the ITV process so lets keep this post going and when people go and do it to see what their experience has been.

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby olive » Wed Oct 10, 2018 11:21 pm

So what was the problem and how did the mechanic fix it?

What were the fault codes.?

Did you join a forum like Vauxhallowners network.co.uk ?

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby 1bassleft » Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:04 am

I know it's not much comfort right now, but 240k km and 15 years on a 1.8 automatic is a pretty good innings. There does come a point where an armful of repairs exceeds the value of the car, and a different armful might appear in a year or two's time. That time may be approaching. As olive says, without knowing the codes, it's difficult to comment knowledgeably here or on a Vauxhall/Opel forum. Also, the OBD2 tells you nothing about suspension, brakes, corrosion that could also fail your ITV or cost more money to correct. Spending tens of thousands on a brand new replacement is not the only solution; it took me two months, but I carefully sourced a car here (about 3-4 times what I would need to spend in UK, but that's the local market) for <€3000 and it's safe, reliable, passed its ITV without a problem (I had replaced the rear tyres almost immediately as one looked quite worn).

Seeing as used parts are also ridiculously expensive here, perhaps you might be offered a good scrap value for the Zafira to offset the cost, particularly with some ITV still in force. You could book an ITV appointment as close as possible to, but less than, one month before its expiry. If it passes, you have another 13 months and, if it fails marginally, you have a month to make plans. If it fails catastrophically, you will be glad you're not driving it. Many garages can also do a pre-ITV. Although I had checked myself for all the obvious, I had my garage do an interim service and also look over the vehicle in case I had missed anything. As I say, it passed no problem.

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby TorreDelAguila » Thu Oct 11, 2018 9:34 am

Groping around in the dark will get you nowhere, and probably lead to more expense.
Sensible course of action is to get the fault (list) properly read, and then you'll know what you're dealing with.

If you've had years of relatively trouble-free use of the car, then you should expect a few faults to hit in succession. Averaged out, it's what you spend per year that matters, not what this month might be costing!
Chris

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Re: Engine Warning Light - Automatic !TV fail???

Postby spanish_lad » Sat Oct 13, 2018 5:33 pm

Our opel omega has the same issue, its got an engine light on.

Have you tried the paperclip test john? Its very simple, and you just count the flashing light on the dashboard.
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