Error code P1590 Vacuum Solenoid Valve Circuit Open - What? Where? How?

[Innes]

Hi folks, I have been the proud owner of a Veccy C 2.2DTi SRI 2002 since February and it has gone into limp home mode about 4times since I bought it. Usually accelerating from 4th gear into 5th. I have noticed a few people on the forum with the same error message and it seems to point to the EGR and Boost sensor needing a good clean. I have an EGR gasket on order from the stealers so will give it a good clean when the gaskets in. In the meantime I have got hold of OP-COM diagnostic and its reporting an error code of:

P1590 - Vacuum Solenoid Valve Circuit Open
(04) - Present

So what does this mean? Is the Solenoid ******ed? Is it easy to replace? Does anyone know where it is?

Unfortunatly the Haynes Mannual doesnt got into it!

On an additional note this forum has been an excellent reference and I feel alot more confident working on my Veccy than any of my previous cars. The HOW2 section is a great read.

Thanks to the forum I have managed to:
locate and fix leak in to boot (was ariel base AND rear right lightr cluster)
Fit reverse parking sensors
Repair electric window switch by cleaning the points
replace air recirculate motor. May make a HOW2 (£60 from stealers or £20 from scrappy)
Clean EGR and Boost sensor (when EGR gasket arrives!)

I'm slowly getting this car up to scratch but not feeling daunted by it.

Thanks for any help you good folks can give me about the error code!

[the-wizard]

This code is present so is it affecting the car ?, if not could it be an old stored code?, i have the same software so you have to be a little careful clearing present fault codes because they can sometimes stop the car from starting when cleared!.

[Innes]

I had hit the clear button and it came back straight aaway. The car is behaving itself and it hasnt gone into limp home mode for a couple of weeks. My MPG has gone down hill a little bit but I'm not sure thats because of this error code or because I have a heavy right foot (the missus says its my foot!). I'll plug the OP-COM back and and have another go at clearing it. Is there a way to view the stored codes in OP-COM?

Thanks for your help :-)

[Innes]

Cleared all codes on the car and the P1590 came back imediatly. I have been driving the car for a foew days trying to encourage the limp-home mode to come on and eventaully it did. Checked the codes again and a new one came up as well as the current one. I got:

P1590 - Vacuum Solenoid Valve Circuit Open
(04) - Present

P0234 - Boost Pressure Control Circuit Negative Deviation
(5A) - Not present

Reading the forums it appears that the 'negative' means there isnt enough vaccum pressure going to the boost sensor. I followed the vaccum pipe to the boost sensor and low and behold there was a hole in the pipe! The hole looks like a perfect wedge shape like somethings taken a nip out of it. See photo below:




Luckly it was close enough to the end of the pipe (I'm holding the tip in my fingers) that I could cut the holed area and take up the slack from the remaining pipe to refit it. After I did my repair I cleared codes again but the

P1590 - Vacuum Solenoid Valve Circuit Open
(04) - Present

is still present.

I ran the engine to see if i could see or hear anything concentrating on the vaccumn solinoids (there appears to be 3 of them). Could notice anything but when I switxched the engine off I quickly ran back round to the engine and Icould hear a hiss from one of the front solinoids. Is that normal? Thinking probably not but can someone try it and listen? The solonoids are above the radiator and to the right.

Over the next few days I'm gonna try and get the limp-home mode to kick in again. Hopefully it wont happen but. I still think I may have t oreplace the solonoid

PS if anyone wants their codes read in the Plymouth area then PM me. It'll cost a 12 pack of beer!

[andreitone]

From TIS 2000:

• Check the following fuses for proper operation:
  FE15 Fuse
• If fuse FE15 is defective:
  Refer to Power Supply and Communication Table C-062 Fuse FE15 Circuit
• If none of the above mentioned fuses is defective:
  Refer to Table C-021 Solenoid Valve Circuit
• After successful test/fault repair proceed to the next test step

Attachment 32631


Table C-021 Solenoid valve circuit:

• Defective component:
  A84 Control Unit - Engine

Note:
If all remaining diagnostic tests are passed and there are no additional customer complaints, the control unit should only be replaced in agreement with the customer.
Important:
Reset the concerned control unit with the diagnostic tester before replacing it. In order to do that, call up the "RESET" function from the PROGRAMMING menu of the current system on the diagnostic tester.


Basicly it tells you that if fuse FE15 is not broken your ECU is defect.

[IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Andrei/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Andrei/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Andrei/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-3.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Andrei/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-4.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Andrei/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-5.png[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/DOCUME%7E1/Andrei/LOCALS%7E1/Temp/moz-screenshot-6.png[/IMG]

[Innes]

Well I checked the fusementioned above and it was intact. I've swapped over the fuse anyway but iit still comes up on the code reader. The next step for me is to remove the suspect solonoid, get the part number and source a new one.

I WILL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS!!

[bmwmds]

hi have you had any luck with the fault code p1590 04, i have exactly same fault that will not clear. it is not an actual solenoid as the 3 solenoids are swirl, boost control and throttle solenoid and these 3 all have there separate codes. its more of an electrical fault, the other post says ecu faulty i shall be looking into this i have reset the ecu and recoded it back in and the fault remains there.

[Innes]

No luck yet. As the engines running fine I'm going to have a closer look when I get some time off work. I agree it defiantly sounds like an electrical issue. I'm nor feeling brave enough to reset the ECU (and if you have already done it and hasn't worked dont think I will) so what I might do next is check that all the connections to all three solenoids are clean and also check if the wires have perished. Failing all of that I may take it to an automotive electrician and see if they can put their finger on it.

Its funny that you have a 2.2dti as well. I wonder if its a common issue?

Just to check does one of the solonoids at the front make a hiss noise when you switch off the engine? I wasn't sure if that was the faulty component or if its supposed to do that and is just purging the system of air?

[Innes]

Right, I have fitted a new Vacuum Solenoid and fitted new silicone 2mm pipes (see thread with pics:http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115759 ) and I plugged the laptop in today to see if the error code had disapeared. I cleared the old code and it came back straight away. gutted! But then I switched the engine on and the code cleared! It didnt do that before! It just stayed there last time. So I switched the engine off and the code came up again. So it appears I'm now getting the code when the engine is off. I'm not to upset by that as at least i'm not going to go into limp-home-mode with the engine off! I will post again if it goes into limp home mode but I'm thinking it wont now.

[Innes]

UPDATE! I've mentioned in other threads that i've been getting Limp-home-mode when the engine is under load at 70mph going up hill. I still get the error code in this original thread so have been trawling the net trying to get an answer. I came acroos THIS link that descibes my issue.

I have ordered a new Solenoid PN: 24435269 for £26.96 (with Vectra membershi9p card).

I'll get it saturday and post up my results. Fingers crossed!!!!