When a car goes to the dealer to have fault codes checked, does it.....

**RSV_Ecosse** · 25th September 2007, 10:01

......need to be showing the relevant warning light on the dash?.

I posted a thread a few weeks back about mine showing the "exhaust emissions warning" light on the dash and going into "limp mode" intermittently.

It hadnt done it for about a week and a half after I disconnected the battery and left it for a few hours again.

However, over the last couple of days, its been doing it a few times so its booked in to the dealer for next Weds which is the only time I could squeeze off work to do so.

In between now and then, I'm going to need the car to use but if I disconnect the battery again just now so the warning light goes out and it comes out of limp mode/goes back to normal, will the dealer still be able to read any fault codes from the ECU or does the warning light on the dash need to be on for them to find anything wrong?.

Only asking as on my Aprillia RSV Mille, when the digi dash flashes up and sort of warning and you connect two wires up under the seat, it puts it into "dealer" or "service" mode where various fault codes can be read. But if you disconnect the battery and reset it, the fault codes vanish as they are only stored at the time the error occured.

Cheers for any advice, I want to make it as easy as possible for the dealer to track down the fault.

**JuzzyD** · 25th September 2007, 10:03

I think from what I saw in another thread that it stores the error codes for 20 start ups, after which they are deleted.

**veccy22** · 25th September 2007, 10:06

the wifes car ws doing that ! it was'nt lit when we took it in but they still got the codes out and cured the problem !!

**RSV_Ecosse** · 25th September 2007, 10:17

Cheers, Juzzy.

Originally Posted by veccy22

the wifes car ws doing that ! it was'nt lit when we took it in but they still got the codes out and cured the problem !!

Can you recall what the problem was m8?. And how did they cure it?.

Mine is still under the original Vauxhall warranty, was yours at the time?.

Cheers.

**veccy22** · 25th September 2007, 10:20

wifes car is a 2.2 dti ! the cam sensor had gone which killed the vacuum pump , due to wrongly being diagnosed by stoneacre ! to there credit they sent it to VX the next time and payed for it to be sorted properly ! that was over 15k ago and its been fab ever since ! is yours the 3.0 cdti then ?

**RSV_Ecosse** · 25th September 2007, 10:27

Yes m8, mine is a 3.0 V6 CDTi.

I've been running it for the past month or so with the CRD2 Tuning box removed as at first, I thought the limp mode problem was something related to that. But its been doing the same thing on and off even with the tuning box removed so now I'm a bit concerned at what it is thats actually causing this problem and if it will be covered under the warranty.

Its going into Arnold Clark's ( Formerly Ian Grieves ) Vauxhall dealer in Stirling on Weds, so I'm crossing my fingers!!!.

**veccy22** · 25th September 2007, 10:38

good luck ! i'm not familiar with this engine ! but whatever happens if you feel that the problems a warranty issue !? dig your heels in !!

**willc01** · 25th September 2007, 20:44

Others are correct, around 20ish startups with out the fault and it will clear. Disconnect the battery and you wipe out all stored codes in the ECU as it is stored in RAM.

The relevant light on the dash does not need to be showing when it goes to the dealers as Tech 2 will read the RAM stored codes. I found that when my injectors had gone, it went in to limp mode, leave the faulot light on for a minimum of 30 secs to store and then switch off and restart to get out of limp. I may have had to do it several times a day but at least it kept the stored codes for the dealer.

No codes, no fix.