Smilge

Update: Went to pick up the solenoid and guess what? ........ Wrong one!!!! Got to wait until tomorrow now. ;)

Hi, I remember a similar problem with flashing glow plug light with Mk 3 Mondeo TDCI's. This was caused by fuel contamination due to the needle bearings within the injection pump breaking up. Im not suggesting this is your problem but it might be worth seeing if your flashing engine warning light can be caused by fuel contamination.

I was thinking that myself Nik .....anyway ordered a solenoid and as usual Frauds cant identify the part correctly because it has Audi part numbers on it. So a choice of three solenoids that look exactly the same on their microfiche. Lets hope they have the correct one and of course they dont hold it in stock. They reckon thursday for delivery which is a pain! :lol: Oh and by the way the kind man refunded me for the MAF. :lol:

Tim ...you're an absolute star! Checking vacuum pipes as suggested and I also looked at your thread regarding Turbo etc ...and heres the culprit! As you can see the plastic connecter pipe has snapped off the bottom of the Boost Control Solenoid. Next thing, is it worth super glueing or buying another? ...havent got a clue how much they are as I've spent

Update: Well changed the MAF sensor and guess what? ......... It's still the same ... no difference whatsover!!!! Now I am lost! ;) Any ideas anyone?

I'll be honest Nik and never thought about it at the time, but Marky connected the leads to mine from his and he connected the negative first and I heard the sparking as he connected the positive. You're right to assume this is the procedure due to ECU based systems. Gone are the days of push starting cars to ...... that reminds me of a little story where my wife was sat in the Allegro while I pushed it ...... she had only selected 4th gear and with snow on the ground, made it very difficult to start. So I lost my temper, shouted for her to get out and slammed the door only to hear the glass in the door shatter! ..... Well not a happy teddy! :lol:

Happy Birthday for yesterday m8 ...sounds like you had a good day.

Should that have read "bottom lip" fireski? ....glad you found it .....it's working then I take it? :)

Nice piccies Maz ....hope you and the kids enjoyed yourselves? Nik, I was expecting to see someone with an extremely large forehead with a tuft of hair on top ....... me me me me me me!!!! :) :lol: :o

The CD Multi changer can be left in place ...... another good source of information is this site Ageless http://www.vwnavi.com/vwnavi/index.aspx I needed this to work out the S contact pin for the subwoofer "remote on" wire .... I did notice the Dietz do a video adapter and various looms for all types of fits. Have a look and Im sure some of your problems will have already been covered. Good luck Chris

Thanks Maz ...... downloading the catalogue now.

I think you were lucky then Nik ...... according to the Bosch Electronic Systems book you should always connect the positive lead to the positive terminal first and then the negative lead to a metal part of the vehicle at least 0.5 meters from the battery.

Dave, whats GSF and how much am I looking at? I reckon you could be right about disconnecting them. Now talking to Steve, he reckons you should NEVER connect the negative lead to the negative terminal on the battery, only to a metal part of the car usually the engine. He has known this on numerous occasions and reckons this is the biggest cause of blowing ECU's and said I hope I havent done the same with mine! He did mention though that this would have been picked up on the fault reader ....... fingers crossed. I reckon it might be worth adding a pinned jump starting procedure so that doesnt happen to others ...what do you think? Thanks for your reply Dave Chris

Update: Steve read codes using Snap-on diagnostic reader:- Mass Air Flow Sensor - Open / Short circuit to ground. :lol: During road test MAF readings were 350 mg/S lower than desired values (also Turbo pressure lower than desired but this is due to MAF output incorrect, EGR values OK) :D Steve 90% certain MAF at fault. On further reflection, when jump starting I reckon a "spike" has damaged the MAF and I've read somewhere about a similar problem on this forum. :D So peeps, I'm not aware of anyone locally who can swap their MAF for diagnostic purposes so where's the best place to get one? :lol: Kind regards Chris

Hi Peeps , need some help on this one. Fitted a subwoofer and unfortunately with all the door lights being on whilst working on the car, the battery went flat! OK ......Time to get Marky to give me a jump start. Jump...... started fine. Pulled away ....... what's this? ......... no acceleration!?? This is awful!!!! No acceleration in any gear and really lacking power whatsoever going uphill. mmmmm .... MAF sensor? ....... Stopped and disconnected MAF sensor. Try again ...... no, still exactly the same. MAF plug back on. OK still drivable and can get up to 70 /80 on a level road but it takes a good half an hour. Back home ....... battery disconnected for half an hour to clear faults. TIS procedure followed to set idle and drive values up and driven for another 5 miles. Still exactly the same!!???? Rang Steve....... coming round later to read any faults. Any ideas will be greatly received. Chris

Dont really know Nik, I would say that the Lambda sensor will operate in open loop control in failsafe mode and in closed loop control to operate within 1% of the stoichiometric ratio (λ=1) once it has got up operating temperature (around 20 to 30 seconds with a heated sensor @ 600 degrees C). Just out of interest, closed loop control is only applied when it is at 350 and the response time is then <50mS. Complicated stuff!

Nik, when the sensor is subjected to 350 degrees C, it allows oxygen ions to flow through a zirconium dioxide lattice. There are two platinum electrodes which measure a reference gas (air) and the exhaust gas and with the flow of oxygen ions across the Zirconium oxide will produce a voltage between the two electrodes. The size of this voltage is based on the oxygen partial pressure differential created by the reference and exhaust gases. So basically, if the engine is running rich the sensor will produce 800 to 1000mV (λ<1) but is only about 100mV with weak mixtures (λ>1) but the transition from the lean to the rich range lies at 450 to 500mV. So yes, although the sensor contains a porous ceramic layer on the exhaust gas side of the sensor to prevent contamination, the porosity of the ceramic layer will be affected eventually by contaminants within the fuel.

:ph34r: :P :D :P :D I wonder who?

How about in Proffessor Unwin speakifold?

NUTTER ALERT!!!!!!

Now your asking Nik ........ to do with the number of excess electrons and electron holes within the solid state electrolyte .... thats all I know and as far as reversing it is concerned...where does that come into it? :ph34r:

Because the outside of the Lamda sensor has a platinum electrode that acts as a catalytic converter where the exhaust is subjected to catalytic aftertreatment and bought into stoichiometric equilibrium. So, if you subject this to a non-HO substance, this will affect the oxygen concentration within the exhaust and therefore the air fuel mixture supplied to the engine. The output of the sensor has a very narrow operating lean/rich output which lies between 450 to 500 mV. :ph34r:

Labda sensors ...mmmmmm...sexy principles! ........stoichiometric ratios .....yummy!

Its all based on the principle of a galvanic oxygen concentration cell with solid-state electrolyte ...... anyone interested? I could talk all day about it. :ph34r: