ST170 Engine Management Light

Associate
Joined
17 Jul 2006
Posts
756
Location
West Midlands
Hi Folks,

Went to view a Focus ST170 this evening, all seemed well enough except the Engine management light was on. The chap selling it said it was due to the battery going flat before hand and because it had detected low volts, the light had lit up. Sound genuine enough? What other possible problems could there be? And what costs involved?

The chap said he'd get it reset, but I don't want it coming back on again the minute I drive away! Thanks guys. :)
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Sep 2003
Posts
15,875
Location
Norwich
Hi Folks,

Went to view a Focus ST170 this evening, all seemed well enough except the Engine management light was on. The chap selling it said it was due to the battery going flat before hand and because it had detected low volts, the light had lit up. Sound genuine enough? What other possible problems could there be? And what costs involved?

The chap said he'd get it reset, but I don't want it coming back on again the minute I drive away! Thanks guys. :)

The guy is selling his car with a fault light on the dash and claims its for a genuine reason and can simply be reset... so instead of getting it reset he just leaves it so potential buyers think twice about the car.

Either he is a plank or he's got something to hide, either way- walk away.

IMO of course
 
Soldato
Joined
12 Sep 2003
Posts
10,002
Location
Newcastle, UK
Engine Management light I'd say was the lambda also. But if it's anything like the Fez it can take awhile to clear, unless taken to Fords and they can reset it for you. Because I have a sports-cat I had to get a MIL-Eliminator to get the light to turn off for me.

I guess if the cat was knackered it would also come on?

I wouldn't say battery though...
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Oct 2002
Posts
4,921
Location
Shropshire-ville
The car drove fine on the test, no knocks and it pulled well. Have read online about possible Lambda sensor failure causing this, expensive fix?

We had one in at work a few months back with the same thing, we kept on putting the light out but it would come on again after a few days to a few weeks. Even after fitting a new 02 sensor i think the light actually came on once more for the same thing before they finally chopped it in for an A3...
:)
 
Associate
Joined
20 Aug 2003
Posts
2,139
Location
The Republic
Walk away from it. Seriously. Don't even go there. There are rafts of them knocking about (a quick search on Pistonheads reveals 8 pages worth) so you can afford to be picky.

Apart from anything else, if the battery is not charged/charging properly it's the battery warning light that comes on, not the engine management light.......
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
11,038
Location
Romford/Hornchurch, Essex
Hi Folks,

Went to view a Focus ST170 this evening, all seemed well enough except the Engine management light was on. The chap selling it said it was due to the battery going flat before hand and because it had detected low volts, the light had lit up. Sound genuine enough? What other possible problems could there be? And what costs involved?

The chap said he'd get it reset, but I don't want it coming back on again the minute I drive away! Thanks guys. :)

it could mean anything really. id walk away plenty of other ST170s about?
 
Associate
Joined
3 Jan 2006
Posts
1,141
Location
Elgin
a dead battery wouldnt throw up a fault code, however if a sensor were unplugged and then the engine started it would throw a code into the ecu which has its own battery backup
having experienced this first hand recently its a royal pita as you need to first read the code and then delete it to see whether or not it comes back.

could be genuine enough tho, if you are genuinely interested get him to take it to a main ford dealer and get the codes read and reset (cost me £30 to have an airbag fault code cleared on my old focus after a false trigger)
 
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