Engine Management Code Reading

smr

smr

smr

Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
Posts
8,799
Location
Leicestershire
Hi all,

On Friday night my Engine management light came on and started flashing, it felt as though the engine was really vibrating as well making the whole car shake with not much power.

Just rang a local garage to ask how much he would charge for doing a code read to which he said £10 and I asked if he was able to pin point what the problem was with his code reader to which he said no. If it's misfiring it'll just say misfire and the coil pack could be the problem.

Sounds a little bit vague, I don't want them to say we tried this but it was something else a few times before getting it right. Does it sound like their code reader isn't very accurate or are they all like this?
 
Thats correct it will tell you wht the problem is then there is a list of why that problem might of occured then you have to pin point what bit is the issue
 
Thanks,

Another garage I know (where I got the clutch replaced recently and who also happen to be on the goodgaragescheme website) said he could read the code and do a diagnostic for £48!! Knew that was a rip off!

He said he'd do it for free but that was under his discretion as they'd just done the clutch not long ago (and taken £250 off me)...

That garage is a few miles away as well which would cost me £20 in taxi there and back, the one asking for a tenner is a 5-10 min walk in the village so I've booked it in with them.
 
Good garage scheme just means they buy and use certain lubricants and engine flushes.

I found this out when I was married to a women who's father owned a huge great garage. I think it is very misleading. Basically you get 'Forte engine flushes' and fuel treatment in your service. You can leave feedback online to their performance, but my ex wife said she use to read through them and delete the unfavorable ones as they had full admin of the comments.
 
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Ive had one these years. A garage quoted me £18 to read the code.
I got a usb reader of the bay of e, it works with petrol cars 2001, diseal 2004 on. This is know as OBD-II as is the current standard.
Ive literally used it about 20 times on mine/family/mates cars etc..
You can get handheld/android as said, but the ones you hook up to a laptop offer more functionallity for the same price really.
I use software called ProScan, its never let me down.
 
So I can use my phone (Galaxy S3) to read the codes? If so which app do I want?

Car is a Mondeo MK3 1.8 LX Petrol, 2001.
 
smr said:
So I can use my phone (Galaxy S3) to read the codes? If so which app do I want?

Car is a Mondeo MK3 1.8 LX Petrol, 2001.
Click to expand...

Torque Pro

You need a bluetooth ODB2 adaptor as well though, which is a few quid off of eBay for an ELM327 or similar.
 
Anyone can read a code but that is not necessarily the fault, if for example it comes up with the code for a faulty throttle body costing £500.00 plus would you just change it ? or would you look into it further ? there are many things on modern cars that can throw up fault codes that have no meaning to the associated part ie bad connections, missfires, broken wires and so the list can go on,
It never ceases to amaze me how many people get the code read, replace the part it says then come back moaning that its not cured the problem, why do you think garages invest thousands of pounds in diagnostic gear and staff training ? After such investment do really think that they will do the job correctly for a tenner ?
 
bobuk said:
Anyone can read a code but that is not necessarily the fault, if for example it comes up with the code for a faulty throttle body costing £500.00 plus would you just change it ? or would you look into it further ? there are many things on modern cars that can throw up fault codes that have no meaning to the associated part ie bad connections, missfires, broken wires and so the list can go on,
It never ceases to amaze me how many people get the code read, replace the part it says then come back moaning that its not cured the problem, why do you think garages invest thousands of pounds in diagnostic gear and staff training ? After such investment do really think that they will do the job correctly for a tenner ?
Click to expand...

It's a good start to know what the code is though.....
 
bobuk said:
Anyone can read a code but that is not necessarily the fault, if for example it comes up with the code for a faulty throttle body costing £500.00 plus would you just change it ? or would you look into it further ? there are many things on modern cars that can throw up fault codes that have no meaning to the associated part ie bad connections, missfires, broken wires and so the list can go on,
It never ceases to amaze me how many people get the code read, replace the part it says then come back moaning that its not cured the problem, why do you think garages invest thousands of pounds in diagnostic gear and staff training ? After such investment do really think that they will do the job correctly for a tenner ?
Click to expand...

He said he'd read the code for a tenner.
 
Worth investing in the scanner. I bought one for about £11 on eBay and it connects to a smartphone via bluetooth. The app costs a few quid but you can do various things with it. It might get used rarely but it's useful and can also be used on multiple cars (mine worked on a Seat Ibiza, Mazda 6 etc).
 
On the advice of this forum I bought a ELM 327 com port to USB. Then I downloaded Multiecuscan for free.

Works brilliantly, now I don't have to pay the rip £30 garages have been charging me to turn off the oil service light after each oil change. Last time I left it but it was very annoying. The MIL light had come on and I have located a faulty EGR valve.

Best £10 I have spent in awhile.
 
You have a 2001 Mondeo?

Sounds to me like your coil pack is failing very common problem with Mondeo due to were they sit in the engine, If it has failed then only buy Ford Coilpacks, cheap ones of ebay are hit & miss with this car, easy problem to sort & you could easily do it yourself, I did mine without any know how on engines.

This is the one you need.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370286445716?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
 
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It was the Coil Pack which needed replacing... £48 for the pack and an oil fill as I had forgotten to do one for a while and he said there wasn't any oil on the stick :o

£97 all in all :o
 
Buy yourself a spare coilpack just in case it happens again leave it in your car, that what i've done never know when it could go again.
 
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