Question about emissions warning light

[MountGower]

G'day Everyone.

The title of the thread probably gives me away. I don't know much about these cars. My wife's 2002 Astra is reluctantly my first fuel injected car. I'd have put it off for ever. A topic for another thread maybe.

The car hardly does any Ks so I let the extended warranty lapse as I was sick of paying for services every 5000km at the most. The car has done 40000km and just as I am investigating oils etc in order to venture under the plastic engine cover for the first time, this light comes up on the dash.

It's the emissions symbol. Here's a quote from the manual:


Emissions
Your car is fitted with an emissions monitoring system.
The emission warning symbol indicates when system service is required.
The symbol lights when the ignition is switched ON and goes out shortly after the engine starts to run.
If the symbol lights up when driving, service to the emission system may be required.
Although the car may still be drivable and not require towing, see your Holden retailer as soon as possible.
However, if the symbol flashes while driving, reduce speed until the light stops flashing and take the car to a Holden retailer as soon as possible.


I have no intention of taking this car to a "Holden retailer", so I am hoping someone here may have experienced this before. My best guess is the catalytic converter, but I don't want to replace it only to have the light come up still.

I'm sorry I can't bring a weath of knowledge to the forum, but I suppose someone has to ask the questions. Perhaps it'll be a useful reference for others in the future.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[auzvectra]

could be planty of diff things, inc bad fuel also.
where abouts r u, the only real way is to read the codes from the ecu with a code scanner, many members have them now ;).
is it a X18XE or Z18XE engine?

[MountGower]

Thanks Auzvectra

The light has gone away. I'll be happy enough to go with the bad fuel idea, or pretty much anything that suggests to forget about it until it comes back. New cars - bloody hell.

Thanks again, hopefully it'll never come back.

[Corsa_Rob]

From what you've said above i'm under the impression you don't service the car? Might help if you take it to a mechanic (other than holden) just to check your emissions system, just to sure, you don't want anything more serious to go wrong in the future.

[EL BURITO]

If its not flashing you should be fine, there are 2 sencors in the exhaust system from leaving the engine.

In the XC I had these moved when I installed a after market system, there was a fault in one of the sensors when i went over a bump it came on, when I when over another bump it would turn its self off. When it was scanned by Holden they told me to return the cat to its origonal position. Witch I did not do. unless its flashing you have nothing to worrie about. remember emissions laws are alot more regulated in the EU

[Matt]

Hey all, I'm very new here and I joined to maybe get some more info on just this topic. Last year - 2007- my 2001 jsII 2.6v6 vectra had the same light come on, and we left it alone because the car was still working fine- but- suddenly it went into "limp home mode" and so we took it to a Holden dealer (where it was bought and serviced all it's life) for diagnosing...guess what? they had no idea!! After the following it was OK:
1- remove cat conv. to check for blockage- none.
2- check exhaust O2 sensors- 2 in left bank black and replaced at $1000/ set. (!)
3- Removed intake manifold to check spark plugs- 3 in left bank black so replaced all 6 (were 2 months old)
4- suggested that coil could be at fault- replaced $400 coil pack left bank.
5- engine back together, problem still persisting
6- ECU guy called in- ECU fine, guy suggests may be mass airflow sensor on intake- found second hand unit
7- After 2 weeks in the workshop and a $3000 bill later (!!!!!) car runs sweet again- for 8 months and light is back on again.....

Can anyone offer any insight on this? It seems, according to a mate who works at the Holden factory, they bring in cars from wherever and leave the servicing up to trial and error by the dealer network- and guess what? the dealer network don't talk to each other when they find these little gems.
I was wondering if a simple $25 pod filter mod might help if anyone knows?:confused:

[nuggz]

Hey all, I'm very new here and I joined to maybe get some more info on just this topic. Last year - 2007- my 2001 jsII 2.6v6 vectra had the same light come on, and we left it alone because the car was still working fine- but- suddenly it went into "limp home mode" and so we took it to a Holden dealer (where it was bought and serviced all it's life) for diagnosing...guess what? they had no idea!! After the following it was OK:
1- remove cat conv. to check for blockage- none.
2- check exhaust O2 sensors- 2 in left bank black and replaced at $1000/ set. (!)
3- Removed intake manifold to check spark plugs- 3 in left bank black so replaced all 6 (were 2 months old)
4- suggested that coil could be at fault- replaced $400 coil pack left bank.
5- engine back together, problem still persisting
6- ECU guy called in- ECU fine, guy suggests may be mass airflow sensor on intake- found second hand unit
7- After 2 weeks in the workshop and a $3000 bill later (!!!!!) car runs sweet again- for 8 months and light is back on again.....

Can anyone offer any insight on this? It seems, according to a mate who works at the Holden factory, they bring in cars from wherever and leave the servicing up to trial and error by the dealer network- and guess what? the dealer network don't talk to each other when they find these little gems.
I was wondering if a simple $25 pod filter mod might help if anyone knows?:confused:


Have a look for the paper clip test on this forum or on www.vvoc.com (http://www.vvoc.com)
see if u can get the current error codes. its a start in the right direction

[Matt]

Cheers! I'll do that before I take it to my NON GMH mechanic this week.

Regards,

Matt.

[CNBLU]

Hey all, I'm very new here and I joined to maybe get some more info on just this topic. Last year - 2007- my 2001 jsII 2.6v6 vectra had the same light come on, and we left it alone because the car was still working fine- but- suddenly it went into "limp home mode" and so we took it to a Holden dealer (where it was bought and serviced all it's life) for diagnosing...guess what? they had no idea!! After the following it was OK:
1- remove cat conv. to check for blockage- none.
2- check exhaust O2 sensors- 2 in left bank black and replaced at $1000/ set. (!)
3- Removed intake manifold to check spark plugs- 3 in left bank black so replaced all 6 (were 2 months old)
4- suggested that coil could be at fault- replaced $400 coil pack left bank.
5- engine back together, problem still persisting
6- ECU guy called in- ECU fine, guy suggests may be mass airflow sensor on intake- found second hand unit
7- After 2 weeks in the workshop and a $3000 bill later (!!!!!) car runs sweet again- for 8 months and light is back on again.....

Can anyone offer any insight on this? It seems, according to a mate who works at the Holden factory, they bring in cars from wherever and leave the servicing up to trial and error by the dealer network- and guess what? the dealer network don't talk to each other when they find these little gems.
I was wondering if a simple $25 pod filter mod might help if anyone knows?:confused:

:eek::eek::eek: WTF

[nuggz]

:eek::eek::eek: WTF

means call autovaux next time

[Matt]

...and so I have taken the car to a general mechanic with decent machinery and the knowhow to use it properly...error codes from o2 sensors from 1 bank. The cooling system was full of oil (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) indicating that either a shagged head gasket or worse a cracked head....the way I fixed this was to go to my local Mitsubishi dealer and trade the fn thing on a Lancer. Truly a sad day for me but at least I know there is no more wondering about WHAT THAT STUPID LIGHT IS FOR!!
Good luck with all of your Opel products, mine was great while it lasted but unless you're prepared to spend spend spend as the car ages, then proceed with caution- and don't spend too much buying one secondhand- mine was traded for 5 grand (mazda were gonna give me 3!)

Regards,

Matt.:cornut:

[sooty]

Shame about the veccy mate.
Enjoy the Bitsamissing Prancer ;):p:D