engine service light

[RK]

everytime i start my car now, it doesnt rev up much, sounds like its struggling for power, and dies. the engine service light then comes up.

if i start it and rev it myself for 5 seconds, then its fine. and on the road its fine too.

now i know the service is due right about now on the dot.. but its never given me that engine service warning, or stalled on startup continually.
anyone have any ideas what it could be?

I was thinking about servicing it myself. oil change, filter change, coolant change, but now im thinking that i might pay heaps and take it to Holden.

[Anonymous]

It could be a Sensor or Your Throttle Body might need Cleaning.
I'd play it safe and take to a Dealer, Then it will be fixed :)

[Wattie]

oxygen sensor? just a thought, our old vec did that. but it wasnt everytime, probly aabout 1 in 5 starts.

[RK]

the manual says it might be bad fuel. so im gonna wait for the next tank load.

[no1joey]

what manual ? u have a manual ? how many km's it done raj ? if its alot it could be ur iac valve, ive cleaned this, its easy as piss, jus need a new gasket from holden b4 u start the job.

[Mr Cali]

Yeh I was thinking idle control valve aswell, pretty much just disconnect and clean it with carby cleaner, pretty easy.

I'm pretty sure the Vectra has a smiliar ECU meaning you can diagnose your car by yourself, It's called the paper clip test, you short out 2 pins and it will flash you the fault code. Fault codes will register if your engine light comes on.

Just reformatted my hard drive so lost the link on the how to ofr the test but will try and find it for u.

[RK]

n1joey: the owners manual. 87,000 kms. i've already cleaned my IAC thingy. but i just sprayed carby cleaner into the air intake.

oh. i've heard of the paper clip test, Mr Cali. interesting. if the problems persists after the next tank load of fuel. i'll try that test. thanks for reminding me :)

[Rhino]

Don't think the paper clip test will work... since with OBDII computers, the port is simply an I/O port. It doesn't pass voltage, so there is nothing to short.

Take it to a dealer if you don't have the right equipment.

[RK]

It was the battery :bang:
Robbos gave me the vectra for a 4cyl Vectra. which is only 460CCA while V6s require 600CCA. Oh well, it lasted 2 years. Im gonna get the proper battery from NRMA now. Costs about $180. Oh well, at least it wasnt something to do with the engine :)

[Mr Cali]

good to hear u got it sorted mate. strange that it would still start but not keep it running though.

[RK]

yeah. It would start, then failed after a second. but on the 2nd go, it would start and keep running. very weird.

also, one of the headlights stopped working, so i got a new bulb for it and noticed that the old ones filament was still intact. and today, when the battery died, that same light was not working again. So it was due to the car being underpowered. Good thing i kept the old bulbs :)

[Mr Cali]

Might also want to get your alternator checked out mate, when the engine is running ther's very little load on your battery, it could be that your alternator is on it's last legs.

[RK]

argh crap :S
i hope not. hmmm.. is there a way i can test it myself?

[Mr Cali]

Get a multi meter and test the current when your engine is on, should be around 14v

[RK]

i have to unglug the battery first though, right?

[Clint]

nah just put a meter on it, if u want u can read it when the engine is off, on idleing, and then again when u rev it up. when idling it should be higher then engine off, and the highr u rev then enging the higher the voltage should be

[RK]

ah okay.

hmm. i really should buy a multimeter.