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Lambda light - on my Sport that had a misfire for years

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Old Jun 14th, 2022, 10:50   #1
rogerthechorister
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Default Lambda light - on my Sport that had a misfire for years

Some of you may remember my VERY long thread about my first 940 Sport Edition - N plate, standard. She had a misfire that eluded many attempts to locate it until the FOURTH AMM I tried and she liked that.

On Saturday I started her to drive the nearly 100 miles to Harwich to visit family, and on came the lambda light, but she was driving fine. When I got there I pulled number 1 fuse and left that overnight. Started the following morning and much to my annoyance the light came back on after a few hundred yards. Pulled fuse over Sunday night and the light came back after a mile.

Now here is the funny thing. The 100 (nearly) miles back, A120, A12, M25, A2 A289 A228 were mostly done at 70 mph apart from bits of road up on the A12 whch were 50 - and when I filled up I had done almost 39 MPG. I would have expected 25, maybe 27. So possibly I am running very lean although she is going very well - although slower than my other Sport and maybe a bit later for the turboplus to kick in. I used a bit of oil (well, she has 214k miles) but no water.

So, the optimal diagnostic process...

I have five (I think) AMMs in the garage but no air filters. Safi's garage 100 yards down the road has all the MoT gear to assess exhaust gases and lambda. And I have been thinking for some months it would be good to do plugs, plug leads, distributor cap rotor arm and filters and maybe coil - ie a full stage 0.

So I think I will first ask Safi to do a pretend Mot just on gases and Lambda. If that shows the lambda to be correct then I can ignore the light until MoT time. Who knows if the lambda light being on but the lambda being correct is a fail or not?

Second I think I will try all my AMMs to see if she likes any of them! If she does not, then the stage 0.

If the stage 0 and the AMM do not cure the lambda light, and the lambda is actually out of spec, what else might it be? And what is the optimum route to fixing it. I do not really want to replace the ECU.

I did build a flash tester a few years back, but have forgotten how to use it. Can somebody point me at the instructions and a list of codes?
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760T estate, F reg 133k miles.
940 Sport M90 estate, N reg 170k miles.
940 Sport M90 estate, N reg 100k miles, ex Lovejoy.
960 Estate, N reg, 56k miles, blown up and sold.
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Old Jun 14th, 2022, 12:53   #2
Laird Scooby
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Check the output of the Lambda sensor, chances are that's the problem especially if it's over 10 years/100k miles old.

Having the engine management light (Lambda) on at MoT is a fail regardless these days.

As for the economy you got, doesn't surprise me at all.
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Old Jun 14th, 2022, 14:47   #3
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Isn’t the MOT rule about the engine management light only applicable to petrol cars first used after 1st July 2003 and diesels after 1st July 2008?
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Old Jun 14th, 2022, 15:20   #4
rogerthechorister
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Default Age of Lambda sensor

When she first developed the misfire (and simultaneously ate head gasket and clutch) I was still going out with my ex, Angelle and I have been with my new GF Ade since 2013 - and one of the things the then owner of the garage at the end of my road suspected and replaced (to no avail) was indeed the lambda sensor. So I should either get it tested or test it myself. Has anyone a link to show me how to test it?
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B234F estate, H reg 100k miles. RIP melted B280E.
760T estate, F reg 133k miles.
940 Sport M90 estate, N reg 170k miles.
940 Sport M90 estate, N reg 100k miles, ex Lovejoy.
960 Estate, N reg, 56k miles, blown up and sold.
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Old Jun 14th, 2022, 15:22   #5
rogerthechorister
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Default Cheep cheep!

Since a genuine Bosch lambda sensor is only £53 I might as well slap one in!
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B234F estate, H reg 100k miles. RIP melted B280E.
760T estate, F reg 133k miles.
940 Sport M90 estate, N reg 170k miles.
940 Sport M90 estate, N reg 100k miles, ex Lovejoy.
960 Estate, N reg, 56k miles, blown up and sold.
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Old Jun 14th, 2022, 15:26   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Forrest View Post
Isn’t the MOT rule about the engine management light only applicable to petrol cars first used after 1st July 2003 and diesels after 1st July 2008?
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-insp...les/8-nuisance

Section 8 ^^^^^ deals with testing the EML and you're right about the dates, however another section further up says if it is on at all then it's a major defect but doesn't give any year-specific information.

Confusing or what!
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Old Jun 14th, 2022, 15:26   #7
rogerthechorister
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Default OTOH, maybe no need?

The "Honest John" website agrees that lambda light on is not of itself a fail if the gases and lambda are OK - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/a...s-illuminated-

But MoT stations apparently cannot test lambda without using the MoT gear so I would have to pay for a full MoT! So says my garage.
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B234F estate, H reg 100k miles. RIP melted B280E.
760T estate, F reg 133k miles.
940 Sport M90 estate, N reg 170k miles.
940 Sport M90 estate, N reg 100k miles, ex Lovejoy.
960 Estate, N reg, 56k miles, blown up and sold.
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Old Jun 14th, 2022, 15:54   #8
Laird Scooby
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rogerthechorister View Post
When she first developed the misfire (and simultaneously ate head gasket and clutch) I was still going out with my ex, Angelle and I have been with my new GF Ade since 2013 - and one of the things the then owner of the garage at the end of my road suspected and replaced (to no avail) was indeed the lambda sensor. So I should either get it tested or test it myself. Has anyone a link to show me how to test it?
You need a multimeter set on the 0-2V range, -ve (black lead) connected to a good earth point and the other red +ve probe to the lead on the Lambda that isn't black or white. Black and white are the power connections, green or grey is usually the colour for the output. With the engine warmed up, the voltage should vary between 0-1V, centreing around 0.45V and swinging equally around that at idle fairly quickly and rhythmically. If it isn't getting clearly above 0.5V then it's faulty.



Quote:
Originally Posted by rogerthechorister View Post
The "Honest John" website agrees that lambda light on is not of itself a fail if the gases and lambda are OK - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/askhj/a...s-illuminated-

But MoT stations apparently cannot test lambda without using the MoT gear so I would have to pay for a full MoT! So says my garage.
There is a difference between Lambda value as tested by the MoT gas tester (which can be put into manual mode and used just as a test instrument) and the Lambda sensor output. The Lambda value bears little or no relevance to the output of the Lambda sensor.
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Old Jun 15th, 2022, 09:40   #9
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PM sent with instructions on using my version of the code reader, which will at least give you a strarting point.
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Old Jun 15th, 2022, 10:21   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by loki_the_glt View Post
PM sent with instructions on using my version of the code reader, which will at least give you a strarting point.
Hi Alf

Could you send me the same pm ? I've had my code reader that long I've also forgotten

Cheers, Mark
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960sport, flash reader, lambda, too many mpg!


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