Engine warning light comes on after starting - any clues

[ydna-renrut]

Hi All - My 98 300Tdi has just started playing up. When I switch on the ignition the engine does its checks and the engine management light goes out. The engine starts fine but seems to rev high for about a second, the engine warning lamp comes on and then the engine drops to normal idle speed. The car appears to drive okay apart from this and the warning lamp stays on continually. I have also noticed that my cruise control doesn't work now but suspect this is a safety feature so you can't set it with a known engine fault.

Has anyone experienced this before and if so what was the problem?? I suspect some sort of sensor has failed.

MAny thanks in advance.

Andy

[Jim Franklin]

Andy, not sure if this helps, but over the years my cars have generated similar faults.

The most common causes for such faults are:



Cambelt worn and needs replacing
Turbo Fault

Turbo Sensor Fault

Mass Airflow sensor fault

Lamda Sensor Fault

Cat fault

Engine management unit faultNow I must point out that none of these faults I have experienced have ever been on a Land Rover, but the manner of fault creation seems to be very similar in modern cars. It certainly gives you something to think about.

It could be worth paying a LR dealer to put it on their fault code diagnosis machine and tell you what the problem is. Could be the best £60 you ever spent.

[sotal2]

Is it an auto or a manual? Has it got EDC?

Probably best bet and easiest is to go to an independent LR garage and get it on a diagnostic machine (between 30 and 60 quid) They should then be able to tell you exactly what it is

[ydna-renrut]

Is it an auto or a manual? Has it got EDC?

Probably best bet and easiest is to go to an independent LR garage and get it on a diagnostic machine (between 30 and 60 quid) They should then be able to tell you exactly what it is
Its an auto but to be honest as it feels like I am "blipping" the throttle on start up I tyink its definately Engine related rather than gearbox. I'm sure you are correct in suggesting to get it hooked up to a computer its just such hassle with work and the holidays comong up. I thought it may ring a few bells if people had experienced this themselves.

Andy

[sotal2]

I was asking if it was auto or manual to find out if it was EDC or not.

I'm guessing that it is EDC if it's a 98 Auto - I don't think they still did non EDC ones by then.

If that's that case then it's most probably an electrical fault and will be a git to track down.

Can you rev your car up under the bonnet? have you got a throttle cable which goes to the injector pump or have you just got the kickdown cable?

[ydna-renrut]

Hi there - It does have a throttle cable and the cruise control cable is routed to the actuator controlled by the vacuum pump.
When I went to start the car this after noon I noticd it did race for a second or two before going back to idle when cold but once the engine is warm and I go to start it the same happenes again, it starts fine but races for a second before returning to idle and the "Engine fault" lamp comes on.

I had a look under there and notice a line from the cruise conrol unit to somewhere near the air flow meter had come off so I put this back on but it made no difference...... intruiging:confused: