Random/interesting/curious event today with my 3200 at the dual carriageway

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ecco123

Junior Member
Messages
53
With my car, I am used to random lights flashing on my dashboard and turning off again randomly. Sometimes they are more worrying than other times esp when they involve the engine light! Other times its the oil pressure indicator bouncing but it self fixes.

So today I am on the dual carriageway and my engine light comes on. I don't think much of it. After all, I paid for a diagnostic from HR Owen 2 weeks back and nothing came up. Then I notice, I cant go above 40MPH. This is a problem. I manage to reach a traffic light which turns red. I quickly turn off and on my car. The engine light is gone and all seems fine. I can now go past 40MPH.

Really weird, anything like this happen to anyone else?
 
spkennyuk

spkennyuk

Member
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5,959
ecco123 said:
With my car, I am used to random lights flashing on my dashboard and turning off again randomly. Sometimes they are more worrying than other times esp when they involve the engine light! Other times its the oil pressure indicator bouncing but it self fixes.

So today I am on the dual carriageway and my engine light comes on. I don't think much of it. After all, I paid for a diagnostic from HR Owen 2 weeks back and nothing came up. Then I notice, I cant go above 40MPH. This is a problem. I manage to reach a traffic light which turns red. I quickly turn off and on my car. The engine light is gone and all seems fine. I can now go past 40MPH.

Really weird, anything like this happen to anyone else?
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Its called limp mode. Its when the engine management system is seeing an error code from one of the many sensors which it classes as potentially dangerous to the health of the engine.

As a safety measure the engine management system will limit the maximum revs that can be used. Usually to around 2500 to 3000 rpm depending on the car / manufacturer set parameters.

Modern cars for example if the dpf is blocked on a diesel car will trigger the limp mode.

If it has cleared hopefully it was a false trigger. If you have a obd code reader then see if any codes are stored and see if it occurs again at any point.
 
spkennyuk

spkennyuk

Member
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5,959
ecco123 said:
1999
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Thats too early for a standard obd code reader. Fairly sure it was 2001 onwards that had the OBD port fitted and the updated software to allow connection to the engine management side.
 
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ecco123

Junior Member
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53
Hmm searching on the forum could it be 2 separate issues? 1. The sensor for oil and 2. Throttle body?
 
davy83

davy83

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2,823
Be careful here, I would spend a little time working out if you can get some hardware to read the error code. Without knowing which error caused the limp home mode trial and error repairs can be expensive and quite soul destroying, I have tried this in the early days of owning the car, and its not good.
There are sadly many things which can trip the limp home mode. The most common are as you have noticed the throttle body, and pedal sensor (both of which I can help you with if you like), but limp home can also be triggered by faulty crank and CAM sensors, not sure about oil pressure, don't think that's a limp home trigger. The engine light also comes on when you have misfires, knock sensor problems (also very common) and injector/fuel pressure issues, so reading the codes is pretty important!
The oil pressure sensor is a really cheap awful piece of work and does not last, so that may as you have guessed be a separate issue. Often when you buy a 3200 it will have most of these problems and that's why it was sold, hence the reputation. When they are running well they are so good they don't get sold, or they command higher prices.
 
Rex B

Rex B

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657
If you had it checked two weeks ago at HR Owen contact them and tell them what happened and see if they will now check it again as the ECU should have logged the problem which caused the engine check light. As davy83 has stated it could be a numbers of faults but the most common are throttle body and pedal pot.

Rex B
Manual 3200
 
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ecco123

Junior Member
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53
Rex - Thats a good shout, it should have been picked up in the inspection at HR Owen. I am just thinking about how I can frame it in a way where they don't charge me more. I do think it should have been reported to me.
 
Rex B

Rex B

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657
ecco123 said:
Rex - Thats a good shout, it should have been picked up in the inspection at HR Owen. I am just thinking about how I can frame it in a way where they don't charge me more. I do think it should have been reported to me.
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If would not have shown when you had your car checked before but it should show now but you may get a favour or a cheaper rate.
 
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ecco123

Junior Member
Messages
53
A follow up on this, whilst I wait to get booked in for a full inspection. I recently went to GVE in London for my suspension actuator to be replaced. The mechanic mentioned that there was a leak in one of the turbos. Would that cause the car to go into limp?
 
Oishi

Oishi

Member
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825
Do the early 3200s have the OBDI system, with the crazy count the flashy light means of getting the codes?
 
CatmanV2

CatmanV2

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ecco123 said:
A follow up on this, whilst I wait to get booked in for a full inspection. I recently went to GVE in London for my suspension actuator to be replaced. The mechanic mentioned that there was a leak in one of the turbos. Would that cause the car to go into limp?
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Quite plausibly

C
 
davy83

davy83

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I had an oil leak in one turbo for some time and it never threw any errors. I am not sure though.
 
Lozzer

Lozzer

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2,285
Yeah, can't see why a turbo leak would throw a cel, it's a mechanical being after all, would only be picked up by the ECM via a sensor in the boost circuit if at all. ie not producing any boost. What is it leaking?
 
Lozzer

Lozzer

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2,285
CatmanV2 said:
Because the air the system thinks it's getting is not the correct volume. Had similar on the Jaaaaag with a wastegate issue. Well known stuff.

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Depends what it's leaking though, that's why I asked ;) the ECM won't detect oil or coolant loss.
 
MRichards

MRichards

Member
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283
I have experienced the same random limp mode. I'm sure you'll find it's a false error. I have found that malfunction of throttle body and/or pedal pot don't cause activation of limp mode.
To detect the error log you'll need an SD2 diagonstic tool which a few on this forum have and may be in a position to help you,failing which,it's a trip back to the mechanic.
The other common trigger is a worn clutch on a manual transmission car. This is easily checked by inspection.
 
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