Engine malfunction indicator-M.I.L Amber

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dwalsh1

dwalsh1

Active Member
Posts
309
Location
Harrow, Middlesex.
I was in 2nd gear driving slowly today when the car lost power. I pulled over into a bus stop and noticed an amber light on the dash just going out which turned out to be the Engine malfunction indicator-M.I.L Amber so it says in the owners handbook. The car regained power in a matter of seconds after pulling into the bus stop and I carried on driving. Being an idiot when it comes to mechanics what does this mean and is it costly? thanks
 
Could be a number of things. There are a load of threads on here relating to lack of power in a TD4 which might give you some direction. Ideally you need to get a code reader to find what set off the money light.

Guessing is a road to expensive frustration.
 
Having read many of the threads as my. 2004 td4 77k does the same thing. I only got the car last month and the service book was stamped at 73k. I think all they did was stamp the book, dont think they actually did any servicing at all. Any way Imhave a code reader and it did not show any codes.
Started with draining the diesel water trap, cost zero. Instant improvement but still not correct. wanted to change the diesel filter but. could not do that yesterday (. long story). Cost 16.00 eurocarparts.
changed the filter on the top of the engine and the turbo breather filter.
replaced the air filter, fixed the missing bolts from the back of the air filter housing and refitted correctly. 26 quid ebay
much better pick up and lots cleaner running, need to do the diesel filter today which will hopefully sort the issue.
ALL should have been done at the last service and none have been changed for years.
So my advise is start with a proper full service. Most people's problem appears to be fuel starvation so I stated with the service items. If its still there after, looks like new fuel pump. I will let you know.
if your using a garage, do as have done. Tell them what you expect replacing and you want the old items in the boot of the car when you pick it up. I refused twice to pay for service items because they claimed they had thrown them away.
from 16 to 35 I did all my own work and then moved and didnt have the tools or the garage to do it myself. now back up north I have my tools and a garage again I am doing my own again. my worst garage experiance was after putting new discs and pads on my Merc, I took it for an MOT. got a phone call twenty minutes later telling me it needed new discs and pads. walked back to the garage and asked them to put it on the ramps and remove the front wheels. watched them squirm as I questioned them on thier inspection process and thier reason for new discs and pads.
 
Lowbank said:
Having read many of the threads as my. 2004 td4 77k does the same thing. I only got the car last month and the service book was stamped at 73k. I think all they did was stamp the book, dont think they actually did any servicing at all. Any way Imhave a code reader and it did not show any codes.
Started with draining the diesel water trap, cost zero. Instant improvement but still not correct. wanted to change the diesel filter but. could not do that yesterday (. long story). Cost 16.00 eurocarparts.
changed the filter on the top of the engine and the turbo breather filter.
replaced the air filter, fixed the missing bolts from the back of the air filter housing and refitted correctly. 26 quid ebay
much better pick up and lots cleaner running, need to do the diesel filter today which will hopefully sort the issue.
ALL should have been done at the last service and none have been changed for years.
So my advise is start with a proper full service. Most people's problem appears to be fuel starvation so I stated with the service items. If its still there after, looks like new fuel pump. I will let you know.
if your using a garage, do as have done. Tell them what you expect replacing and you want the old items in the boot of the car when you pick it up. I refused twice to pay for service items because they claimed they had thrown them away.
from 16 to 35 I did all my own work and then moved and didnt have the tools or the garage to do it myself. now back up north I have my tools and a garage again I am doing my own again. my worst garage experiance was after putting new discs and pads on my Merc, I took it for an MOT. got a phone call twenty minutes later telling me it needed new discs and pads. walked back to the garage and asked them to put it on the ramps and remove the front wheels. watched them squirm as I questioned them on thier inspection process and thier reason for new discs and pads.
Click to expand...
That last bit about the Merc MoT - that's fraud.

I ALWAYS stay and watch my cars being checked. I know this isn't always easy but it'll pay you to take time off work to do so. My local garage is friendly and lets me go right under the ramp with them while they check - I usually end up sitting in the car and operating the steering and lights so the assistant is freed up. If yours doesn't let you watch closely, I suggest you find another. Even if you know little about cars, you have a psychological advantage if they have to show you what's failed.
 
Tiny1000 said:
My dad's just had a service on his car, when he collected it his on board dash cam had been unplugged..........Something to hide????
Click to expand...
I saw 'car crash Britain' the other day, where a garage had taken a man's car for a 140 mph spin around the block. His dashcam recorded everything.

A set of basic service tools is one of the best investments you can make.
 
guineafowl21 said:
I saw 'car crash Britain' the other day, where a garage had taken a man's car for a 140 mph spin around the block. His dashcam recorded everything.

A set of basic service tools is one of the best investments you can make.
Click to expand...

We saw that too, truly appalling stupidity. Thank god for dash cams. Both cars here now have them. Both recent MOT's are on "film" too (!)

Another vote here for do it yourself maintenance. Even the electronic stuff on LR can be done at home with the right kit - which IME, is not the case for a certain foreign manufacturer, and the main reason we came back to LR. ( that and it was a pile of carp )
 
Disco1BFG said:
We saw that too, truly appalling stupidity. Thank god for dash cams. Both cars here now have them. Both recent MOT's are on "film" too (!)

Another vote here for do it yourself maintenance. Even the electronic stuff on LR can be done at home with the right kit - which IME, is not the case for a certain foreign manufacturer, and the main reason we came back to LR. ( that and it was a pile of carp )
Click to expand...
Who's that - Toyota? You mean there's no Hawkeye for those? Bloody things. Bloody (annoyingly reliable and popular) things.

Seriously, though - parts are nightmareishly expensive for Jap cars. For example, a mate of mine needed a new lower wishbone for his Rav4 (yes, I have already taken the **** for his choice of car). £800. Just for the part. Ye gods.
 
Firstly, back when i was younger, I had about 30 customers who I did all the cars maintenance and MOT. I raced motorbikes with friend who owned his own garage/ MOT station. No favours other than I got MoT's at trade. He was really strict. I used to work Fridays for him which is where I learnt how to do most things on cars.
I know it was fraud and they still do the same trick, I spoke to two people in the few months who had the same thing with them.
 
Update on the filter. Changed the filter and she nows revs through to the red line. That s the only thing I have changed so that was the culprit. 13 miles to my garage where it would not rev past 3500, new filter and 13 miles home where she was transformed, more power and revs all the way. next weekends job is to change the thermostat so she gets up to temp. buts that another thread.
not the easiest job due to corroded brackets and siezed bolts.
 
guineafowl21 said:
Who's that - Toyota? You mean there's no Hawkeye for those? Bloody things. Bloody (annoyingly reliable and popular) things.

Seriously, though - parts are nightmareishly expensive for Jap cars. For example, a mate of mine needed a new lower wishbone for his Rav4 (yes, I have already taken the **** for his choice of car). £800. Just for the part. Ye gods.
Click to expand...

No, it was a Ni**an. - 3 sensors/switches on the gearbox @ £600....... EACH!!!!! then fitting and programming, exclusively by the main stealer, no options, not negotiable, and, which IIRC was another 500, then VAT, then the simplex timing chain was kaput, and needed replacing @£1500, and then...
You get the idea - and Ni**an "customer service" didn't give a **** either - left a real bitter taste, and our pocket feeling a bit miffed too.
 
So first photo of the drivers side rear all save on axle stands. Second is under the car so you can see the plastic drain plug, your might have a grommet hiding it. Undo and remove with a clean jar in the other hand to catch the diesel. Comes out fairly slow. Replace the plug and take her for a test drive. Mine improved but was still not right. Third and fourth photo shows the bracket bolts that need to be removed. Remove the plugs holding the plastic splash guard and pull it clear. Photo 5
 

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Brackets are in a right state, need to removed them another day and paint them. Had to grind off the bolt and nut to separate the bracket that should be pop riveted to the plastic shield. Bracket needs to be bolted back onto the car before assembly as its a pig to bolt on other wise.
You can lower the assembly, slide out the earth strip from the filter. Make sure you have disconnected the battery before messing with the electrics. Mine was just hanging there not even attached. Unplug the power to the pump, you will need a screwdriver to flick up the small clip holding it in place.
You can then undo the connection to the filter by pressing in the blue tabs. Undo the straight connector which is on the line to the water trap. The assembly can then be removed.
 

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The filter was fairly well stuck in the housing. Needed some oil to get it free. I then bolted the bracket back on with two bolts it should have. And then reassembled. All in all about two hours but really not happy I could not paint the brackets. As you can see in the pics all the flex hoses and brake pipes need replacing but that can wait till summer.
Oh and when I attached the battery the rear window went down and if I tried to raise it , it went back down. Quick Google and it needed to be recalibrated, oh I love the Internet .
 

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just a note on expensive repairs. 3 years ago I had an 07 VW passat 2.0 diesel. 90k on the clock. car cut out , dash like an xmas tree. Fuel Injector failure, new siemens type. £1000 per injector, luckily for me VOSA had just told VW to replace for free as it was deemed dangerous. so I escaped the £4500 bill for 4 injectors and a new wiring harness. many others were not so lucky. I had only paid 5k for the car. I f you google it there are some real horror stories about it. My last VW ever
 
I can't imagine, from an economic point of view, that you can build an affordable car if each injector costs anything like £1000. They must be marking them up severely for the aftermarket. B@stards.
 
Lowbank said:
Firstly, back when i was younger, I had about 30 customers who I did all the cars maintenance and MOT. I raced motorbikes with friend who owned his own garage/ MOT station. No favours other than I got MoT's at trade. He was really strict. I used to work Fridays for him which is where I learnt how to do most things on cars.
I know it was fraud and they still do the same trick, I spoke to two people in the few months who had the same thing with them.
Click to expand...
I was getting the wheels refurbished in a couple of weeks but will hold back and get a full service instead. I'm missing the bit where you quote that they do the same trick and you spoke to two people who had the same problem? What do you mean by same trick and 2 people had what problem? Sorry,me being a thicko.
 
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