Your spark plugs ignite the fuel in your engine’s combustion chamber. You should have your air filter replaced once every twelve months to ensure that it is fitted correctly and working properly. As the mass airflow sensor sits behind the air filter in the car’s engine bay, faulty readings or a total failure of the sensor are often caused by issues with the air filter itself. These levels ensure that the car runs as efficiently as possible.Ī potential failure of the sensor will cause your car’s fuel economy to increase and your engine to occasionally stall, as incorrect levels of fuel are being delivered into the combustion chamber. The mass airflow sensor’s job is to tell your car’s ECU how much fuel to add into the engine’s combustion chamber to match the amount of air flowing into the engine. If it does fail, your emissions levels will increase, causing the engine management light to illuminate. To help it remain clean and efficient, it may be worthwhile to occasionally take your car on the motorway. However, the catalytic converter itself can become clogged if you only ever drive short journeys. More often than not, issues with the catalytic converter are symptoms of another part failing, such as the oxygen sensor or EGR valve. If you keep your car regularly serviced, it shouldn’t fail completely. Your car’s catalytic converter turns harmful carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide. A new filler cap is inexpensive and may fix your problems. At the same time, you can have a look for any cracks or damage to the cap. If your check engine light comes on, it may be worth quickly pulling over and making sure your filler cap is properly tightened. An improperly fitted cap can play havoc with your car’s fuel economy and emissions levels, as it allows fuel hydrocarbons to leak out and pressure to be lost. It’s easier than you think to fill the car up at the petrol station and drive away having not properly tightened the filler cap. Loose or faulty petrol filler capĪn illuminated EML doesn’t always highlight a major problem, sometimes it can be as simple as your petrol filler cap being loose. You can still drive your car with a malfunctioning oxygen sensor, but your MPG figures will suffer until the issue is fixed. This, in turn, will dramatically lower the car’s fuel efficiency. A failed O2 sensor will cause more fuel to be burned than is necessary.

One of the many sensors monitored by the ECU, the oxygen sensor measures the amount of oxygen that goes unburned in the car’s exhaust system. Oxygen Sensor malfunction (emissions issue) There are a number of reasons why your engine management light has become illuminated, but here are some of the most common causes, in no particular order. You should stop the car and call your garage immediately to have the car recovered and checked as soon as possible.īook Your Service What can cause the Engine Management Light to illuminate? It’s safe to continue driving so you can continue your journey and book your car into your local garage as soon as you can.Ī red engine warning light tells you that you have a potentially serious problem, possibly a complete failure of one or more things that can result in damage to your engine if you continue to drive. You are safe to continue driving your car, although you may notice reduced performance, but you should look to have your car checked at the earliest opportunity by your local garage.Ī flashing engine management light is usually also amber and, again, lets you know that there’s a potential issue with your car that you should have looked at as soon as possible. A yellow, orange or amber light is the most common and is usually advisory, letting you know that there’s a potential issue with the engine performance. The EML will be illuminated in different colours, each depending on how severe the issue is. Your car has lots of sensors all around it monitoring various levels and, if one sensor notes a problem, it will relay that issue to the ECU which, in turn, will illuminate the engine management light in a specific colour to let you know that you should have your car checked by a garage.

The engine management light, or EML, is linked directly to the engine control unit (ECU) and lets you know if your engine performance has become impaired in any way by a number of factors. Later we’ll have a look at what can cause your engine management light to become illuminated, but first, let’s look at what it is. There’s nearly always a straightforward explanation for why your check engine light has come on. More often than not, though, there’s probably no need to be overly concerned. Many people immediately worry if their engine warning light comes on.

If you’ve found that your initial reaction is one of panic, you’re not alone. Chances are that your engine management light has come on in your car on at least one occasion.

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