“Check Engine” warning light

[Thidwick]

I’ve joined the forum to seek advice ..... please.

We have a Ducato based motorhome. The Ducato chassis is 2017 2.3litre 130 multi jet. We bought the motorhome new in 2018, and since then it has only done about 7000 miles. It has been serviced at a main Fiat dealer. We’ve hardly used it in 2020, because of Coronavirus, so the motorhome has spent a long time idle.
We went to take it out for a run today - first for about a month. After about 5 miles the Amber “check engine” light came on. Prior to this I had noticed a bit of power loss when pulling away from a roundabout.
The handbook suggests “Injection/EOBD failure”. (Or urea injection failure - but it doesn’t have Adblue system).
Any words of advice?
Is this a Fiat dealership job to fix?
The motorhome is on our drive, and the dealership we use is about 40 miles away. Could I drive it that far with the light on?
Might the problem, and the light, go away?
My thoughts include dirty fuel from just sitting there for so long (growing bugs), or water in the fuel.
And of course tomorrow the country goes into lockdown - so is it an issue if I just leave it for a couple of months without driving it? Will this make anything worse?
Any advice appreciated!

 

[Anthony489]

Hi Thidwick

The first thing to note is that the "Check Engine" light (CEL) is a legal requirement to tell the user that the vehicle may not be meeting its emissions standards due to a fault. This could be something fairly minor. If it's a bit more serious the engine management will restrict power as well. So it's OK to still drive it, the light doesn't mean "call the recovery truck" or "your engine has just blown up" !

If the CEL shows, there will be one or more fault codes logged which a Fiat dealer can read via the Onboard Diagnostics (OBD) connector. The fault code(s) will help pinpoint what is wrong, and are stored until it is reset. There are dozens of fault codes, any one of which could cause the CEL to come on. At the same time as the fault is logged, other information like engine revs, temperature, fuel delivery etc are logged too. This all helps refine the diagnosis. Be aware that dealer experience still counts, fault codes are only a guide and they aren't sophisticated enough to say "change module x and all your troubles will be over".


I think (given the low mileage) its rather unlikely that you have an injector problem, and even less likely that you have a multiple injector problem. The fuel is filtered and there is a water trap with a sensor to warn if the water content is too high. The sort of faults that come up with motorhomes left idle are much more often related to damp in electrical connectors, or even oddities like mice in the air filter.

I suggest a trip to a Fiat Professional dealer is called for, but if you pay for diagnostics insist on being told the fault codes. That way you can seek independent advice (including this forum) if you wish, before committing to repair work.

 

[Thidwick]

Thank you Anthony489!
It’s useful to have a good voice of experience when faced with problems I know too little about.
Good answer then - I’ll make a trip to the Fiat dealer. I did ring the one in Keswick, and was assured that they’ll be open and willing to have a look.
Is there any value in me buying one of the gizmos that plug into the OBD port to further diagnose the fault? I see they’re about £25 on Amazon.
Thanks again!

 

[Thidwick]

Update:
I connected an OBD code reader device. (Amazon, about £25). This told me there was one fault code registered, and it related to the air mass sensor.
Anyway, I reset the code.... and now the engine starts and runs without the warning light . I’d take it out for a drive - but “lockdown”, and driving a motorhome around Cumbrian villages isn’t particularly a Good Thing right now.