Malfunction light MIL

[Jordan]

I was just taking the elise a little spin around town there and i noticed there was a few pops and backfire on the exhaust and also throttle response when in 1st and 2nd gear, mainly 2nd felt quite jerky...the malfuntion light came on and stayed on but the handbook doesnt really what the problem could be... Can anyone help!

Someone told me it could be the spark plugs causing it to be jerky, i ordered NGK ones this morning..

[meatball]

You need to get a code reader to see the error code.
My, non expert, guess would be o2 sensor.

[steviej]

Did you do the throttle position reset after having the battery changed ? (ign on press throttle to foor and back half a dozen times) should cure the jerkyness

[Jordan]

Did you do the throttle position reset after having the battery changed ? (ign on press throttle to foor and back half a dozen times) should cure the jerkyness

Nope i never new anything about this, will it still be ok to do this? Ignition to position 2 and just Throttle to floor and back and then start car as normal...?

[Stewart]

Did you do the throttle position reset after having the battery changed ? (ign on press throttle to foor and back half a dozen times) should cure the jerkyness

Nope i never new anything about this, will it still be ok to do this? Ignition to position 2 and just Throttle to floor and back and then start car as normal...?

Yep, go ahead and try it. I'm not sure that it will sort your issue but no harm in trying it.

You haven't just washed the car have you? Perhaps some water in the plug holes?

Also best to mention which type of S2 it is - K Series or Toyota

[Jordan]

Did you do the throttle position reset after having the battery changed ? (ign on press throttle to foor and back half a dozen times) should cure the jerkyness

Nope i never new anything about this, will it still be ok to do this? Ignition to position 2 and just Throttle to floor and back and then start car as normal...?

Yep, go ahead and try it. I'm not sure that it will sort your issue but no harm in trying it.

You haven't just washed the car have you? Perhaps some water in the plug holes?

Also best to mention which type of S2 it is - K Series or Toyota

I havnt just washed it although i seen someone mention on another forum that it could go on when its wet, when i was out it was heavy rain for a good 10minutes... Its the 2001 sports tourer, Rover engine
Will the light go off if it was just wet? Or does it need to be reset?

Ive just went out and pressed the throttle down half a dozen times then took it for a spin, it didnt seem as jerky when accelarating in 2nd gear but the light was still on

[pete]

I am not the person to be giving technical advice, nor one whose advice should be folowed, but I think if you turn it on and off a few times the light will go out.

(ie turn the ignition but not the engine on and off about 5 times.)

[robin]

The light will go out if the fault goes away and you turn the ignition on and off a few times.

If your fault is persistent then the light will stay on. If you force the light off with a MIL reset tool, etc., then it'll just come back on again.

Don't touch anything in the engine bay - just get a code reader on it first, then decide what, if anything, to do.

Cheers,
Robin

[Jordan]

Thanks guys, the light went off today and no more jerkyness when in 2nd gear... I think the problem was what steviej suggested, so thanks learn somthin new everyday

[campbell]

Something else to learn: If you post in Technical, one of our Fully Qualified Geeks will be along fairly shortly to help. Cross posting to General Chat just 25 mins later isn't strictly necessary

Glad you got a result.

Oh, and one other thing.

Just about every issue that's arisen with the cars (and sometimes computers, networks, even boilers!) which crops up in SE, gets solved with step by step investigation or diagnosis. Resist the temptation to keep chucking random solutions at a problem in the hope one might strike lucky. Take a browse through Technical one rainy day, actually...and do a tally of which members seem to know what they are talking about. Revealing, and possibly even entertaining too!

[Jordan]

Problem is back folkes...washed car today then took it for a spin, the light came on and i thought it was maybe some water got into somthing so i parked it back in my garage and shut the door and put a couple fan heaters on to dry what ever water there was ear the engine... Started the car a few times and the light went off, i thought problem had been solved but...
I went out again and it was jumpy in 2nd gear again an some loud pops/backfires too..

Not sure whats causing this...
Ive got new NGK spark plugs to be fitted dont know if that will helpthe situation or not

[robin]

Now the light is back on get the codes read out of the ECU and post them up. The ECU stores the codes to make it easier to diagnose this type of fault - no point second guessing it. People changing stuff at random often causes secondary faults that confuses matters. Any garage will have an OBDII code reader these days. Read the codes, ask them to check live data for obviously out-of-whack values and take it from there.

Cheers,
Robin

[campbell]

The SE Cavalry has arrived, Jordan. Let them know what you find on the OBD readouts!

[Jordan]

Thats the problem now fixed fellow elise drivers
It was needing a new ignition coil sleeve thats what was causing the misfire and jerky acceleration.

For you fife drivers i highly reccomend Falkland Performance in Glenrothes!