Hi. Wife's Demio had a check engine light today. Had the local mechanic pick it up and diagnose the fault. Turns out to be a fault with timing. Code says timing slightly retarded, he reset the error and said see how it goes. Wife picked the car up and light came back on. He said either camchain is slightly streached causing error or sensor is faulty. He said should be fine to drive until he can book it in next week. Car has just clicked 130k and is regularly serviced. Long story short wife got home left the car for 3 hours, jumped back in and drove back down the road and the check engine light was off until 20 mins of driving. This seems to me like the sensor may be faulty and the engine bay heat is causing it to play up. Would it be worth replacing the sensor to see if this fixes the fault first. TIA for any help and advice:)
mugenb20b,
Feb 4, 6:27pm
Yes, but more research should be done to confirm that the sensor is faulty.
intrade,
Feb 4, 8:02pm
well its clearly not the sensor now is it if the sensor knows the timing is retarded that means its out of time , it either has a streched cam chain or a fault on the variable timing gear .
i dont know how he said the chain is streched if he was mesuring with a scope the cam and crank sensor you would see if one goes out of sink mechanically or the sensor dropping out .
check engine light is on when there is a permanent parameter outside of the range the engine computer has controll over for more the 2 consecutive mesurments and will go out on the dash if it managed to come back within this controllable window.
So yes what this mechanic told you is absolut correct. So its a good start that you hopfully found a real technition not some swapatron moron. see if he is going to use a scope to check cam strech as that is the only way to verify it without just replacing parts and see if it fixed it. can also be a problem with the wiring that needs to be ruled out. Also part of timing retard would be variable valve system if it had it like toyota vvti could easy be a problem with cam-phaser . but i dont know if your car has that or not i got no cristal ball
intrade,
Feb 4, 8:10pm
do you have enough engine oil in the engine? mesurment engine off for 2 minutes there is maximum minimum mark on any stick between the mark from low to high is 1 liter on any car. low oil can cause timing gear problems check this as that would be the first thing as mechanic i would have done. if you find it low then i would foreget about the mechanic you went to if its full between the marks somwhere then you can be more confident in the ability of your mechanic
shore_girl,
Feb 5, 5:31am
Thanks intrade. Engine is the 1.3 twin cam vvt. OBD-ll error code was p0012 I am concerned about the quality of the mechanic as I've just popped out to check the oil and its at the lower mark. Wife said just now after asking, that when he turned up to look at the car he pulled the dip stick out quickly but didnt wipe it and re check. Will top up the oil and see if that sorts the issue. If not, will take it to another mechanic to investigate. To be fair last time I checked oil level was the week before Xmas. Its due for a service in about a month. I'm normally a lot more vigilant on these things but have been doing some long hours over Xmas. I miss my Mk2 Escort, so much more simpiler. Cheers
rlr29,
Feb 5, 9:53am
I'd have 1,000,000 times more respect for you, if you learned punctuation. Your scripting comes across as complete Hick. Dude.
gmphil,
Feb 5, 10:03am
don't top up do the oil change now
shore_girl,
Feb 5, 10:23am
Will do the change tomorrow myself. Not a major job. Will see what happens. We'll still book it in for it's scheduled service. I'm not worried burning $70 odd dollars on an oil change.
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 5, 10:43am
I think he does pretty well for someone discussing highly technical matters, in writing, in a foreign language he taught himself as an adult. Not to mention he is sharing his expertise which he has accumulated at great expense and time. for free.
Out of curiosity, can you speak and write fluently in more than one language?
I can't. I get excited when I can read some of the colours on a wiring diagram in Italian, and that's taken a few years of reading them.
shore_girl,
Feb 6, 3:27am
Just thought i'd post an update and to say thanks again to intrade for your help. Changed the oil and filter, started the car and check light was still on. Decided to take the I.T approach and disconnect the battery to reset the computer, restarted and check light is now off. Took the car for a good 30 min drive and no signs of issues yet. Oil was in need of a change and was just under a liter short. Cheers :)
rlr29,
Feb 6, 4:09am
No I can't either and that makes at least 3 of us.
realtrader1,
Feb 6, 4:40am
When writing, you say: I would (since you are formally addressing someone about a problem they have). To do so, it is really important that there are not glaring faults you have and attitude is important too. You write million rather than 1 000 000. As well, exaggeration in order to make a point is unwise so it would be best not to write million in this case. The last sentence does not read well and 'Hick' should at least be hick. Intrade may well be working on his abilities. It's good to help one another:)
jmma,
Feb 6, 4:52am
Hello Richard!
rlr29,
Feb 6, 5:07am
I was not pointing out simple spelling mistakes. His writing is near illegible. If I were to receive these descriptions on a work invoice I'd be concerned. In his favor, his verbal notation appears very 'Kiwi' not foreign.
jmma,
Feb 6, 5:18am
This is a Motoring MB, we understand him. So did OP and he sorted the problem. His favourite word is moron, just incase you didn't already know Lol
pc_uncorrect,
Jul 4, 9:51pm
Great result, i've learnt something new aswell, thanks to you & Intrade AA++
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