Engine light on

soundie1, Jul 14, 3:53pm
IM driving a 2008 S300 Mercedes. I don't drive the car much at all .But driving it to Taupo today the orange engine light indicator in the clock came on. The car continued to go well , really no noticeable change in the car at all. I have to return to Wellington on Monday .Can anyone enlighten me as to what this light means. ITs definitely not out of oil and there has Ben no change of engine note ,still runs super smooth as always. Thanks for your ideas
kazbanz, Jul 14, 4:10pm
It is telling you that "something" is wrong with the engine. not enough to put the car into limp mode but something needing your attwention.
meow_mix, Jul 14, 4:13pm
It's getting to that age when it's time for it to 'do a Benz'. Nothing but electrical problems from here onwards.
pettal, Jul 14, 4:18pm
gammelvind, Jul 14, 4:43pm
That was history, 95 to 2000 but of course you could be right, just the same as if it were a Toyota.

OP, the car us telling you that something isn’t within specs, you need take it to someone with a scanner, anything else is guesswork. Anything from a faulty sensor to the fuelcap not venting correctly.
tamarillo, Jul 14, 5:09pm
that so useful and encouraging of you. Would you say these things to someone's face? I can understand your TM name completely.
meow_mix, Jul 14, 5:30pm
It was just a little German car joke, you know I like to wind up the Euro brigade.

But seriously, would you want to be the owner of a 2008 S-Class with an engine light on?
thejazzpianoma, Jul 14, 6:24pm
That's exactly the sort of thing I buy cheap because people sometimes actually believe scare mongers like you. Then of course I fix it and enjoy depreciation free luxury motoring for years.

I would like someone to do a study on the cost to human life in this country because people are scared in to buying death traps like Suzuki Swifts and Nissan Tiidas.

Your "bit of sport" might give you a few seconds of sick pleasure but it actually causes a lot more damage than you might think.

BTW My parents owned several Mercedes of similar age and all were completely and utterly fault free. They did nothing but scheduled servicing.
intrade, Jul 15, 3:35am
check engine light usually only comes on for emission problems if its non emission related a normal scantool will just say no codes . A ok tool on mercedes is launch x431 the only tool to pull all codes for sure is the DAS-Xentry factory tool. and its 25 tousend euro plus subs of 4500 euro per year. So there goes that one . i can do a lot with launch more then a maxisys thats for sure.
msigg, Jul 15, 5:23am
meow-mix I hear ya, I wouldn't want one either, they do give lots of expensive problems, Of coarse some of the owners don't care about that and can afford the repairs, so as above you need to get a scan done and see whats up. Then go from there. All good.
jenny188, Jul 15, 7:20am
had this happen on my mitsi when I stopped on a mountain side to put chains on. Computer couldn't balance the very cold air (and lower pressure) to fuel mix ratio. Stayed on until the end of the day when I came down the Mountain and took the chains off.Was it early morning and very cold? My suzuki did this 2 weeks ago and it was due to a blown indicator fuse. Orange light is a warning to get it checked out, Red is stop to prevent immediate damage.
flack88, Jul 15, 7:34am
Its not the end of the world as some would thing,just get it sorted and continue to to have cheap motoring in a car that's built like a brickshite house and is comfortable and fast for the price of some cramped Asian shitbox!
rovercitroen, Jul 15, 7:57am
It could be something very simple. You need to get it scanned by someone who knows Mercedes and has the right equipment.
poppy62, Jul 15, 8:35am
They say Birds of a feather. Stupid 1st part of your post. EML lights come on in all makes of cars and has very little to do with how rich one is.
poppy62, Jul 15, 8:43am
As the more Learned have stated, a scan will point to a fault (if any) even a momentary drop in voltage in any component linked to the ECU will cause the EML to come on. Great car by the way.
ceebee2, Jul 15, 1:51pm
Is the gas cap on correctly?
axelvonduisberg, Jul 15, 2:09pm
you need to Google the Owners Manual for your car and read it.An orange light came up on my 2007 Honda Odyssey it turns out that i had not replaced the petrol cap on securely when i last filled up.
intrade, Jul 15, 2:12pm
how do you think the car figured that one out.
i know how . and its because of emisssions that you got told
intrade, Jul 15, 2:34pm
i am off to bed now here is the answer.
When you fill up the ecu sees the fueltank reading as full so you must have filled it completly by the sound.
Then when you drive off it does a evap. leak test and it fails with a large Leak thus the ecu turns the fuelcap light on the dash on to tell you you did not fit it correct or not at all.
Evaporative fumes must be sucked in the engine from the tank and are not alowed to be vented to atmosphere like in the 80s-90s Due to emission laws.
brokebloke1, Jul 15, 4:41pm
if the engine light is in the clock. maybe its time to get a service? old hondas had this with their speedos and certain falcons also had this with a spanner that would light up to indicate service due.
djrandomguy, Nov 22, 12:54pm
think about it like a rugby goal post, when you're driving there are certain parameters the ecu can live with and accept, a little lean, a little rich etc, and like kicking a conversion, as long as the ball stays between the posts it's a win, it doesn't have to be dead center, but if the car detects something outside of the goal posts, even just once or twice, it will log it as a fault and depending on what caused it, the engine light may or may not light up.