[MacDaddy]

2001 Manual V6 GV...
Was on my way to the gym on friday, and noticed the " Check Engine " light was on, didnt notice anything unusual, it ran fine, so continued on...

When i had finished at the gym, 3rs later, got in started her up, and the Check Engine light went off as usual... i thought if there was a fault/error, it had to be reset to clear it ?

Anyway, got it home, and started checking for anything obvious, couldnt find anything, so checked all the fluids, and for leaks etc, found the engine oil a bit low, it was just over the lower mark on the dipstick not running, and didnt read any oil on dip stick with engine running, so put in about a litre of oil in, it now reads 2/3rds up the dip stick not running, could a bit low on oil show as an error as possible low oil pressure or something ?

I havnt used the GV since, but will keep an eye on it, if it comes on again, will have to take it to Suzistore to get checked...
If the light goes off by itself, does it still have what the error/problem is in its ECU memory ?
If i take it in to get looked at, i dont want it showing nothing on the Diagnostic tool...

Thanks...

[atari4x4]

pull the error codes you self, there is plenty of info on this subject.

low oil won't trigger it from memory, that's what the helicopter light on the dashboard is for.

here is a picture of a helicopter hovering over water


you can do it with a paper clip, last section of the first image walks you through the process.

[fordem]

MacDaddy wrote:

I havnt used the GV since, but will keep an eye on it, if it comes on again, will have to take it to Suzistore to get checked...
If the light goes off by itself, does it still have what the error/problem is in its ECU memory ?

Yes it does - there are active codes (light will be on) and stored codes (light may be off).

[Chop]

Thats down a fair wack, how far are you going with oil change intervals? I'm doing mine at 5000 but even with the trip and doing just under 10,000 km in 4 weeks its still on the high mark and a good colour thankfully.

[MacDaddy]

@ atari - Thanks for the info... I tried to check the code, but not being very sure of what i am doing, i didnt want to bridge out wires unless i was doing it to the right ones, would have been great if someone could have show me exactly what to do, or get pictures of it, but there you go...

fordem wrote:

MacDaddy wrote:

I havnt used the GV since, but will keep an eye on it, if it comes on again, will have to take it to Suzistore to get checked...
If the light goes off by itself, does it still have what the error/problem is in its ECU memory ?

Yes it does - there are active codes (light will be on) and stored codes (light may be off).

Thank you, thats exactly what i wanted to know...

Chop wrote:

Thats down a fair wack, how far are you going with oil change intervals? I'm doing mine at 5000 but even with the trip and doing just under 10,000 km in 4 weeks its still on the high mark and a good colour thankfully.

Yes thats what i thought, cant find any oil leaks, and its not blowing smoke, they put in 5W30 Euro spec this time, instead of the 10W40 i usually use, the mechanic didnt know i supply my own oil, maybe the thinner oil is leaking past the rings more, i dont know, its never been that low with 10W40... i usually do a service at 3000, but been a bit lax this time with winter, will have to keep to my own set service schedule winter or summer...

[atari4x4]

it's all spelt out in the that extract from the FSM

the plug is on the RHS between strut top & airbox, with a rubber cover over it. it's a 6 pin plug & you want to bridge out the 2nd & 4th pins with the car off, then turn it it ign & it should spit out morse code

9 seconds in shows the plug in colour, the top of the plug is indicated by the little raised plastic bit & it's just a bit of wire covered in heat shrink that fits in pins 2 & 4

[MacDaddy]

Finally got the problem checked...

It was a Code 13, Bank 1 O2 Sensor...

I didnt think an O2 Sensor would make much difference to the engine performance and economy, but after the new O2 sensor was fitted, the engine feels more responsive thru the rev range... its definitely noticeable... and the fuel needle is dropping slower now, will monitor fuel consumption to see if economy is better...

[JrZook]

MacDaddy wrote:

the fuel needle is dropping slower now

Dam you must have good eyes and senses

[MacDaddy]

JrZook wrote:

MacDaddy wrote:

the fuel needle is dropping slower now

Dam you must have good eyes and senses

Well maybe, but, you get used to what your zook does, and you just know when something is different... and, as i said, i will monitor fuel usage to confirm it is using less...

[TheOtherLeft]

MacDaddy wrote:

2001 Manual V6 GV...
Was on my way to the gym on friday, and noticed the " Check Engine " light was on,
When i had finished at the gym, 3rs later

That's your problem...the gym...Exercise is bad

[losfer]

just to clarify because i see this a lot ...

the o2 sensor waveform as seen on an oscilloscope , and what your ecu reads .. is a wave pattern of up and down voltage . the ecu has a trigger point of what the ecu determines as an unacceptable voltage level returned from the sensor. sometimes this variation trigger can be .1 of a volt to trigger an error code or check engine light.

the ecu uses the oxygen sensor as a percentage of fuel trimming , so unless it is completely unoperational , the fuel trim over the most part is not greatly affected as it uses other sensors like the air flow meter (most fuel trim) coolant temp sensor ( big trim from cold to hot) and tps , so imho the performance gains that you feel must be mostly in your head. you may experience slightly better fuel economy.

some aftermarket ecu rely solely only on map or maf and coolant temp in open loop mode so no matter what the o2 sensor or throttle position reads it will only inject a certain amount of fuel determined by the atmospheric pressure within the plenum and the temp of the coolant