To risk using my car with engine management light on

[Damonlufc88]

Got the orange light last night as I was just pulling home from work at 9pm. Its been a little loud and juddering for a couple of days now. MOT and service is booked for Tuesday anyway. My ASD son has his swimming class today 11 miles away, do l risk the car as have no plans to use it until I take it the garage Tuesday.

My light flashes up at entirely random moments and slows the engine down, like I can't go over 20 mph and it feels really heavy

I ignored limp mode for a while, it ended up in nearly 4 grand of repairs.

I wouldnt risk it OP. On my own, maybe because I pay a canny chunk of change in breakdown cover. But not with my ASD son with me. Not worth it.

As PP I would risk It but I have breakdown cover and I drive an old banger that makes lots of noises!

It's 11 miles. Get a taxi. Get the bus back if you have more time and want to save money.

Depends, if it's an older car then I'd probably use it on the grounds that it doesn't matter if the worst happens, if it's newer I'd be a little more careful. An ODB2 reader can be purchased cheaply to give you an indication where the problem lays.

Check the handbook too. There are commonly quite a few orange lights, mine used to put up a service light in orange.

It's difficult to know, on my old car this happened (juddery too) , I only drove it the mile and a half to the garage, turned out the oil filter had disintegrated and started to go into the oil pump, mechanic said if I'd driven it any further I could've basically ruined the engine

"It's tricky isn't it? Why don't these fancy electric cars actually tell us what's bothering them rather than just flashing a light?grin"

They do, petrol and diesel too. You need an OBD scanner to communicate with them though.

OP There a many reasons why the lamp will come on. Some serious, some not so. Depending on the car, serious ones tend to put the car in limp mode. In any case, if the light is on, the car will fail its MoT test so you will need to get it looked at.

Sounds like you might need a new coil set, which means you’re likely to stall.

Remarkable conclusion based on absolutely no information! You don't even know whether the car's got a petrol engine.

Could you diagnose this pain I've got as well please?

Mine has been on intermittently for years. Nothing major wrong with the car and it's still running ok. But I'm quite blase about my car as it's 14 years old, with 185,000 miles on the clock so doesn't owe me anything!

Don’t drive it and call breakdown service for advice

I would definitely risk it - but I am in the RAC and don't fear breaking down.

www.carbuyer.co.uk/tips-and-advice/155372/engine-management-light-top-5-causes-of-amber-engine-warning-light

My engine warning light has been on for 2 years

"but I am in the RAC and don't fear breaking down"

So am I. Breaking down, even with breakdown cover, can be a real pain in the bum. Last time broke down was in Heidelberg and it added four days to my journey home.

The question to ask yourself is how would your ASD son cope if the car broke down while they were in it.

Would he be able to cope with waiting for recovery and traveling home in a different vehicle?

Some might find that a thrilling adventure others might find it terrifying.

I wouldn't.
My cars engine management light came on at as I arrived at work and 8 hours later it conked out a couple of miles from home.

Could you diagnose this pain I've got as well please?

Certainly, sounds like you’ve got your knickers in a twist! HTH.

Mine comes on all the time anytime the battery gets slightly low. It's a common fault on that model of car. My theory is that I'll just keep going til it stops, which it never does, and every time it goes into the garage they say there is nothing wrong and it's an intermittent fault.

My SERV + airbag lights have been on since I drove home from a friend's wedding in 2010. That couple are divorced now.

(It's something to do with seatbelt sensors apparently and the mechanic can usually get it to go off for the MoT and then it comes back on about a week later.)

The light in my Astra came on so easily, if you farted on popped the light! A bump in the road...engine management light. I took it on so many times and it was a sensor issue. I eventually stopped. It was a year old.

Please explain the logic behind saying my engine light has been on for 2 years so you'll be fine. That's ridiculous.

On that basis warning lights could safely be ignored because a random person on the internet said they haven't had a problem. Some people are extremely hard of thinking not to mention giving potentially dangerous advice.

I didn't say op would be fine.

I said my engine light had been on for 2 years so it does not necessarily mean something dramatic.

We don't know if op's car will be ok or not. Not beong Mystic Meg 'n' all

I've driven for 6 months with the orange engine management light on, but I knew it was only a sensor for emissions and the was actually fine. I just got it fixed at MOT time as it would have failed otherwise.