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 airbag light came on and it was diagnosed as water in the electrics, couldn't be repaired so had to write off. The car needed rewiring.

Unless you know what's causing it then don't risk it

Ello isn't the Spanner for it needing a service?

mmm I had that earlier this year. I drove straight to the garage, where it stayed till fixed. personally I wouldn`t risk a swimming lesson for it. It could be something or nothing.

@Elloello the spanner in the car is the service reminder light not the engine light. If you put your make, model and year into Google along with reset service reminder light it will tell you how to rest the counter. I find the garage never resets mine. Mine is very easy to rest turn ignition on press and hold the right trip button on the dash for 10 seconds release press again wait 5 seconds turn ignition off that is it reset for 12000 miles.

Air mass spectrometer is also a possibility, mine went while I was 200 miles from home, had it replaced (allegedly) which took over 2 hours because they had to have the part delivered (allegedly), 50 miles from home the engine management warning light came on again, carried on driving and took it in to the garage that I occasionally used and told them what had happened, they had a look at the Air mass spectrometer and said that it was definitely not a new one, they took it up with the other garage who reimbursed them what they had charged me which was a bit more than they would have charged me and they tried to give me back the difference, I told them to keep it, thanked them for their honesty and have been using them ever since.

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

This is such a bizarre way to view things.

Breaking down isn't the worry, further damage to the car however can run into thousands of pounds. But hey, so long as the RAC can come and tow you to the garage!

It's obviously too late for OP but when the car is warning you of something you need to listen.

Because of the noise, I wouldn't. My engine maintenance light has been in and off intermittently for two years. Turns out it was the dying battery that was causing the fault and it's no wonder a mechanic couldn't find it. I didn't even realise the battery was a problem until it packed in fully this winter. Mechanics have always told me that if it's just the light, the car will be fine for a small journey until looked at to avoid other problems.

Whenever a car starts making an odd noise I get it straight in. In your case, I'd not go to the swimming lesson or get the bus if that was an option.

Mine's been on and off for the last two years. It basically needs a long motorway run regularly to keep it off. Garage says it's fine.
Check the error codes and you can Google them and see if it's safe. I check mine regularly and as long as it's the same it's fine.

Mechanics have always told me that if it's just the light, the car will be fine for a small journey until looked at to avoid other problems.

You should probably get new mechanics. When the light comes on you have no way of knowing what the problem is. If you don't know what the problem is you can potentially damage your car irreparably. Can't understand the relevance of a small journey either.

I'd take it to a garage and put it on a diagnostic machine, that will tell you the problem. My engine management light came on and I was panicking. Took it to the garage and the machine told us the car just needed an oil change.

Orange light yes. Red warning light no.

What car have you got? You might be able to work out the fault code if one isn't displayed.

I would - my car had orange light and a red light. Orange light I was happy to drive with. I got it checked once with the orange light and they couldn’t find an issue so every other time I just thought it was fine. It it had changed to red I’d wouldn’t have.

elloello the computer on my car now tells me what the problem is rather than just a light.

It depends on what level of severity of engine management light is showing. On Ford's for example a solid engine management light means the vehicle needs some attention, but should be safe to drive (my old Ford Fiesta had these fairly often and usually meant an oxygen sensor needed replacing). In which case it should be fine to drive short distances and be looked at on Tuesday. Flashing engine management lights in Ford's indicate a more serious issue meaning the car isn't safe to drive / driving it could result in damage to the vehicle. Other makes of car operate a similar system but may use solid red engine management lights (rather than flashing ones) to indicate a serious problem.

Car making loud noise and juddering. Management light on. Yet people are suggesting it's ok to drive!