Car concern, on my own with dc and very stressed

[Un1678]

I know I may be spiralling with stress here but I am a single parent with limited knowledge of cars and I am completely reliant on my car for work and nursery.

Today mid way through a 25 mile drive, the engine light came on and said ‘maximum engine speed 4000 rpm’. Then there was another message coming up saying something like start up issue or similar.

I pulled over and switched the engine off and turned it back on and the light went off. It then came on again a few minutes later.

Put dc to bed and just driven it up and down the drive (have a long driveway) and it’s not come back on. I have been on the internet and it seems possible it could be a glitch caused by heat (been 35 degrees today) but if it’s not that, what does this mean? What will it likely cost to fix?

I could cry I feel so alone and stressed about this, have so much on with work and no support nearby. Thanks in advance for any advice

A couple of simple things you can check that often cause the engine light to come on are your oil and coolant.
The oil will be the dipstick thing, there will be 2 lines that the oil needs to be between (wipe the dipstick first then put it back in and pull it out to check it)
The coolant is most likely a ball type container you can visually check the level by pushing down on the front bit of the car to rock it which will make the water move so you can check the level.

Check your oil and your coolant.

If you’ve checked the two things suggested by PPs and the problem persists can you tell me the make and model and year of your car?
Hopefully topping up the oil and water will have cleared it though and you won’t need to bother.

@Loulou4022 thank you, I had the car serviced two weeks ago and it had the oil done so I don’t think it could be that!

@LightningTree @thejelliclecats I had the car serviced two weeks ago and the oil was done then so I don’t think it’s that. No idea how to check the coolant but could that have been temporarily impacted by the weather given its now gone off?

it’s a Skoda 2020 plate

If it's just been serviced then contact the garage and ask them for advice and book it in for a check if they think you need to.

You’re meant to do basic checks on your car weekly, including oil, coolant and windscreen fluid. Plus tyres (condition and tread). Those dooms like a good time to start doing that.

Is there any oil on your drive? Could be a leak somewhere.

So it's gone into "limp mode" to protect the engine from damage.

Check the oil and coolant levels per a PP - engine needs to be cool, so leave it until tomorrow morning now, and it needs it be on the flat to be reasonably accurate.

Have you added fuel recently? Do you do a lot of very short journeys in a diesel engine car?

Anything else happened ie driving funny, new noises, new smells?

Take it back to the garage that dd the service, they can plug it in to a diagnosis thingy to see if any error codes come up. Hopefully it’s nothing major, Skoda’s are pretty good cars.

I just spent weeks panicking about my car that was making a knocking noise, I was worried it was something major. Took me ages to get it looked at as the garage had no courtesy cars and they said they needed the car for the whole day. Turned out I had knocked the bumper and when I hit a certain speed it was flapping around 😬. I felt a little embarrassed.

🤣🤣🤣

That’s the sort of thing i’d do!

what type of Skoda is it? Mine does some weird things at times but is usually pretty really. (I have a Kamiq).

Last time I had it serviced I had a key battery and a few times afterwards I’d get in the car (by busing the key fob!) and press the start button and it would tell me it needed the key to be in the car 🤔🙄

but yes to coolant likely to be the problem.

Check the oil!!!!

We also have a Skoda, and had the oil redone recently and it just absolutely drank it and needed topping up a few weeks later. Was fie after that though.

No idea who says we're "meant" to do that but if be amazed if any significant number of drivers actually do

I was thinking that, been driving 34 years & never checked the coolant! Worried now!

Is it a diesel? If so it could be a blocked dpf ( diesel particulate filter). I’ve got a 2013 diesel so much older than your car but if I’ve not done long high speed journeys for a while and I accelerate too hard and in low gear it sometimes goes into limp mode and the engine light comes on. Mechanic told me it needs a regular blast on the motorway at speed, stay in 4th and get over 2000 rpm for like 30 mins and it’ll blast out the build up of soot, seems to work for me but this might not be your issue so take it to the garage and get it checked out.

Well that explains why so many drivers have broken headlights and bald tyres.

www.think.gov.uk/campaign/vehicle-safety-checks/

I was taught to do it by my father from the age of about 6 and it was part of my driving test to know what needed checking in 1995…..

Was it struggling to go above a certain speed when you were driving, and is it a diesel?

Google the make and model and type in the specific message it is showing and it should bring up what it is likely to be

I'm not disagreeing with checking being a sensible thing to do but weekly checks on modern cars with oil warning lights and tyre pressure sensors etc aren't quite the necessity that they were when you were 6. Or are you driving a 40 year old car?

Here

I was taught that when I learned to drive 12 years ago.

Google the warning with make/model/age. Also go back to the garage. The service may have messed with a sensor or connection. Have you got breakdown cover? Download Uber and look into hire cars in case you need them.

I am aware I'm meant to check them but I reckon I check them about once every 3 months, certainly not once a week. I have never needed to top my oil up since I had a car made later than 2002. I don't think I have ever needed to top my coolant up. Washer fluid I keep in the boot and top it up when required. Tyres I do probably check every 6 weeks or so with a little pressure monitor my dad got me for the birthday after I bought my first car.

@GreenFootstool no nothing like this at all. Everything was normal then it suddenly the light and information came on. Then tonight it seems to have gone off.