Hi everyone,

I was hoping someone could advise me on something.

I have a 2002 x type 2L Automatic (or 2.1 L).

Recently the engine management light is coming on but it was driving fine.

It was due a service so I took it to kwik fit and asked them to read the fault codes while it was in there (I know they can't fix this kind of stuff but I thought it would be good to know what it was)

They gave me the following fault codes. P1111, P1646, P1260, P1582 and U1155.

They didn't know what any of these were other than P1646 which apparently is a "Lambda control malfunction".

Since taking it home from there there is a yellow light on and the display reads "cruise not available " and the car is cutting out.

Can anyone give me advice about what all this may mean and what the damage is likely to be to fix.

 

MJ, we can probably help you out here.

The P1260 code is saying that the car saw an invalid key when attempting to start the car. I would personally ignore this as it has nothing to do with the lambda sensor issue.

P1582 is a message saying that the computer caught some "flight data recording information". So, something happened that made the computer record some engine parameters when a fault was occurring. This is normally done during "engine damaging" times. Again, I think for what you are experiencing, this is an erroneous thing as I will explain.

As for the U1155 code. I do not have a listing for that. But, I have 2 lines of thinking here. The more likely is that it is really a P1155 code, not a U1155 code. That would then be a wheel speed sensor issue. If it truely is a U1155 code, then based on the numbering, it most likely is a problem associated with your GEM module (the module that control the interior electronics of the car).

The P1111 code, this is what you want to see at all times. This is saying that all systems of the car are functioning properly and that no issue exist.

So, with all of this said, humor me. Take the car to your local auto parts place and have them do a battery load test. I bet you are going to find that they are going to tell you that your battery is getting older and it is at some life below 75%. If this is the case, replace the battery and see what you have at that moment. We have noticed that as the weather gets colder, people start getting random errors from their cars and it all leads back to a weak battery.

In short what is happening is as you start your car, the computer is starting to do its job of monitoring the engine. Well, as the battery gets older, the voltage while cranking the engine starts getting lower and lower. At some point, the battery is capable of starting the engine, but the voltage drops low enough that after the engine comes up to idle, the computer gets all confused because the values of the engine changed too much. So, it starts throwing out random codes like you are seeing.

 

Thanks for your reply.

Kwik fit did actually say that I needed a battery but I ignored them as they always tell you that you need stuff that you dont really.

Do you think a battery might do the trick?

 

Like I said, go to a local auto parts place and have them do a load test. Have them give you numbers on the battery. If the life of the battery is at 75% or less, replace the battery. See what you have then. If the battery is low on life, yes, it may very well fix our problem.

 

Thanks again.

I took the car to Halfords today and bought a new battery (it was needing it anyway) but unfortunately the problem is still happening.

The engine management light is still on along with a yellow warning light and the display still says "cruse not available" and its still cutting out when first started.

Does anyone have any further advice as to what this may mean?

 

NOW FIXED

I took the car to an auto electrician and he fixed it. Apparently there was a plug loose on the air intake sensor (or something like that, I didn't really take it in). It must have come loose during the service.

The light is now off (and stayed off so far) and the cruise control is now working and its not cutting out.

Thanks for all the advice.