So I ran a self test on the car this morning as I still have a check engine light on it.

Some of the codes were:
E200 (U2200) Invalid data for odometer (Invalid CAN message)
E197 (U2197) Invalid data for vehicle speed (Invalid CAN message)
9205 - alternator, fault wiring?
d900 - battery disconnected - interuption. nothing?
B2141 A141 - NVM Configuration Failure (No PCM ID Exchange Between Instrument Cluster and PCM)
B1318 9318 Battery Voltage Low

Battery is at 11.4v

A few 0606 codes for the ROM and EPROM
PTC 81
EVOLUME-C3
PA 42

And a lot of 282, 283 codes for things like fuel pressure/oil, etc. Which I assume is normal?

I partly got these readings from googling the codes from the self test, and I was led mostly to Ford forums. But it seems to check out.
So it kind of seems like it might be a battery/alternator issue but I haven't had any problems starting the car so far. I've only taken it on a few short runs and it was probably sitting around for a while before I bought it too. So it could be low battery from non use.
Also, is there a way to wipe old DTC codes? Or do they just go away by themselves after a while?
On my old Peugeot there was a strange method to reset the car, like put down the window, connect the battery, turn the key on and off, and click your heels together 3 times.
Is there something similar for the X-Type?

I haven't had a good look at the alternator/wiring yet so I may yet find an issue, but I just thought I'd throw this up here and see what you guys think.
Would a low 11.4v battery give me a constant check engine light?
Should I be taking a trip to the alternator shop?
Edit:
OK so maybe I was a bit hasty. I started the car and checked the battery and the alternator was charging the battery alright, it was up to about 14v, and after a spin the battery was at 12.1v. Of course it might be something draining the battery, I'll probably find out in a few days. I'll keep an eye on it.

 

11.4V is nearly dead.

Those codes may be as old as the car. A cheap OBD tool would be the least to use.

 

Yea 11.4v is pretty low alright. It was sitting at 12.1v this evening after a spin, so I'll see if it's the same in the morning.
I might invest in a scanner alright. I was totally spoiled with Peugeot-Planet with my last car. It was great..
I think somebody recommended a scanner to me recently here, I'll have to dig back through my posts and find the name of it..
I did the Mr. Muscle turbo tap yesterday (a bit scary!), and took off the EGR the day before and gave it a good clean, so hopefully they're not the problem, even though the turbo actuator still seems to have a slight notch towards the end. Might be a spot of rust in there or something, but the glowplug light is gone.
I also have some additive in the tank, so it should get cleaner over the next few days.

 

BTW do not just clear codes. You can get Catch-22 where the car can no longer help you because you cleared them.

 

gijoe, that is what I am going to recommend. Either take the car out for a long drive (an hour or so) or put the battery on a charger. You want to get the battery up near full charge if not at full charge. Now, let the car sit to get everything ice cold (ambient temperature). Once the motor is cold, start the car and turn on the rear defroster, dash fan on high, headlights, and both seat heaters. Let the car idle for about 5 minutes this way. After the 5 minutes, turn off the engine, open the hood/bonnet and then remove the battery box. Carefully, cup your hand OVER!!!!!! the battery terminals one at a time. Do they feel about the temp of the other metal parts under the hood/bonnet or is one of them hot (potentially fry and egg hot, hence OVER). If you have a hot battery terminal, then you need to replace that battery cable. The X-TYpe battery cables are known for developing a high resistance spot just beyond the battery terminal.

If both are not showing signs of getting hot, then I would say to get a multimeter. You are now going to start the car (all electrical parts off) again and touch the probes of the multimeter to the lead part of the battery posts. You should see 14.4 VDC (above 14.0 is good). After a few minutes, you should see it drift down to 13.7 VDC. If you are down around 12.5 VDC, then your alternator is not outputting any power. If you are down around 13.0 VDC, then we have a wiring issue and you are loosing some voltage in a main power line. If you hit this point, write back and we can take things from there.

 

Thanks! So I, kind of, mostly, did this today.
Battery had dropped from 12.1v to 11.8v overnight, (or it might have been because I had the door open and the light on. I can't seem to turn off the interior when the door is open for some reason!)

I took it out for a 10-15 minute spin to the shop and on the way home turned all the electrics on, and let it sit in the driveway with everything on for a few minutes.
Then checked the voltage with the car running, and everything switched on: 12.78v.

Turned everything off, car still running, and it crept up to 14v after a minute or two, and I think it was gradually going higher.. 14.01v, 14.03v.
Turned the car off and the battery read about 12.3v-12.4v.

The positive terminal was hot when all the electrics were turned on, hotter than the negative terminal (which was warm), but not hot enough that I couldn't leave my hand on it.

But the positive terminal quickly came back to normal warm temp when I turned off the fans, defroster, etc.
I'm assuming this all sounds fairly normal, but that maybe I might need a new battery or alternator in the future, and that "perhaps" something is draining the battery, or maybe not, it might just be a bit weak on the voltage side.
It certainly has no problem starting so the amp load is fine?

I've got an iCarsoft V2.0 coming in the mail soon, so hopefully I'll be able to get a better idea what's going on with the check engine light then.

It kind of seems like the battery voltage is gradually getting a bit higher every day, 11.4v, 12v, 12.4v each day. Maybe it was idle for a long time before I bought it. I haven't gone for a long drive yet with the lockdown restrictions, and just getting the brakes sorted and gradually giving it a proper service/cleaning, etc, so it could just be all the messing around that caused the low voltage.

I've got the codes written down anyway, so I know pretty much what they are. And it looks like all of them relate to the battery/alternator. But when I get the scan tool (mentioned above) I'll definitely read all the codes with that before deleting them.

If/when I do clear them, I'll know which ones come back, and which were just lingering, if codes do linger on these cars?
I'm thinking that it would also be useful to clear the codes, so that I'll know when they come back, whether it's as soon as I turn the ignition, or when a test (such as the actuator) is being performed, or if when I start the car, or when I rev it high, etc..

Or is there something that I'm missing?

 

(By law) Codes self-clear if the cause has gone and stays gone for 3-4 warm ups.

 

Ah right, good to know. Thanks.
I did change the fuel filter as well this evening, and it seemed to run a lot more smoothly afterwards. Before this I think it was juddering a little when cold, and sometimes jerking while driving, but I'm not familiar with automatics, nor with this car either, and thought it was just the automatic gear change!
I think the last owner maybe neglected it towards the end, or at least left it idle for a long time, and it was in need of some TLC; so it's been really fun seeing it getting better and better every day when I do a different job on it, clean the turbo, change oil, brake pads, etc..

 

gijoe, from the sounds of things, you probably have a bad positive battery cable. For the cable to be changing temps is abnormal. IT should have the same temp as the negative cable. This is where doing the check with the motor cold makes the temp difference that much more noticeable.

As for the codes being "self clearing", I would consider this a bit mis-leading. Yes, if your car sees a problem, it will lock in the error code and if you can start the car 5 times (each time reaching a minimum of 10,000 revolutions) and not have any error code come back, then the ECU will turn off the check engine light. But, the error code will still be in the ECU for recovery. Only when you manually clear the codes (either by using a code reader or power cycling the car) do the codes go away.

 

OBD codes are completely deleted after 40 (or 80) warm ups. But once they are no longer current they are flagged as such and of course do not put on the MIL.

 

Ah right, crap. But I suppose it's better than a failing alternator. Is the cable an easy job? Some jobs that seem easy can be deceiving!
But yes, it makes sense from an electrical/resistance point of view. Like, the element in a kettle warms up because it's basically like a resistor and you're forcing current through a "narrow gap" and heating it up. Or like sending 5 lanes of traffic into a single lane. Things will heat up!

And yea, I suppose my "glowplug fault" disappeared pretty much immediately when the turbo actuator freed up. But the code might be still in the memory.

Ah right. I also heard somewhere that the car stores "part" changes permanently, like if you change the EGR or the fuel pump, then it shows up on the self test. I haven't looked at every item in the self test yet, but I recorded it on my phone, and then took a screenshot of every individual display, so I must look them all up at some stage.

 

Those would not be OBD items so the car maker can do whatever they like (subject to any laws).

 

gijoe, it is not a hard thing. The big thing I would tell you is to remove the battery terminal first and put it on last. This will prevent any arcs and sparks you may create. If you read some of the other posts about changing the battery cable (there are tons of them), the best advice is to take off the old cable, take it to your local auto parts store to match up one they have on the shelf to what you have. If it is a little longer, no big deal. Shorter is definitely a problem. You only need to change the part that is connected to the battery. Lots of other sections of wire, but those don't seem to be a problem.

 

Ah right, good to know, thanks..
You just never know when an idiot designer is going to put a bolt in a stupid place to save a bit of space, and you have to remove a bunch of other components to get at it!
The internet is great.. back in the day you'd just have to go in blind and keep removing things without knowing how far you'd have to go.

 

So, the battery terminals look fine. They look basically new. I was still suspecting a bad battery so I have one on order.
But then I went out to start the car this morning, after being idle for a few days, and I wasn't a bit surprised when it didn't start. It was at 11.46v.
I also got a bunch of codes, mainly relating to fuel pressure/rail/regulator, but I'm assuming they're from the low battery voltage.
After looking at the battery, it's a Rombat (some Romanian company) it has a battery "light" which is supposed to be green, but it's black/dark instead. So I'm pretty sure it's a bad battery at this stage, although I haven't checked the far end of the terminal, or alternator, yet. so it's possible there's something bad there too. And of course there could be something draining the battery.
If the new one doesn't sort it then I'll dig around some more.
None of the codes came back after clearing them and the car ran fine once started. And all was fine when I started it a few minutes later again.
But I'd put money on the fact that if I leave it for a few days again the voltage will be low and it won't start.

 

Hi dear Chris.

I think i was looking in other direction and i replaced MAF, MAP, TPS, battery, fuel pump........................
First thing in the morning i will conduct you test, since in the night drive, with loads on her back, my old lady (A/T) kneels, lights fade away etc.

Thank you for your help!

 

Dimos, if you need any assistance, let me know. we can get you sorted out. What you are describing is a classic battery cable issue. Now the trick is to determine which one (or both) are your issue.

 

Good morning Chris!
I really appreciate that all you guys are around here and offerning us all this knowledge and support. I think that for some of us it would be impossible to posses and drive such a beauty if you weren't here, since maintaning this car is quite a load, if a service dealer involves. I thank you, all of you for this...

Soooo... what i did today:
Check the cables
- the battery full charged, cold -and easy- start, switched all electrical applications
- my lady started singing "i just died in your arms tonight", ready to leave her last breath form the electrical load. Switched her off
- i tracked no different temperature between the two main cables. MAYBE, the cable from + to fuse box was slidely warmer, than the main + (from alternator to battery)
- i removed battery and air filter box and lighted up the place, locating the cables
- in a first sight, all connections were visually very clear and bright, no dirt or green corrosion. What impressed me is that the cable from battery + to fuse had a 90 degree angle! I think this shouldn't be like this, i guess...
- i removed the fuse box and unscrew the + screw in it, as all every screw in the terminals. Sand paper started to service me.....
- i sprayed with contact cleaning the alternator's screw (it was shining like a new), the starter screw and all the "sandpapered" contacts. Left em to dry long enougth
- the screw holding the - cable from the battery to the chassis it was very corroted, tried to anscrew it, in vain. Spayed woth contact spray, something i also did for the - cable to transition box. What i did here is that i took a piece of cable and gave chassis contact from another place, living this corroted screw in its place.
- screwed everything back and ignited my lady
After the check & cleaning
She worked much much better, it became very obvious when i took her for a round around the block.
When all electric stuff lighted up, including AC, she did not reacted badly, just slidely adjusted the idle and that was all.
Thats all for alternator-cables battle!

Something more:
I have a P0122, throttle position sensor indication, giving me also a gearbox fault message. I found a used TPS (in the waiting for a new one i ordered) and replaced it, but even though that things got better, the code appears again and again, as the gearbox fault also. Could all this be associated? Could the persistence of these codes be an electrical related issue, rooted by a bad alternator??

Many questions Chris, i know...
But you here are my last fortress, the battle of all battles is ante portas!!!
Thank you very much for you time.....................

 

Dimos,
Remove your TPS sensor off the throttle body and manually check your TPS sensor can rotate upwards and relax easily to its end stop.
If the TPS sensor is mechanically struggling to self return (especially check when sensor is cold), a binding sensor will not reliably return properly and then the ECM gets mixed messages as it tries to make sense of the false TPS sensor position versus the other sensor inputs it is reading...
Manifold vacuum readings from MAP - if MAP reading high vacuum due to throttle body butterfly closed, but TPS jamming telling ECM the throttle should be physically open more, then teh ECM doesn't know what to do with gearbox selection for up changes and down changes.
You get rough gear changes and eventual gearbox error message.
I had exactly the same scenario 4 months ago....a TPS sensor failing to self-return so it was not tracking properly with the actual TB butterfly position.

 

Dimos, lets try the battery cable bit again, but not with as much load. Lets just do the engine, rear defroster, and dash blower. see if we can get a few minutes of run time. Then check the battery terminals for a warm connection. One additional check for you is to touch that 90 degree bend to see if that is hot. If that bend is hot, then there is an issue and it will need to be repaired (write me for ideas). I would be interested in seeing a pic of this bent wire. I can tell by the bend if you likely have a problem there.

The next thing that I want you to do is turn on the headlights, the rear defroster, seat heaters, dash fan, etc. Turn on what you can until the car starts to have issues. This should cause the headlights to start to yellow/dim. Having a piece of heavy wire (16 gauge wire if not heavier) with the last 1/2 inch stripped off of each end, I want you to install this piece of wire between the NEGATIVE!!!!!! (not positive) battery terminal and a metal part of the engine. When you do this, do you see some sparks occur and the headlights get brighter when the wire is installed? If so, this is proving that your negative battery cable is your problem (basing this on your issues you had above with this cable).

As for other electrical issues, if you are having problems like you are saying, then yes, I would be expecting other things on the car to be throwing codes. There are a lot of things that need a pre-set reference voltage to base what it is seeing off of. If the voltages in the car are being goofey, then these reference voltages can be too, making the computer think it is seeing something that it really isn't.