Engine Warning light - okay to drive?

[PJD]

Just got back after a 150 mile drive, - just as I was parking up, fuel low... engine warning light comes on, together with TRAC OFF light....

I have got to do two 70 mile trips tomorrow, - do you think it will be okay to drive for these journeys, as to be honest I haven't got time to investigate and I need the car?

Many thanks for any help

[royoftherovers]

I`d say NO if the warning light is RED, but YES if it is AMBER.

Check your Owners Manual.

 

Regards

 

John

[PJD]

Hi John,

there is a Red exclamation mark in the middle of the speedometer, but the engine light is Amber.  Left my Owners Manual at work!  Trying to navigate the online one is a pain :D

thanks

 

 

[PJD]

The Owners Manual doesn't say that the engine warning light could be either Red or Amber.

So in short, I have:

 

The Red Master Warning Light.

TRAC Off warning light.

Malfunction Indicator Lamp.

 

The Manual states taht the TRAC Off warning light means that the car is okay to drive.

The Malfunction Indicator Lamp states that it could mean that eh fuel tank is empty or I have a loose fuel cap.  The fuel cap is fine, however, it does have an LPG conversion the gas has just got low (still half a tank of petrol in it) - so could be something to do with that, will fill it up and see what happens!

 

[mikeyv]

31 minutes ago, PJD said:

The Owners Manual doesn't say that the engine warning light could be either Red or Amber.

So in short, I have:

 

The Red Master Warning Light.

TRAC Off warning light.

Malfunction Indicator Lamp.

 

The Manual states taht the TRAC Off warning light means that the car is okay to drive.

The Malfunction Indicator Lamp states that it could mean that eh fuel tank is empty or I have a loose fuel cap.  The fuel cap is fine, however, it does have an LPG conversion the gas has just got low (still half a tank of petrol in it) - so could be something to do with that, will fill it up and see what happens!

 

Mine is LPG, and I've run it empty a few times, it just runs on petrol with no drama or dash lights.

I doubt yours should be any different, but you never know.

[PJD]

No - it has run low once before since i brought it and it was fine.  I have just put both petrol and lpg and the lights remain.

There is no change to throttle response, - - it seems to drive fine.  Coolant & oil levels are fine  Do you think it would be okay to drive today?  Also got the Check VSC message?

[mikeyv]

7 minutes ago, PJD said:

No - it has run low once before since i brought it and it was fine.  I have just put both petrol and lpg and the lights remain.

There is no change to throttle response, - - it seems to drive fine.  Coolant & oil levels are fine  Do you think it would be okay to drive today?  Also got the Check VSC message?

That has to be your call I'm afraid, it's always a difficult one to make without knowing what the fault is.

[Titch LS]

Phil, your main concern should be oil pressure. If the oil pressure gets low it will show up on the dash BIG TIME ie Warning Message/flashing light and audible warning tone. Before that happens it will show up with a LOW ENGINE OIL sign first. You get plenty of warning.  Also, is the red warning light you have showing a brake malfunction sign? If so, I woudn't drive it if I were you.

[royoftherovers]

1 hour ago, mikeyv said:

That has to be your call I'm afraid, it's always a difficult one to make without knowing what the fault is.

Phil,

Any red warning light is a NO drive (unless it is the handbrake warning light telling you to release the handbrake).

Regards

John

[jonthetourist]

I have a feeling I got the scary red warning light for the tyre pressure sensor, which is just a case of holding the button to reset.

[PJD]

Appreciate your input everyone, thanks.

I took it down the local garage, they kindly plugged it into their computer for me for free.

It was the exhaust Lambda Sensor which triggered it.  Work that one out.

As I said, it happened near the time the LPG ran out (could be unrelated), but the garage commented that because I have an LPG conversion, and a ram-air in-take, it may have confused it somehow.  They reset it, the light have gone, and after 200 miles yesterday they've remained off.  

JemLexus are going to be inspecting the car soon, I will ask them to see if they can investigate what happened and see if they can prevent it happening again, - if that's possible?  I don't want the worry of having that 'cry wolf' on a regular basis...

Not sure if this sensor is a legal requirement, can be disabled, or whether it's unavoidable with a different air intake/lpg?