Engine lights on in France - get a cheap code reader (1 Viewer)

[Googlebot]

At a remote mountain crag Wednesday and beeping starts, warning flashes up and engine light comes on. I crapped myself it would go into limp mode so headed straight back to a main road from the gravel track we had arrived on.

Van has been fine, 2.3 130BHP Fiat, 2013 model.

Plugged in cheap eBay code reader and it said the DPF pressure sensor was reading low. No chance of it being blocked then, or it would be high. Think sensor might be broken.

Went straight to garage, grunted and sent me to Briancon 30 minutes away. Found a Fiat professional dealer, permanently closed, found another one, closed for 3 weeks from tomorrow. Sent me to a motor factors in Briancon.

Through Google translate and pictures, managed to get a new sensor ordered for today. €73 later and sensor has arrived and is the correct one. Fitted it on the car park with my basic tool kit.

Turned on engine and turned off the light with the code reader and so far so good, it hasn’t come back on.

The traction control did have a wobble when I initially restarted, but I think that might be a red herring. All earth connections are good but will double check if it comes back.

All in all, very relieved and the £11 I spent on the code reader dongle for my phone is the best money saved ever. The garage wanted €240 to diagnose the issue.

Fingers crossed the rest of the trip is uneventful. Thoughts are with OldAgeTravellers and others who have a real hiccup. I could still drive mine fine and it didn’t go into limp mode, just an amber light and that was stressful enough.

Also, get a cheap code reader.

 

[Ingwe]

What was the code reader dongle thingie for your phone please?

 

[Googlebot]

What was the code reader dongle thingie for your phone please?

FOXWELL EOBD OBD2 Scanner Fault Code Reader Car Engine Diagnostic Tool WIFI | eBay

ELM327 V1.5 OBD2 Scanner support Functions List ELM327 V1.5 Works Almost 99% Standard OBD2 Protocols Car Models on the World. There's a device compatible with your Android/iOS smartphone or tablet.

www.ebay.co.uk

Like this one, can’t find the exact one I had. I use a free app from the App Store to use it called car scanner.

 

[CamperManLez]

FOXWELL EOBD OBD2 Scanner Fault Code Reader Car Engine Diagnostic Tool WIFI | eBay

ELM327 V1.5 OBD2 Scanner support Functions List ELM327 V1.5 Works Almost 99% Standard OBD2 Protocols Car Models on the World. There's a device compatible with your Android/iOS smartphone or tablet.

www.ebay.co.uk

Like this one, can’t find the exact one I had. I use a free app from the App Store to use it called car scanner.

Good you managed to sort this yourself, question....... the car scanner App, can you be more specific which one you used, I note several options when doing a search and the one i found called car scanner came up with later model vehicles only?

 

[Two on Tour]

I have a Bluetooth OBD2 code reader permanent attached to our diagnostic portal, and have the Torque Pro app on our vans head unit. It has sorted a few gremlins that have come out way while on the road and had us up and running again within minutes.

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[Reallyretired]

As essential a tool as a 10mm spanner these days. I had a warning of low turbo pressure last time away. There was a split in the pipe.

 

[Googlebot]

Good you managed to sort this yourself, question....... the car scanner App, can you be more specific which one you used, I note several options when doing a search and the one i found called car scanner came up with later model vehicles only?

‎Car Scanner ELM OBD2

‎Check what your car is doing in realtime, get OBD fault codes, car performance, sensor data and more! Car Scanner is a vehicle / car performance / trip computer / diagnostics tool and scanner that uses an OBD II Wi-Fi or Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth LE) adapter to connect to your OBD2 engine...

apps.apple.com

This one.

 

[the1andonly]

Googlebot I dont know if yours is a pre or post facelift X250. If post with a Marrelli ecu the differential dpf sensor has to be taught to the ecu, if pre facelift with Bosch ecu it doesn't.
like Two on Tour I have a Bluetooth OBD2 code reader permanent attached to my OBD2 port, and have the Torque Pro app on phone and tablet. I also have Alfaobd on both the advantage being Alfa can "talk Fiat" and do all the Adjustments routines. For the tight fisted Alfaobd free version can do all the reading you need, then when you really need it spend your 30 quid. (Assumimg you buy a compatible bt 4 dongle not a cheap £10 one)
Since i also use my laptop for photography on most trips i then have Multiecuscan with me anyway.

 

[Googlebot]

Googlebot I dont know if yours is a pre or post facelift X250. If post with a Marrelli ecu the differential dpf sensor has to be taught to the ecu, if pre facelift with Bosch ecu it doesn't.
like Two on Tour I have a Bluetooth OBD2 code reader permanent attached to my OBD2 port, and have the Torque Pro app on phone and tablet. I also have Alfaobd on both the advantage being Alfa can "talk Fiat" and do all the Adjustments routines. For the tight fisted Alfaobd free version can do all the reading you need, then when you really need it spend your 30 quid. (Assumimg you buy a compatible bt 4 dongle not a cheap £10 one)
Since i also use my laptop for photography on most trips i then have Multiecuscan with me anyway.

It is working currently and no fault codes are coming up.

It is a 2012 model from the factory, not sure what ECU is in there. When I get home, I will investigate some more.

 

[SteveandSueJ]

I have a plug in odb reader and great for engine but not gearbox as have 2009 3.0 Comformatic. Have free multicuescan on laptop but it won't talk to my BT dongle. Says I need ELM327 ODB V1.3. Does anyone with similar engine/gearbox have a working reader to suggest for gearbox codes please?

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[Oldwindsurfer]

Great news you fixed it yourself. I am always careful of reseting codes, as you may also reset an important one and this can cause problems in the future, but if it worked for you, well done.

 

[Sleeveless]

I feel your pain ! France is a crappy place to break down , I got towed to a Renault dealer's recovery compound with non start after being in limp mode. The owner tried 4 Peugeot dealers who all quoted 3 weeks lead time just to diagnose , so with my code reader and basic tool kit , I diagnosed and changed the EGR valve , The Renault dealer shafted me over the price of the part but I forgive him as he had real trouble sourcing it. Anyway , We were back on the road in 24 hours to make an appointment in Milan.

 

[Oldwindsurfer]

Looks like a handy piece of kit to get you running again. Is it ok for Peugeot Boxers? sorry never used one yet.

 

[Sleeveless]

Looks like a handy piece of kit to get you running again. Is it ok for Peugeot Boxers? sorry never used one yet.

Yes will do Boxers and most other OBD2 vehicles , will only read / clear codes though , not airbags etc. About £20 on Amazon.

 

[Googlebot]

Great news you fixed it yourself. I am always careful of reseting codes, as you may also reset an important one and this can cause problems in the future, but if it worked for you, well done.

I read all codes before clearing them, only ones related to the DPF pressure sensor were present.

Normally, first thing a garage will do is clear all codes and see which ones come back.

Happy to say it seems okay at the moment and running fine again. I can’t fault the motor factors in Briancon. We are in the equivalent of the Scottish Highlands and the right part arrived in less than 48 hours. He couldn’t have been more helpful.

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[Oldwindsurfer]

Yes will do Boxers and most other OBD2 vehicles , will only read / clear codes though , not airbags etc. About £20 on Amazon.

Thank you, one more to add to my tool kt.

 

[GeeCee]

Well done you've saved yourself a lot of money. I had a DPF fault reported on my van and took it into a Fiat Professional garage in the UK. They wanted £5000 to fix it. I took it to a local garage and they charged me a couple of hundred. It took him 3 attempts to fix the fault, the last fix being to replace the sensor, but reimbursed me for the first two failed attempts.
Incidentally I got the initial failure at the start of a trip to Croatia and back. Not wanting to stop the holiday and suffering no loss of power I carried on driving and it cleared itself a couple of times before coming on again. I tried using over the counter DPF cleaners that you add to your diesel tank and that seemed to work. But the fault kept coming back. In the end I drove around 3000 miles with the fault coming and going. It was only on return home that I took it to the FIat garage. I'm not sure if that makes me lucky or a fool. But I got away with it.

 

[rod_vw]

By no means cheap but I carry a VCDS dongle and laptop that will diagnose 99% of all modern VAG range of vehicles.

It's an unlimited VIN version so if anyone with a VAG vehicle needs access to it in my area please give me a call.

 

[mikeyv]

My 2014 Peugeot Boxer oil light came on, when driving down through Spain.
Being from an age when oil light on at speed, was liable to be followed by a large bang, and also fortunately on a steepish downhill stretch of motorway, with a services imminent, I coasted to a safe offroad stop.
I was a bit mystified, as the van seemed to be running spot on, so googled it, and found that the likely cause was a service being due.
I then followed the prodedure given to clear the light, switch this, apply that, etc, etc... and to my surprise it worked and hasn't happened since.
My van has only seen a main dealer once, for it's first service at 2 years old, to avoid any arguments should I have needed to claim under the 3 yr warranty, and they were pathetic, charging me for work not done and parts that weren't replaced, then, when I went back to complain, the cheeky sods offered me a discount off my NEXT service!
Needless to say I demanded and got the parts that were missed and a load of goodies as compensation, and have serviced it myself since, but obviously not reset the service timer.

 

[Fazerstorm]

I always carry a code reader. I get the odd code come up. Make a note and clear it. I can then go thousands of miles before another one occurs. The oddest was an excess air warning. It came up a few times over the years. Eventually sussed it was always when I was accelerating hard, just as a gust of wind hit the van!
2013 year model boxer.

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[ontheroadagain]

Can you clear fault codes now on newer vehicles?
I understand that they have some kind of gateway that prevents it and codes are therefore read only.
Does anyone know what year this was introduced?

 

[Sleeveless]

Can you clear fault codes now on newer vehicles?
I understand that they have some kind of gateway that prevents it and codes are therefore read only.
Does anyone know what year this was introduced?

The security gateway should only prevent coding / reprogramming etc, but not basic reading and clearing fault codes.

 

[the1andonly]

It is working currently and no fault codes are coming up.

It is a 2012 model from the factory, not sure what ECU is in there. When I get home, I will investigate some more.

2010-2014 comes in as a facelift with Marrelli 8df ecu. sensor will need coding.
tip for anyone about to delete a code take a photo or screenshot first, even freezeframe data if you have it.

 

[Googlebot]

2010-2014 comes in as a facelift with Marrelli 8df ecu. sensor will need coding.
tip for anyone about to delete a code take a photo or screenshot first, even freezeframe data if you have it.

Okay, so what’s the problem if I don’t code it? It seems to be working fine currently.

 

[the1andonly]

Can you clear fault codes now on newer vehicles?
I understand that they have some kind of gateway that prevents it and codes are therefore read only.
Does anyone know what year this was introduced?

SGW security gateway
If you have SGW with a security gateway there is a cable that can be used to bypass the gateway. I can offer no advice if a particular model has one as it was introduced on different models at different times (Starting 2018).
The follwing is from a thread I posted on SGW implementation
I searched a variety of fora for threads that included SGW and came up with the table bellow. This is data collected from owner statements. The main issue of veracity is based around the date, is it the year of manufacture or registration, motorhomes may be registered 6 to 18 months after manufacture. Also there is Regional variation eg the following 2 statements are french in origion:
SGW appeared on 24/02/2019 on Series 6 (Fiat code 6Y, nuovo ducato euro6d). 2.3 Adblu (the modification number 23582, changes the glove box drawer.) (In UK this model didn't surface until sept 19.)
Ducato (Series 7c, ducato FCA 2021), SGW is integrated to BCM

Ducato	Peugeot	Citroen	year/reg plate	SGW	SGW in BCM
Yes			19	No	No
Yes			20	Yes		2.3 Adbu
Yes			21	Yes	Yes
Yes			21	Yes	Yes	Box behind glovebox
Yes			21	Yes	Yes	Box behind glovebox
Yes			22	No
Yes			71		Yes
	Yes		20	No
		Yes	21	No
		Yes	21	No
		Yes	21	No
	Yes		22	Yes
	Yes				Yes

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[the1andonly]

Okay, so what’s the problem if I don’t code it? It seems to be working fine currently.

Short answer i don't know
The only problem is calibration. It may well work as it is at least regen should occur. Just sort it when home. AlfaObd may be cheapest option.