Engine light

[Skid-136]

Had the picture of the engine come up on the dash this morning,stopped the car and turned it off and back on but was still their.

According to the manual it's saying "emission control system" and to take the car to a qualified workshop as soon as possible in order to have the fault rectified.

Anyone have an idea what the actual problem will be?

Cat or lambda sensor maybe?

Car still drives the same just has the bloody light on the dash!

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The picture of the engine is the regulated engine management light (aka MIL)
If it is solid on then likely to be a sensor reporting something not right.
It should be safe to drive but until you plug in a diagnostic scanner to read the code it is complete guesswork

[PetrolDave]

It should be safe to drive but until you plug in a diagnostic scanner to read the code it is complete guesswork

+1

There are dozens, maybe even a hundred, reasons for the check engine light to come on. Get a scan done with VCDS, then you'll know what the fault code is.

[WilkinsonRS4]

Had the picture of the engine come up on the dash this morning,stopped the car and turned it off and back on but was still their.

According to the manual it's saying "emission control system" and to take the car to a qualified workshop as soon as possible in order to have the fault rectified.

Anyone have an idea what the actual problem will be?

Cat or lambda sensor maybe?

Car still drives the same just has the bloody light on the dash!

Ye mate my lights just come on tonight and it's bloody annoying here's a pic of the dam thing it's a nuisance ggrr!!
Is your light the same as mines on solid and doesn't flash!!

[harding]

My same light came up on my A3 3.2 V6 when my secondary air pump broke. Aswell as when i had to change the timing chain stretchers (dont know the english word for it). So i think that warning light is pretty much there for anything, huh? Better get it looked up asap!

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stretchers -> tensioner
Although stretcher sounds better

Odd that the MIL light is on without the EPS light.

Good news is that'll be a standard code - any garage or any reader (including 20 quid from Halfords) will be able to diagnose.

[PetrolDave]

So i think that warning light is pretty much there for anything, huh? Better get it looked up asap!

What we've been saying - so many reasons for the light to come on it's really impossible to diagnose without a fault code scan.

[Skid-136]

Right 1st off thanks for the replies guys. Secondly yes solid light and not flashing Wilkinsonrs4. Thirdly,just back from seeing my mate at the local garage who put the diagnostics machine on for me and came back with the following.

Fault code P0491-secondary air injection system bank 1:insufficient flow.

Sounds like it could be what happened to hardings A3

The machine cleared the code and I took the long way home from the garage to give the car a decent run and the light has never come back on. Do you think I should investigate more or just not worry about it as the light is now off and hasn't came back on?

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secondary air injection only activates when the car is stone cold during startup (and for a short period after).

Standard practise with any intermittent problem like this is to clear the code and see what happens. if it is a genuine problem then it'll come back on pretty sharpish.

[harding]

What they told me - the secondary air injection is only there to pre-heat the cats. Now, I usually just let the RS be on idle til the rpm goes down to 900! When SAI is on the idle should be on around 1300rpm for about a minute!
My understanding was the Secondary Air Injector is not really a serious problem. Correct me if i misunderstood this, anyone? (but i did let them change it anyway. Was like 400eur total inc work by audi on the A3)..

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Generally, you have a higher cold idle as the mixture will be quite rich. At normal idle speeds it could stall the engine or just make it a bit lumpy.
So yes, I'd only expect the SAI to be active when the idle is elevated as they are both connected with the cold start rich mixture.

The problem with the SAI on the audi is that like loads of things, it is connected to the vacuum system and if there is another underlying issue here it may manifest itself as a SAI error.
The fact that it is only reporting low flow on bank one suggests that the pump is working (and you should be able to hear it - like a little hairdryer) but perhaps the lack of vacuum is restricting part of the system.