stuck in limp mode with engine light on

C3 16valve 1•4 diesel. Have taken it to a citrion specialest who indicated a faulty airflow meter. New one fitted no change. I turn to you the real specialests. How can I get my sons car drivable again. He is only 17 and has just passed his test. HELP

bikerman1 wrote:C3 16valve 1•4 diesel. Have taken it to a citrion specialest who indicated a faulty airflow meter. New one fitted no change. I turn to you the real specialests. How can I get my sons car drivable again. He is only 17 and has just passed his test. HELP

Hi bikerman1

A faulty MAF won't stop the car from running, starting or anything else. The first step to diagnosing a suspect MAF is to just disconnect it and see if the drivability improves.

To diagnose a 16v 1.4 from 2002 with the engine light on you need to get hold of the diagnostic tool called Diagbox or Lexia, they are the same thing in effect. You can pick one up on Amazon.co.uk (here) and in this link to ebay.co.uk (here). It requires a laptop to run the software, but is the only reliable and DIY accessible tool to use on an old model diesel C3.

Lexia is a learning curve and the lexia/diagbox topic is (here) in this link which may help with some of the early common pitfalls of lexia.

With lexia running you can grab the codes that have brought the engine light on (and possibly many more).
Read all the codes and save each one as a screen shot from lexia and then try to delete the codes. At this point the car may become functioning and the codes you saved as screen shots will be useful later on.

If you can't delete the codes or they reappear quickly, from the codes, use lexia to suggest more tests and checks and do them to fault deeper into the system.

You can attach the saved screen shots to your topic by attaching them using the 'Browse' and 'Add the file' buttons below.

Thanks for advice. Not really a DIY mechanic but will follow your advice as the specialist has not been able to cure the fault.

bikerman1 wrote:Thanks for advice. Not really a DIY mechanic but will follow your advice as the specialist has not been able to cure the fault.

You will find its more of a technician or IT expert needed for the first and second steps, quite probably why mechanics fail to get to grips with the computer side of the car? I think a positive 'can do' attitude can go a long way.