Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

UK forum for general and technical discussion about the Z3 roadster
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Bertie
Joined: Sun 06 Oct, 2019 03:46
Posts: 47

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Montreal Canada

Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

Post by Bertie »

Hi
Driving home in a shoal of high speed traffic I noticed my engine warning light was on . Unable to get out of the traffic I drove 15 km home expecting to experience major $$ engine failure, but all seems well . The owner's manual say it's an exhaust gas out of spec problem which I should take to my friendly BMW dealer . Unfortunately he works on the " Neddy, give me your wallet and say help yourself "principle, so I would like to go in armed with some ideas of what might be wrong
I'm hoping to find broken wires, dodgy connections, or other simple problem bits of kit . As a follow up I just started the engine , the engine warning light stayed on with key in the second position and after the engine fired , the oil pressures and alternator lights went out as usual . I assume the Problem is logged into the computer memory and will need to be reset ??
All advice will be gratefully received
Bertie
Warrior
Joined: Tue 11 May, 2010 10:02
Posts: 497

  Z3 roadster 3.0i

Re: Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

Post by Warrior »

I posted this thread a few weeks ago...

https://zroadster.net/forum/viewtopic.p ... 51#p422247

I've not had a chance to get it fixed but my mechanic has ordered in brake sensors as they came up as faulty on the plug in reader.

May be done this week.
Bertie
Joined: Sun 06 Oct, 2019 03:46
Posts: 47

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Montreal Canada

Re: Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

Post by Bertie »

Warrior
Thanks for the link . I shall spend tomorrow checking hoses etc for leaks .
Bertie
NZ00Z3
Joined: Thu 23 Jun, 2016 01:26
Posts: 95

  Z3 roadster 3.0i

Re: Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

Post by NZ00Z3 »

You really need to get yourself a scanner. A cheap OBD scanner will sort your engine codes. If you want something to talk to the rest of your cars computers, you'll need something with BMW software.

I wrote up an article on Z3 scanners on another forum. Here is the link. https://zroadster.org/threads/how-to-sc ... -98.39937/
Bertie
Joined: Sun 06 Oct, 2019 03:46
Posts: 47

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Montreal Canada

Re: Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

Post by Bertie »

Hi
I had a good poke around the engine and didn't find any obvious cracked or disconnected small bore hoses . A scanner gave a" PO 45 - Evaporative System Large Leak detected " readout . I assume that there is a charcoal cannister somewhere with a disconnected hose ?{ I thought that I had detected a l whiff of fuel from time to time}
So , where will I find the " Evaporative System " and its hoses ?
Cheers
Bertie
Bertie
Joined: Sun 06 Oct, 2019 03:46
Posts: 47

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Montreal Canada

Re: Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

Post by Bertie »

Hi
Mr Google has answered my question on the location of the "Evaporative Emission System"
There is a great set of articles on Z3 maintenance on the US Pelican Parts website
www pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticles/tech-main-Z3.htm
The index covers 8 pages , the articles are well written and illustrated with excellent colour pictures .

There is a comprehensive article on the charcoal canister and associated piping which may help solve my problems with Fault Code PO455

Cheers
Bertie
Bertie
Joined: Sun 06 Oct, 2019 03:46
Posts: 47

  Z3 roadster 3.0i
Location: Montreal Canada

Re: Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

Post by Bertie »

The Z3 carbon canister is tucked under the LH rear suspension a real bear to remove , I decided to look at simpler options . Other sites had suggested that air could be leaking past the fuel filler cap. Lo and behold the cap wasn't tightened down , I tightened it until it clicked and BINGO the problem was solved .
Cheers
Bertie
User avatar
colb
Joined: Sat 05 May, 2012 22:46
Posts: 690

  Z3 roadster 1.8 TU
Location: Newport South Wales UK

Re: Engine warning light , Causes ,cures ??

Post by colb »

Thats the usual cause for that code, fuel filler cap not tigtened enough to produce the seal it should have or the rubber gasket failed under the cap itself. This sort of fault crops up on other makes so not something special to BMW's.
Best get yourself armed with some OBD2 scanning equipment as suggested in previous post by @Warrior personally I run a few on a laptop and a quick one to use on my android phone thats easy to carry around when out and about.
Laptop Software used, BMW INPA, BMW Scanner 1.4, Gendan Engine Check Pro.
The INPA softwar can be a pain to get loaded and functioning on a laptop and very clunky to use but can do all you need on a BMW.
The BMW Scanner 1.4 is simple to install and very easy to use, it reads all the modules on your car by automatically scanning it and you can explore each module for codes, clear them and do some coding. I tend to use this more than the other ones.
The Phone App Torque available on the usual App sites is cheap, you just need to get a ELM327 OBD2 emulator off ebay and a 20pin to 16pin OBD2 cable that will allow connection to the 20pin pacman diagnostic socket in the engine bay, if your car has a 16pin OBD2 socket under the steering wheel that only reads the engine module, the pacman socket in the engine bay reads all modules on the car.
Also invest in a B800 airbag code reader, they are cheap on ebay and well worth having in your toolkit.
The Gendan Engine Check Pro I use is the most expensive but so useful how it can display live data in graph form which I find useful for looking at fuel trims and exhaust sensors.
Colb
1999 BMW 1.8 Z3
2003 BMW 2.5 Z4
1998 Honda Deauville NT650V
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