hanfrac

I went to get my car smog checked. The technician said my check engine lamp doesn't light up when the car is started and that's an automatic fail for smog purposes.

Is there an easy way to troubleshoot whether this is just a dead bulb? Any other suggestions on how to approach this problem without spending gobs of money?

Thanks in advance.

Frank

Turbohead

Which engine light is on ?
Do you mean the ! red warning?

hanfrac

There is no light on.

The issue is that when you start the car and it goes through its diagnostics, all of the lights light up. In my case, the check engine lamp (the left most light in the cluster, not the "!" warning lamp) does not illuminate. Apparently, this lamp not functioning properly is a cause for smog test failure.

Staffan

Show the manual for the technician.
That light isn't used on our cars, there is no such thing as a "check engine" light.

Edit:
When looking in the manual, there are 5 lights (in the oil temp/oil pressure housing):
- ABS warning
- Brake fluid pressure warning
- Low oil pressure warning (idiot light)
- Break pad wear warning
- Parking break warning

The ligth furthest to left is not in the manual.

Megatron-UK

Which of these is your technician talking about?



The left most one doesn't appear to light up...

Turbohead

What he Said!
Elliot

hanfrac

Thanks, everyone. Yes, it's the one on the left. It doesn't light up, but it also isn't in my manual. It's definitely there and if you look closely, it does say "check engine." I'll let the smog guy know.

Thanks again.

Frank
1991 965, Guards Red and proud of it!

ilko

I'm not sure how this works on a ROW turbo, but NA C2 and C4 cars in the US have a CEL (check engine light). Usually it lights up and stays lit when you have a bad O2 sensor. Pull the oil gauge and see if there is a bulb there. If there is, it's most likely dead. If there isn't see if there is a white plastic tab that replaces it. If there isn't and it's just hollow, then someone took off the bulb... You might want to investigate who and why (previous owner most likely, hiding a problem with the emissions system). Hope this helps.

Megatron-UK

I really don't think the turbo has a light there. Remember the turbo has no ECU to do diagnostics anyway.

Geoffrey

The turbo does not have electronic fuel injection, but rather mechanical injection. There is no check engine light associated with the mechanical injection. The gauge is common between all of the 911 models and therefore has a spot for the check engine light which would be used on the C2/C4 because it uses electronic fuel injection. Your smog station is incorrect and your turbo will never light the check engine light. If you pull the gauge, you'll find no bulb, just like you won't find a bulb on the PDAS spot either (C4 AWD).

ilko

Very interesting Geoffrey, thanks for shedding light on this, I stand corrected. Just out of curiosity, do you know whether putting a bulb in that slot would make the CEL light up at startup and then turn off? The reason why I'm asking is that I put a bulb in the PDAS spot on my old C4 and it worked just fine. It would light up every time at the track.

Geoffrey

Nope, I never tried it. The PDAS light is a fully functioning light in the USA models, however, the car is delivered without the bulb installed. I don't know why except for the fact that US folks don't pay attention to the "idiot" lights...

ilko

I read somewhere that Porsche decided not to put a bulb in the PDAS slot because they thought it was obtrusive. Didn't bother me when I put it in my old car, but I can see why some people could find a big blinking green light a little too much. Especially during hard cornering...

Gandara

Wow this post was a great read for me.