SES light

[speedyWS6]

SES lights??

Foolishly, after driving home last Sunday with a plug lead hanging off
i put it back on and then... wait for it.... fastened up the dipstick tube today
with the bolt on the head (got the right one as i had a temporary one), and to do
that i pulled the lead off of the #2 coil pack only to drive off cussing and
moaning at a still poorly running engine and then the penny dropped!

Popped it back on and it was fine but this fired up an SES light.

Not worried unduly and i was more p*ssed at having to find somebody to
turn the light off..... but after a few miles and engine on and off it cured itself?!

Just curious as i thought all codes had to be turned off by plugging stuff in and
deleting it??!

Glad it went off though!!

[1stbird]

From what I've read on the OBD II system, if it sees a problem once, it won't turn on the SES light. If it sees it a second time, it will. Once it no longer sees that problem, (normally by driving the car, turning it on and off, etc.) the light will go out, which yours did.

So although you can clear out the codes with a handheld scanner, until the problem is fixed or no longer exists, the light will come back on.

[speedyWS6]

Well,

You describe EXACTLY what happened!

The drive home Sunday threw no code and my forgetting to put the lead back on the coil
today after fiddling with the dipstick bolt it fired up the code and once popped back on... a drive or two later and it's gone!

Nice one!!

This site is a godsend for all the advice you need with these cars!!

[pajeff02]

Double check the attachment to the coil -- you should hear/feel two distinct "clicks" as you install the wire.