Exhaust emission warning light

[kally]

Hi, I am spot of bother- Went to start my Polo Gti and dicovered it had a flat battery, so to get it going I push started it.
Now the problem is the Exhaust emission warning light (Next to EPC light on dash) comes on when the ignition is swithed on and remains on until I start the car. I have tried disconnecting the battery for an hour but the problem still remains.

Any ideas on how to fix this.

Thanks

[Red Lup Gti]

u should never bump start a newer car mate cause the cambelt might jump, it might of jumped a tooth thus cause the engine to run lean or to rich meaning the emmision's light will turn on. is it running a little rough?

best get it to a garage to get them to chech it over tbh mate!

[kally]

The car starts and runs smoothly

[morrismen]

This can happen if you bump start a newer car. Unburnt oil from the engine can seep into the exhaust. If it ends up on the lambda sensor at the top of the exhaust end engine down pipe, then when you get it hot, the coated oil cooks on the ceramic in the lambda and it will read faulty. New Lambda sensor may be needed.

[kally]

Does anyone know how to reset the light ???????

[bstardchild]

Hi, I am spot of bother- Went to start my Polo Gti and dicovered it had a flat battery, so to get it going I push started it.
Now the problem is the Exhaust emission warning light (Next to EPC light on dash) comes on when the ignition is swithed on and remains on until I start the car. I have tried disconnecting the battery for an hour but the problem still remains.

Any ideas on how to fix this.

Thanks

So it goes off when you start the car?

[kally]

Yes- When the car is running the light goes off.

[Red Lup Gti]

Normal??

[bstardchild]

^ I thought that too......

[kally]

Before the dead battery the light never used to come on and checked on a mate's Polo GTi and his light does not come on at all (his is W reg and mine is X reg -don't know if this make a difference).

Also reading the hand book it does not mention the light should come on at all but it does say the battery light and the EPC light should.

[JWC]

They should all come on for 1 second then the seatbelt light should stay on for 3 seconds. That is the way it works. If the battery isn't charging then the battery light will show, this is normal when only the ignition is on, as it obviously isn't charging. Sounds like you just didn't notice it before.

I think you noticed it because you had all the bells and whistles going until you bumped it. Should be ok, but you should avoid bumping your car unless you really have to. As the guys say, it normally causes unburned fuel to damage the cat - though the engine is usually cold; thus you normally get away with it. But not good practice.

Flat battery is the only time I called out VW assistance. I had gone for a sulk by a lake and listed to my stereo at full chat for a few hours...

[kally]

Now I am confussed-

Would it be possible for somebody to tell me what dash lights come on when just the ignition is swithed on (not the car), on their own Polo Gti. As it would seem either my mate's GTi is incorrect or it is mine......

[JWC]

There is a requirement that all lights should illuminate for at least one second when the key is turned so that one can verify that they all function.

If you leave the ignition on for bit longer, they will start to go out when those systems have passed their own power on tests. Hold on, will go check which ones stay on.... Ok, I get EPC, Check Engine, Brake Warning, and Battery not charging. Which is what you would expect to see if the engine is not running or has stalled, indicating that there is invalid / no sensor data. When the engine starts, the EPC and Check Engine lights go out and then the battery not charging light goes out, leaving only the handbrake / low brake pads / fluid lights.

So yours sounds normal. The entire Range is the same except for Diesel or if you have ESP, in which case you get a couple more lights to worry about too.

[flopsymopsy]

Thanks Kally

Found your thread during a search but it hasn't been bumped.

Scary that a bump start can confuse a computer though!