216GSi lumpy tickover and occasional Check Engine light

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mzman
Club Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:51 am

216GSi lumpy tickover and occasional Check Engine light

Post by mzman »

Hi, I have a 1993 216GSi auto. Recently when warmed up the tickover has sometimes been very lumpy and occasionally the Check Engine light has come on while driving with no noticeable loss in performance.If I turn the engine off and restart the light goes off, again with no discernible difference to performance. From carburettor days a lumpy tickover indicated an overly rich mixture so I have replaced the O2 sensor. The tickover seems to have improved but the Check Engine light has come on again.
I emailed the club to seek help and John Batchelor very kindly sent me details of Engine Management System PGM-Fi. On looking at the LED to check for a fault code I observed the red LED blinking consistantly with gaps of just over a second, no notable pauses. I do not know if I am interpreting this right but I think this may be the instance of a single blink and the short gaps are the pauses suggesting a faulty Oxygen sensor. As I said I have just replaced this. I reset the ECU and off I went. All seemed well until I braked reasonably hard for a roundabout and limp mode kicked in with a big drop in performance. I changed from D4 to D3 to bring the revs up and then changed back to D4 and then the Check Engine light came on again and there was a return of normal performance so I completed my journey. I then reset the ECU before my return journey and this time with a warm engine it seemed to be in limp mode or was trying to learn my driving style for a few miles and then the Check Engine light came on, normal power was restored so I completed the return leg with it on.
Can anybody out there help me with this and am I reading the ECU correctly; as I say before a reset it is just blinking slowly but non stop. I thank you in advance for any help you can give.
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Johnny 216GSi
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Joined: Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:17 pm
Location: Birmingham - the home of Rover!

Re: 216GSi lumpy tickover and occasional Check Engine light

Post by Johnny 216GSi »

The flashing LED is signalling a code to you.

I've never had to do it, but it's about counting the number of flashes after a longer pause has occurred, which the ECU leaves so you can get ready to count the pulses again. It can be that there are multiple faults, so the ECU signals these with different numbers of pulses with a longer pause in between. I think the whole process then repeats, so it's a matter of counting the flashes between pauses several times to see what fault codes are there. In the table John provided you, the number of flashes correspond to a fault codes, which can be anything faulty on the car including any sensor on the engine, or things like the IACV, etc.
Rover 216GSi K reg. Flame Red over Tempest Grey

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Mr Teddy Bear
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Posts: 2481
Joined: Sun Jun 10, 2012 3:01 pm
Location: Bristol

Re: 216GSi lumpy tickover and occasional Check Engine light

Post by Mr Teddy Bear »

When was it last serviced?

Plugs don't last 24k miles for instance in my experience. Engine running issues for me, first port of call is plugs & air filter, doesn't cost a fortune and at least provides a solid basis to work from.
Also make sure that all the H.T leads are fully home in the dizzy cap, that can produce a engine warning light that comes and goes.


:)
Teddy Bear

216 Sli SRS Charcoal Met 1996

214Si Silver? Tempest Grey 1993
Paul_1978_yorks
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Location: Wakefield, West Yorks
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Re: 216GSi lumpy tickover and occasional Check Engine light

Post by Paul_1978_yorks »

Mr Teddy Bear wrote: Sun Aug 11, 2024 2:57 pm When was it last serviced?

Plugs don't last 24k miles for instance in my experience. Engine running issues for me, first port of call is plugs & air filter, doesn't cost a fortune and at least provides a solid basis to work from.
Also make sure that all the H.T leads are fully home in the dizzy cap, that can produce a engine warning light that comes and goes.


:)
Sound advice Tim, and not forgetting the rotor arm.
Current:
1996-N 214 SEi, 2010 Volvo V50 2.0 SE Lux, 2015 VW Up!
Former:
214 SEi x3, 216 SLi, 216 Cabriolet, 416 GSi, 420 GSi Tourer, 25, 45, 75
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