engine warning light in golf mk4 1.6

[McW]

Hello I am new here and I need some advice from more advanced users.

Basically what happen is this:

I was driving on a motorway and the oil switch broke and oil warning light appeared ... there was nowhere to stop so i had to stop after few hundret meters :/. Quite a lot of oil has leaked out. I have changed the oil switch, topped up oil, and the oil warning light which appeared is gone but there was an engin warning light also and it's still there. Is it possible that I need a computer reset? Or could it be something bigger?

Regards.

edit:

engine is 1.4 sorry my bad

[VAGMAN54]

if the engine light is on i would get a code read done first as anything related could have brought it on.but yes you need a computer to reset the light

[McW]

ok sorted, I went to garage today and they did reset the computer. Although they said there is something wrong with the air preasure as the air is gettin in from somwhere else (apparentaly not a big deal) but I've been advised to take it back if the light comes back on as then they will have to sort the air problem out.

[VAGMAN54]

ok ,but if its not a big deal why didnt they fix it,if a car is running lean its running hot..

[McW]

well everything seems to be ok even though if I open the bonet and accelerate a little bit I can hear it suckin the air in kinda thing. If something is going to happen again it would need repair for sure.

[zulu68]

if I open the bonet and accelerate a little bit I can hear it suckin the air in kinda thing

Just joined on here to search for this problem. My wife's golf has this. two garages have so far said they can't find anything wrong
A local specialist reckons that it's the throttle body sucking in too much air, so he's going to give it a good clean and investigate further.

I took her car in as it had the engine warning light come on. The fault was the front lambda sensor. We replaced it, and a week later the fault came back. Got a new sensor under warranty, and a week later it has come back on again, getting really frustrated.

[zollaf]

if there is an air leak, possibly from a split vacuum pipe or leaking inlet manifold gasket, the lambda sensor will tell the ecu that there is too much oxygen in the exhaust gas and put the em light on. the fault will be a lambda sensor fault, but not a faulty lambda sensor. before changing a lambda sensor, it should be connected to an ossiloscope to check that it is switching. this is a classic red herring, and this is where you find the difference between someone who can do diagnostics, and some one who can plug a computer in, read the fault code and change whatever it refers to. you have already spent good money on a lambda sensor that probably isnt faulty, and another one , when the second one worked as well. i suggest you listen for the hiss and find the airleak. a length of hose is handy. place one end in your ear, and probe around with the other end.

[zulu68]

you have already spent good money on a lambda sensor that probably isnt faulty

That's just what I was thinking.
many thanks for that. Car is going in tomorrow.

Just went to move her car and now the exhaust is making a racket. Had a quick listen, and it sounds like it's blowing around the cat. Hope it's not related!

[zollaf]

a blowing exhaust can also be picked up and flagged as a lambda fault. i hear of so many faults that garages cant solve, and the poor customer ends up spending a fortune on replacing perfectly servicable items, all due to the fact that the garage is too tight to spend money on training. the ecu fault codes only tell you what the ecu knows from its sensors. it is down to the technician to interprate this information to find the faulty component. this can be a time consuming process, but better pay for 4 hours labour to correctly pinpoint a fault than 1 hour to replace something thats not broken.

[zulu68]

Exhaust hasn't been blowing until today (at least that's what she tells me)
The warning light has been going on and off for a couple of months (apparently she didn't tell me 'cause she thought I'd be annoyed.. women drivers ! )