Hi all,

When does your engine management light go out please as my car is not starting and i noticed mine goes out when i turn the key to the second position. I have looked at BMW and a vauxhall and they both go out a few seconds after the engine is turned on in the 3rd position. Is ford different?

Hi mate, I'm not exactly sure but I think on my Fiesta it goes out after a couple of seconds after I have started the engine.

On my father's Mitsubishi Colt the light takes a little longer to go off, but he also has one for EPS (electronic power steering) etc so there's more that the computers have to check when starting the car.

I think it depends so much on different manufacturers, all have their own methods but generally the lights go off once that part of the system has performed its checks on various sensors - obviously if something is a miss in most cases this would be detected and the vehicle would display the appropiate warning light.

The second position on the ignition is where the key is while your engine is running, power is being supplied to all the various circuits as if the engine was running. The third position just supplies power to your starter motor.

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but if your light is going off with your key in the second position, then your ECU hasn't picked up or stored any fault codes related to the engine not starting. The light going off AFAIK means as far as the ECU is concerned there's no issues with sensors etc.

HTH

Thanks for the reply. What i checked with the BMW and the vauxhall was if i turned the key to the second position and just left it there was the lights stayed on, it was only when i turned it to the 3rd position after a few seconds did the light go out.

my EML light stays on until the instant the engine starts.

Thank you Stef i thought that is what was ment to happen.

Thank you Stef i thought that is what was ment to happen.

Yeah if you stall the car the EML comes on, because its detected the engine is not running. If the light is on after 5-10 seconds after the engine has started then you may have cause for concern, and the car may be in limp-home mode, but I wouldnt worry till then :)