Is my MIL light disabled and how do i make it work again?

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ChrisSalter

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Hi All,

I have a 2001 A3 1.9tdi sport

My MIL light, it doesnt appear to work
Basically i unplugged allsorts from the brake fluid sensor to the abs sensors and no matter what i do the MIL light does not illuminate,
Is it possible that is has been disabled? if so then how do i make it work again?

Any help is much appreciated
 
It's very possible, some people use a small piece of black electrical tape to cover the indicator, others just remove the LED .
Car will fail an MOT if an indicator is lit, some people just find it easier to disable the indicator rather than fix the real fault.
I would get yourself a VAG COM cable and check the car for faults. They are only £5 off flea bay.
 
"Car will fail an MOT if an indicator is lit" I don't think it fails if the MIL is illuminated, only AIR BAGS and ABS / TRACTION CONTROL, I'm not even sure the brake wear indicator will fail the MOT if the brakes are okay.

plug in a cheap android torque blue-tooth ECU reader to see if these are "pending" faults - but if the bulb was removed the MIL wont show up on ignition "2".
 
Current MOT process,
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploa...ion-manual-for-class-3-4-5-and-7-vehicles.pdf

Section 3.4
Method of Inspection
If the vehicle is fitted with an ABS and/or ESC system, check that the relevant warning lamp(s):


a. is fitted

b. illuminates

c. does not indicate a fault

Reason for Rejection
A warning lamp:


a. is missing

b. does not illuminate

c. indicates a fault

Disconnecting an ABS sensor should get the ABS fault light illuminated.
 
All warning/dash lights should come on for a few seconds when you first switch the ignition on... If they don't, they're either broken or have been deliberately disabled. . . My money would be on the latter!

This would certainly be the quickest and easiest way to see which lights (if any!?) are functioning...
 
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Hi, sorry for the delay, (seems the email notification isnt working)

I'm going to remove the dash and see if there has been any tampering or not, i'd rather know if there was something, rather than be unaware.

I do have a cheap cable and VAG Lite shows a couple of faults, G85 steering sensor and an overboost fault (cant remember the exact code P1775 or P1755 possibly)

Am i right in thinking that with these present the MIL should be on?
 
ChrisSalter said:
Hi, sorry for the delay, (seems the email notification isnt working)

I'm going to remove the dash and see if there has been any tampering or not, i'd rather know if there was something, rather than be unaware.

I do have a cheap cable and VAG Lite shows a couple of faults, G85 steering sensor and an overboost fault (cant remember the exact code P1775 or P1755 possibly)

Am i right in thinking that with these present the MIL should be on?
Click to expand...

Over boost most probably caused by sticky VNT and could cause MIL, is more likely to cause limp mode at the same time though...

G85 would indeed bring on ABS and ESP lights, it could be something as simple at tracking causing that though...

When you first turn on ignition, does ESP, ABS and EML come on for a few seconds at all?
 
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ESP No, ABS Yes, EML No, in the time ive had the car i've never seen the ESP or MIL lights at all

I can already see signs that the panel had been removed previously so i'm guessing its been tampered with.

As for the overboost issue, haha what can i say? in my haste to fit the replacement actuator i kinda screwed up and left no possible movement on the actuator lever, i've corrected this and now the turbo seems fine.

But i still need to get the MIL and other lights working correctly, my centre lcd display is showing age related issues so im thinking about replacing it completely,

Any advice or thoughts on this? I could either try and get a second hand one and replace the faulty parts or just replace the lot? what do you guys think?
 
Different clocks would have to be re-aligned or your car won't run, fixing the eml and having the info panel replaced would be better.
 
Hi - bit late to this thread but I have a similar problem; my ECU light doesn't work.
Car runs fine though.
Any help gratefully accepted.

Ta.
 
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