Service light is on...HELP!

[Nikke Tse]

hello~
i had a look at a clio 172 ph1 i wanted to buy, but i found that the service light on the dashboard was on.
the owner said it's because he did some mods to the car (exchanged the original ph1 steering wheel to a ph2 steering wheel, sport induction kit, "port matching" and a sport muffler)

i'd like to know if what he says is true, so i can make a decision if the car is worth buying.

thanks=]

 

[Kirky86]

I'm sure the service light it quite literally linked into the mileage. Once its cancelled it knows when to come back on when it's next scheduled service is due by the miles in between. It's possible he's serviced it himself but not cancelled the light. has it got any service history?

More importantly, are the airbag and other warning lights turned off? If so - I'd consider buying it and then just getting a cheap service + the light switched off. Worth some discount though surely

 

[Nikke Tse]

as i remember the airbag lights were turned off, only the service light was on...the car has done 130,000km already...
on normal basis, how many km does the service light go on??
many thanks for your help=]

 

[kerry-w]

By service light do you mean the SERV indicator?

When turning the ignition does that come on, along with the airbag light?

As if the airbag light doesnt come on at all he has just removed the bulb, the lights can stay on beause of the new steering wheel I think though, the other modifications will not affect it though as im pretty sure the SERV light is nothing to do with a service, its simply the means of showing a fault.

EDIT: My cars on 140,000 now and I had it at 118,000 ish, no SERV light has popped up for me so I doubt it means it needs a service

 

[JackJack]

Service light has nothing to do with service intervals it indicates a fault.

 

[Beef-Mc]

Did you check the oil level, common one for the SERv light to be on and there to be no other lights indicated would be oil low. And as above, on a clio SERV indicates a fault, not that it needs a service.

 

[DrR]

Service light has nothing to do with service intervals it indicates a fault.

THIS

 

[Kirky86]

THIS

....Can you tell I drive German?

 

[Nikke Tse]

By service light do you mean the SERV indicator?

When turning the ignition does that come on, along with the airbag light?

As if the airbag light doesnt come on at all he has just removed the bulb, the lights can stay on beause of the new steering wheel I think though, the other modifications will not affect it though as im pretty sure the SERV light is nothing to do with a service, its simply the means of showing a fault.

EDIT: My cars on 140,000 now and I had it at 118,000 ish, no SERV light has popped up for me so I doubt it means it needs a service

the lights all come on normally and then the "SERV" light is kept on. so...how do i know which fault the car has? able to be checked??

 

[MicKPM]

The orange "SERV" lamp is there to say "take me to a dealer" as something isn't quite right but you're okay to carry on driving and also as above, check the basic things first such as oil level as this can bring on the "SERV" lamp if its low.

Failing that, I suspect some other bulb has either been removed in an attempt to hide a fault or has blown as normally the "SERV" lamp would be on with a system specific lamp such as ABS-MIL, ECM-MIL or SRS-MIL... either way, diagnostics are the next port of call.

Mick

 

[Nikke Tse]

Thanks for the advice everyone!!! it's great help to me

 

[OFFROADNICK]

Mine had serv light on when i went to have a look before i bought it ,it was just low on oil

 

[Nikke Tse]

Mine had serv light on when i went to have a look before i bought it ,it was just low on oil

the guy that's selling the car said he hasn't moved the car for quite a while, around half a year, does this also cause a problem??
thx~

 

[MicKPM]

It can do yes - My Alfa was parked up in the corner of a farmers field for two years. Because of this the A/C control relay and main earth for the SRS had given up so needed repairing before either would work again. Easy enough fix IF you know what you're doing but SRS really isn't an area to be playing about in if you don't know what you're doing.

Mick

 

[Nikke Tse]

It can do yes - My Alfa was parked up in the corner of a farmers field for two years. Because of this the A/C control relay and main earth for the SRS had given up so needed repairing before either would work again. Easy enough fix IF you know what you're doing but SRS really isn't an area to be playing about in if you don't know what you're doing.

Mick

woah~ do you guys have any advice for me on how to tell the difference between a good and bad clio??
because it's starting to sound like there could be a couples of problems every once in a while with clios...

 

[olliewebbuk]

woah~ do you guys have any advice for me on how to tell the difference between a good and bad clio??
because it's starting to sound like there could be a couples of problems every once in a while with clios...

Nikke, like most cars there are good and bad ones out there. Firstly what you have to remember is the the 172/182 are performance cars, thus are usually given a hard life. Your trick is to find the one with the least miles and the most service history you can afford.

 

[DrR]

^^^ Disagree, condition and service history are more important than miles.

 

[Nikke Tse]

thanks guys!! It's my first time to have a go to buy a car so i ask silly questions sometimes, thanks for all your help!!!

 

[olliewebbuk]

^^^ Disagree, condition and service history are more important than miles.

Er??

Nikke, like most cars there are good and bad ones out there. Firstly what you have to remember is the the 172/182 are performance cars, thus are usually given a hard life. Your trick is to find the one with the least miles and the most service history you can afford.

Blind much?

 

[DrR]

Low millage and service history doesnt mean it's in good condition?

 

[welshname]

Mileage doesnt mean anything on the F4R from what i've heard. I'm sure fred said they seem to put out better figures when they reach around 50-60k on the clock.

 

[olliewebbuk]

Low millage and service history doesnt mean it's in good condition?

Yes, I did mention service history. And I'd say 90% of the time they go hand in hand. How often do you see a fucked car that has a full service history and has done under 4,000 miles a year?

 

[DrR]

Chill out dude lol, if it's only doing 4k a year means it's only being serviced once every 2 years to get fsh.

 

[olliewebbuk]

Which is still within the recommended Renault period. I don't see the issue.

 

[GBH14]

random question and nothing to do with the topic but.... Olliewebb, are you the ollie webb who used to live in norfolk and owned a jewellers??

 

[olliewebbuk]

No. Lived in North Lincolnshire or Lincolnshire my entire life.

 

[MicKPM]

random question and nothing to do with the topic but.... Olliewebb, are you the ollie webb who used to live in norfolk and owned a jewellers??

Stalker alert Ollie!!!

 

[olliewebbuk]

Stalker alert Ollie!!!

Uh-oh!!

 

[GBH14]

Stalker alert Ollie!!!

Why is that being a stalker??! I used to know someone called ollie webb who lived in norfolk, which isnt a millions miles away from lincoln - im sorry for my enquiries!!!!

 

[olliewebbuk]

I'm still hiding my imaginary kids and wife.

 

[ddcup]

My serv light popped on and has stayed on en route to work today ? can any garage diagnostic equip read the so say fault or is it just specialist/reno ?
cheers