Exhaust Emissions Light on and flashing after Decatting

[JemJem]

Car: Opel Meriva (2003)
Model: 1.6 Club
Engine: Z16XE

Hi Guys,

i need some guidance and assistance please.

Last week Friday I took my car in to be decatted, after the Exhaust emissions light flashing when acclerating 60km/h and car feels sluggish, for about 3 weeks.

There was no faults reported on the diagnostc report after doing the decat, but the Exhaust emissions light keeps flashing when going 60km or above. The car does not sound sluggish though, but i am worried about this light thats flashing.

when i was doing research about removing the catalytic converter, my mechanic (whose brother has the same car), said that my car does not need to be reprogrammed after removing the CAT. even the manager of the workshop said this as well. hence i went ahead with the decat. There was also a CAT FOOLER installed as well. The guy who did the decat said that he has never seen the Exhaust emissions light flashing after doing a decat before. he said it could be related to the following causes...i will post a report from the diagnostics. He said it could be a faulty coil pack, or perhaps even faulty spark plugs.


He also fitted a replacment Lambda Sensor in after i took this photo, which showed the O2 Sensor issue. This fault did not come up again when he ran the diagnostics later.

Any suggestions of what i can do now? I'll need to wait till payday to sort out this issue. I would appreciate any advice

Thank you!

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

I read the heading as after defacating LOL
Yeah I know none of this stuff
/ping @FiestaST @SauRoNZA @Rouxenator

 

[berrypi]

start with the cheapest. Change the plugs. if that doesnt work...
Ask that mechanic who has a brother with same car... swap out coil packs - worth a try.

If you have a cat fooler then it should solve the issue.

 

[schuits]

"He also fitted a replacment Lambda Sensor in after i took this photo, which showed the O2 Sensor issue."

AFAIK the lambda sensor is fitted after CAT, and is the same thing as the O2 sensor.
If you are getting an exhaust emission fault, then it's probably because you cut out the cat,
and "cat fooler" (which are actually replacement O2 sensors) is not doing it's job.

Those stored error codes could be old. You should try clear them, drive around for a while and see if they persist.

 

[ubercal]

Car: Opel Meriva (2003)
Model: 1.6 Club
Engine: Z16XE

Hi Guys,

i need some guidance and assistance please.

Last week Friday I took my car in to be decatted, after the Exhaust emissions light flashing when acclerating 60km/h and car feels sluggish, for about 3 weeks.

There was no faults reported on the diagnostc report after doing the decat, but the Exhaust emissions light keeps flashing when going 60km or above. The car does not sound sluggish though, but i am worried about this light thats flashing.

when i was doing research about removing the catalytic converter, my mechanic (whose brother has the same car), said that my car does not need to be reprogrammed after removing the CAT. even the manager of the workshop said this as well. hence i went ahead with the decat. There was also a CAT FOOLER installed as well. The guy who did the decat said that he has never seen the Exhaust emissions light flashing after doing a decat before. he said it could be related to the following causes...i will post a report from the diagnostics. He said it could be a faulty coil pack, or perhaps even faulty spark plugs.
View attachment 1114626

He also fitted a replacment Lambda Sensor in after i took this photo, which showed the O2 Sensor issue. This fault did not come up again when he ran the diagnostics later.

Any suggestions of what i can do now? I'll need to wait till payday to sort out this issue. I would appreciate any advice

Thank you!

car needs to be retuned , simple.If you change anything pre o2 sensor it means retuning the ecu.Generally anything post o2 sensor is fine.Thats why its generally safer to replacement the backbox as it wont cause issues.Once you start decatting and changing exhaust manifolds etc then its time to retune.

 

[ubercal]

also remmember some cars have 2 o2 sensors , a front and rear o2 sensor.Front is generally the more important one as it helps calculate the air fuel ratio while the rear normally deals with the o2 emissions.

 

[pinball wizard]

my car does not need to be reprogrammed after removing the CAT.

There's your problem right there.

 

[JemJem]

start with the cheapest. Change the plugs. if that doesnt work...
Ask that mechanic who has a brother with same car... swap out coil packs - worth a try.

If you have a cat fooler then it should solve the issue.

thanks for the advice

 

[pinball wizard]

Last week Friday I took my car in to be decatted, after the Exhaust emissions light flashing when acclerating 60km/h and car feels sluggish, for about 3 weeks.

Decatting was not the solution to the problem.

 

[JemJem]

There's your problem right there.

 

[JemJem]

how so? i was actually getting conflicting stories when i was phoning around for quotes on removing the cat. some said i need to reprogram, others said its not necessary. my mechanic and the shop who did the decat said that reprogramming is necessary only if its a diesel engine, then you need to reprogram, and if its a newer opel. This car is like 19 years old. 2003 model. ill keep that as a last resort...reprogramming the ecu

 

[JemJem]

Decatting was not the solution to the problem.

what would have been the solution? at this point, im all ears

 

[JemJem]

also remmember some cars have 2 o2 sensors , a front and rear o2 sensor.Front is generally the more important one as it helps calculate the air fuel ratio while the rear normally deals with the o2 emissions.

ill check this out. and find out if this isnt also the problem. thanks

 

[JemJem]

"He also fitted a replacment Lambda Sensor in after i took this photo, which showed the O2 Sensor issue."

AFAIK the lambda sensor is fitted after CAT, and is the same thing as the O2 sensor.
If you are getting an exhaust emission fault, then it's probably because you cut out the cat,
and "cat fooler" (which are actually replacement O2 sensors) is not doing it's job.

Those stored error codes could be old. You should try clear them, drive around for a while and see if they persist.

the guy did clear them out. and did a live feedback while he took the car for a spin. errors come up on the diagnostics after he cleared them.

 

[JemJem]

car needs to be retuned , simple.If you change anything pre o2 sensor it means retuning the ecu.Generally anything post o2 sensor is fine.Thats why its generally safer to replacement the backbox as it wont cause issues.Once you start decatting and changing exhaust manifolds etc then its time to retune.

Retune...is that the same as reprogramming?

 

[pinball wizard]

what would have been the solution? at this point, im all ears

Vauxhall owners uk says faulty Lambda sensor and or egr valve was your initial problem. That's off your description, although I would have changed the coils first if it was my car.

 

[PrettigeGert]

What was the expected result of the decat?

 

[ChuckMeFarley]

What was the expected result of the decat?

No meooow.

 

[schuits]

Cat's get fouled after several years.
In SA without such strict emission laws (or they aren't monitored) it's common just to cut out the Cats.
Supposedly without the extra restriction it can increase power, and/or if done properly get rid of irritating dashboard warnings.

The cheap option is to cut out the Cat and then just ignore all warning lights.
The proper option is probably to replace the fouled Cats with new ones, and/or replace the lambda sensors.

The middle option is to cut out the Cats and then try trick the car into thinking everything is ok.
Assuming of course it's not the spark plugs/HT leads/Coil packs/MAF sensor or any number of other things.

 

[SauRoNZA]

"He also fitted a replacment Lambda Sensor in after i took this photo, which showed the O2 Sensor issue."

AFAIK the lambda sensor is fitted after CAT, and is the same thing as the O2 sensor.
If you are getting an exhaust emission fault, then it's probably because you cut out the cat,
and "cat fooler" (which are actually replacement O2 sensors) is not doing it's job.

Those stored error codes could be old. You should try clear them, drive around for a while and see if they persist.

Yeah the bullshit O2 sensor is not bullshitting would be my bet.

Also a more reputable mechanic who actually specialises in these things next time.