Newbie

[jlcsabre]

Finally got my hands on a vr4 legnum ive always admired the look and style of them
Loving the car even if my dash is like a Christmas tree at the mo
Hoping to have lots of envolment here
This is my first legnum to go with my fto
Neither of which are plentiful

[Confused]

Hi Jason and welcome!

The first thing to do is to figure out why your dash is like a Christmas tree! Having an FTO, a lot of the troubleshooting techniques are very similar - the simplest way to get fault codes is by bridging pins 1 and 4 on the diagnostic connector above your left knee (when sat in the driver's seat), and switching the ignition on. The various lights will flash out error codes. This is known around here as the 'flashy dash' technique, see the links below for further details, and lists of error codes.

list of error code here,

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...error+complete

reading the codes here,

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...iag%2A+code%2A

and here,

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...cess+diag+code

If you have any questions about any of the error codes, just ask!

[adaxo]

[jlcsabre]

Cheers guys
Yes lots of similarities to the fto as I'm finding out
I've changed the hubs all round discs and pads oil change and plugs
I will look at the error codes in the weekend and see what gremlins she's hiding ��

[Nick Mann]

I'm always impressed when someone posts for the first time as a full member.

Give us pictures/videos of the lights and the flashy dash diagnostics and we'll try and help....

[jlcsabre]

I know how invaluable these forums are nick and for what membership costs its a no brainer not to sign up ive got the ayc light on constant and the tcl and engine management are intermittent so I will investigate over the weekend and see how I get on also turns out my legnum is a coty not sure on production figures for these I'm sure someone will point me in the right direction tho

[Davezj]

hi and welcome to the club.

lots of help available here.

[Nick Mann]

The ayc is most likely to be the pump getting tired. It could be other things too. You can often get away with fitting an adjustable pressure switch to the pump assembly so the diff operates at lower pressure. Have a search round the site and you should find something useful.
The tcl and cel coming on together is indicative of a problem in the vacuum control system. On the bulkhead are a couple of solenoids and a plastic cylinder, all joined together with small rubber pipes. Check the pipes for damage, remove and reseat them too. Check the cylinder for cracks. Remove the electrical connections from the solenoids, make sure that they look clean and healthy and replace.
None of these faults are detrimental to your cars long term health so don't worry about driving with the warning lights on.

[jlcsabre]

cheers Nick I will certainly have a look at that tomorrow any reason that you can think of which might having these lights on relate to the car not wanting to go over 6000rpm when in drive ?

[Nick Mann]

If the vacuum leak is bad enough it could be leaking boost too?
The turbos are small so it can feel like there is a restriction over 6k anyway.

[jlcsabre]

ok so ive checked all the vacuum hoses and all seam in good condition with no major leaks detected ive checked the error codes and are as follows tcl code 77 engine management 71 ayc 82
ayc doesn't sound good judging by that code
now ive checked the solenoid bolted to the firewall and they both look!!! ok the canister isn't split or broken and hoses look fine too
I have no idea of how to check the working condition of the solenoids any help would be hugely helpful here
the tcl and eml are quite random when and if it comes on
the car will rev over 6000 rpm when stationary but not when driving
its got me stumped but being welsh that's not usually a problem lol

[Nick Mann]

https://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showth...s-complete-set

82 is a pump fault. It still could be a simple fix with a switch from Malc

77 tcl is a solenoid fault, 71 on the cel suggests it is the vacuum. There is a thread suggesting appropriate resistances for the solenoid somewhere - from memory it is around 40 ohms, but have a search to double check. It is possible that all your messing around has solved the problem anyway, which was more likely to be a small leak or a poor connection, but it could still be an actual solenoid fault.

Not revving above 6k at all in gear is more intriguing - if you are in tiptronic and you plant the throttle, what happens? It should accelerate to the rev limiter and then bounce off it. I would still suggest a boost leak test - there are numerous places to lose boost, and in every case it can lead to running excessively rich which loses you a whole load of power. One other thing to check is the fuel you are using. You can also lose a whole heap of power from running 95 ron as the engine will knock and the ecu will retard timing. Go for a minimum of 97, preferably 98 or 99.

[Nick Mann]

Prices may be out of date, but the info is good and Malc can still supply as far as I know:

https://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showth...YC-Switch-Test

[jlcsabre]

thank you nick
ive spent the weekend inbetween rain and wind looking at various things and I haven't seen the tcl or eml back on as of yet
still doesn't want to go over 6000rpm but in all honesty I can live with that until I find the fault
ive only ran on shell optimax which I belive is 99 ron
fuel consumption isn't the best I'm getting around 70 miles to £30 not sure if this is the norm
ive messaged malc with regards to obtaining a switch
thank you for your help with these issues knew the £10 would be every penny well spent with all the knowledge

[Confused]

The fuel gauge is not particularly accurate, so the only way to check consumption is to brim it, reset the trip counter to 0, drive it around then fill it up again. Saying a price means nothing - petrol around by me varies from £1.18 to £1.38 per litre so that makes a huge difference to total price!

Around town, expect around 16-18mpg, on a run about 23-25.

[jlcsabre]

I usually weight it on the fuel light garry
fuel is shell optimax at £1:33 per litre
I'm trying to whittle down the issues I have with my legnum and just wondered what others are getting
me thinking along the lines that if I'm using more fuel than is the norm it might help me with fault finding help easier
so with your figures I'm only getting around 11 mpg so something is defiantly amiss

[Confused]

The fuel light is nowhere near accurate enough to be used as a judge for fuel consumption - I've had it come on when I can put 43l of fuel in to fill the tank, and I've also had it not come on and put in 52l of fuel to fill the tank!

The only accurate way is to fill the tank, drive some, then fill the tank again. Until then you're only guessing, as are we, based on incomplete and knowingly inaccurate information

[Nick Mann]

I'd agree with Garry. You can't accurately measure MPG without accurately measuring miles and fuel. Using your "About" numbers, I make it "About" 14mpg, not 11. If your guess on miles is a little low and your guess on cost of fuel is a little high it would be easy for this to be higher. For reference, on the nurburgring I averaged 6mpg. I have averaged less than that at some tracks! There are LOTS of threads about fuel consumption, have a look and a read, but fundamentally you will never get many miles in a VR4, the engine is old technology in a large car with 300bhp.

/edit - for example, £28 and 78 miles @£1.33/litre would be 17mpg, smack on for an auto VR4 round town.

[jlcsabre]

thank you Garry and Nick looks like I am guessing and maybe looking for problems that have no real bearing on how its running
I will brim the tank and see what figures I come up with
I knew these were thirsty and don't have a problem with that I didn't buy if for its fuel efficiency lol
I was thinking along the lines of not being able to hit more than 6000 rpm being fuel related !!!

I changed the coil packs yesterday hoping it could be that but no luck
on that note it turns out the coil packs are the same off a Mitsubishi fto gr

again thanks for your replies and help I will post up how I get on with the fuel consumption

[Nick Mann]

Something in the back of my mind is setting alarm bells ringing with FTO coil packs, but I can't think what.

Your car could be overfuelling and therefore be down on power so struggling at 6000 rpm, but if it is the issue is almost certainly going to be a boost leak, not a fuelling issue. The car fuels for the air going through the MAF - if some of that air is escaping under pressure after the turbos, the MAF doesn't know so the ECU still throws all the fuel in. The number of VR4s that have boost leak related issues is amazing - davezj regularly turns up at meets with a compressor and a bung so he can pressure check peoples pipework and more VR4s have leaks than don't.