Inspection Light

[mrclean]

I'm not having problems resetting it, in fact I've done it twice, but after starting it 2 or 3 times the inspection light comes back on, and I don't know why, I thought it was only supposed to come on at service intervals... Does it come on when there is a misfire or something? I believe I solved my misfire issue by cleaning out the injectors and fixing a bad vacuum line, but it came back on after I fixed the problem. I want it to get inspected, and this might make it fail around here near NYC. Any insight would be appreciated.

[honky88]

are you talking about the yellow/red inspection light that comes on when you first start the car?

[mrclean]

Well on my car bmw 1985 735i, the inspection light just keep coming on. Even after I start my car. I've reset it twice in the past 2 weeks, and after starting it a couple of times, the green status bar of the inspection light goes to red and it comes on again, I don't know why. My speedo is also about 10mph fast, I don't know if that has anything to do with it. My tach, temp, and Fuel guages all work, its just my inspection light coming back on, and my off speedo are the only things giving me problems on the guage cluster...so I dun know whats going, I've never heard of it coming back on after being completely reset.

[Zulu95]

Some of the clusters (maybe all) have a memory battery on the board. If this is on the way out it's just possible that that is you problem.
My 2c worth FWIW.

[mrclean]

hmm...that seems possible, how hard is it to get at the board that controls the cluster? Also, what is that number of the battery so I have one in hand when I get around to doing it?

[Zulu95]

http://www.x5world.com/ has a couple of articles on removal. The battery is a lithium type. You will need to remove and open the cluster to see what type or try searching all the BMW web sites as I know i read an article on one of them about this very problem.
Let us know how you make out. BOL

[Zulu95]

Look what I found!!

http://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/techarticl...d_batteries.htm

[mrclean]

Thanks much, just what I needed. Sounds like a saturday job.

[mrclean]

I'm curious, does the inspection light come on when there is like a sensor disconnected, because my car ran like crap because one of my connections was a little corroded, my throttle switch to be exact and my inspection light came on while the car was running. Along with a really crappy idle it also wouldn't rev unless you had the throttle almost all the way down, but after fiddling with the connection it worked better, which also makes me think it might be going bad. Is there a way to get the codes off of an 85 bmw computer? I want to know so I have an idea as to whats messing up and such if i do run into a problem.

[Zulu95]

Originally posted by mrclean@Jun 11 2005, 05:51 PM
I'm curious, does the inspection light come on when there is like a sensor disconnected, because my car ran like crap because one of my connections was a little corroded, my throttle switch to be exact and my inspection light came on while the car was running. Along with a really crappy idle it also wouldn't rev unless you had the throttle almost all the way down, but after fiddling with the connection it worked better, which also makes me think it might be going bad. Is there a way to get the codes off of an 85 bmw computer? I want to know so I have an idea as to whats messing up and such if i do run into a problem.

[snapback]352708[/snapback]

"SERVICE ENGINE SOON" comes on if there is a fault in any of the emmission control items. Service Inspection light is, as far as I can see, only related to Oil/Service Inspections only. It does not seem to be related to other fault conditions. It is purely an "Idiot Light" to make sure you go give the dealer lots of money for doing simple things. (Oil change, filters, inspect tires, brakes etc.)

[mrclean]

Is there a service engine soon light on my car, because I don't see one on my dashboard....hmm....thats weird...they say you watch the check engine light to see the codes...hmm..perhaps a burned out bulb....where would it be located on the dashboard?

[Zulu95]

It's going to depend on year etc. You would need to check your driver's manual for specific info as to what is on your dash.

[mrclean]

yeah...there is no check engine according to my book...so I guess its time to replace the battery on the board, I got the instructions, now its just time thats the factor.