# Flashing Coil (Pre-Heater) Warning Light on Transit Mk 6



## pandalf

Mmmm - just returned today from a weekend in the van up near Birmingham. Towards the end of a pretty horrible 100 mile drive, the orange pre-heater warning light (looks like a coil) on the dashboard of my Mk 6 Transit started flashing. The engine was running perfectly well and there was no other visible or audible sign of trouble. I nursed the van home (we were only a few miles out) and tried to start the engine again. It started first time and there is now no sign of the light. In fact, van appears to be working now perfectly.

So is it a blip or do I have to start thinking about a visit to the local Ford dealer to get it checked out? 

The van has about 20,000 miles on the clock and it is about two years old. Service history is fine, so no reason to assume abuse or poor maintenance would be a contributor.


----------



## JohnsCrossMotorHomes

Looks like a 'hiccup' in the software, I get the odd warning on my car and ignore them.

Always gone if I switch off and restart.

Peter


----------



## pandalf

Peter - thanks very much for such a speedy response. I guess I am always pretty paranoid about these things, and it must be better to take them seriously than completely ignore them. But as the van has been faultless so far, and still seems to be running perfectly well, I would obviously like to think that is is a temporary glitch and nothing more sinister!

I will take it out for a short run this week, just to be sure the light doesn't come back on again, and we will keep our next weekend trip fairly close to home, just in case. I plan to have the van serviced around March anyway, as it will be coming up for its first MOT then. Even if the fault doesn't occur again, I can tell them to do some diagnostics when it is in the shop to be sure there is nothing amiss.

Thanks again,
Andy


----------



## JockandRita

pandalf said:


> Mmmm - just returned today from a weekend in the van up near Birmingham. Towards the end of a pretty horrible 100 mile drive, the orange pre-heater warning light (looks like a coil) on the dashboard of my Mk 6 Transit started flashing. The engine was running perfectly well and there was no other visible or audible sign of trouble. I nursed the van home (we were only a few miles out) and tried to start the engine again. It started first time and there is now no sign of the light. In fact, van appears to be working now perfectly.
> 
> So is it a blip or do I have to start thinking about a visit to the local Ford dealer to get it checked out?
> 
> The van has about 20,000 miles on the clock and it is about two years old. Service history is fine, so no reason to assume abuse or poor maintenance would be a contributor.


Hi Andy,

On some diesel engined vehicles, the flashing glow plug light usually flashes after being a steady amber light, to indicate that you can start the engine. If it was anything other than a glow plug amber warning light, I might be concerned. These "direct injection" engines are great starters, even without glow plug operation.
Often amber warnings are reset after switching off and back on again. On some vehicles, especially HGV's, you can access the fault code, and phone that into the dealer/agent for a diagnosis. I have had to do that twice now, by the roadside, but not in the MH.
If there is a problem, it'll reappear, even after resetting, and as it is amber and not RED, there is some scope for not doing any damage.

HTH,

Jock.


----------



## renoir

[ hi im a vehicle tech on renault. weve had a similar problem on our vehicles. try taking out your glow plugs one by one and putting them across a battery to make sure they glow fully. during a certain temp range they are not needed that is why it doesnt bring on the engine management light on every time. i suspect you will find one or more not working.


----------



## renoir

[ hi im a vehicle tech on renault. weve had a similar problem on our vehicles. try taking out your glow plugs one by one and putting them across a battery to make sure they glow fully. during a certain temp range they are not needed that is why it doesnt bring on the engine management light on every time. i suspect you will find one or more not working.


----------



## Mandi

We recently had this on our Ford Galaxy and our mechanic put a diagnotstic on it and then replaced some heat sensor thingy. Sorry to be a bit of a girl, but it obviously means something is not working properly.

:lol:


----------



## cleo

I also get it on my Galaxy. Then I tap the brake pedal and it goes out :roll: A mile or so later its back on. Its always done it. We recently bought an Autodata Cd for our garage to replace the tons of manuals we keep on the shelf and in the 'common fault' (or whatever its called) section it says that an adjustment needs to be made on the brake light switch (or something close ... hey - Im just the secretaty :wink 

Our MH is on an 07 Transit chassis and not had the problem but only done 5k


----------



## Mike48

The same thing happened on mine at around 5000 miles. Now done 36000 and it has'nt happened since. At around this mileage the auto gearbox warning light also started flashing but again nothing since. I put it down to a software glitch.


----------



## wackywyco

*Glowplug light*

Hi, if it happens again , take note...brake slightly...if this puts the light out for a few minutes (or miles) but then comes back on it is the Brake light switch, This is something on VAG diesel vehicles and could well be same on Trannies, the switch has dual function of cutting engine out if throttle sticks open(Scarey!) by application of brakes. . Replace the switch..


----------



## rayc

renoir said:


> [ hi im a vehicle tech on renault. weve had a similar problem on our vehicles. try taking out your glow plugs one by one and putting them across a battery to make sure they glow fully. during a certain temp range they are not needed that is why it doesnt bring on the engine management light on every time. i suspect you will find one or more not working.


Hi, I have a Renault Master based MH with Quickshift gearbox. My engine management light came on and the gearbox defaulted to manual operation only. It was eventually traced to faulty glow plugs by my local Renault truck dealer. Apparently with two or more glow plugs faulty the engine ECU tells the gearbox ECU to default to manual. Ray


----------

