Why are warning lights randomly coming on in my car?

By We have a 2020 BMW 330xi. Recently there was warranty work on the differential, which was humming, and an axle was replaced at the same time. Since then, the traction control light and lane departure light have come on randomly.

The dealer has driven the car twice and given it back to us saying they could not find an issue. The engine has lost power and acceleration during these events, so, there is a safety concern. There are no codes stored in the computer, according to the dealer.

One time going uphill, I stepped hard on the gas pedal and the engine revved up and acted like a slipping clutch. Hopefully you can point us in the direction of having the problem addressed and fixed. Since the issue has only come up since the repair, logic would dictate the problem is with one of the wheel speed sensors.

Just road testing the car won’t tell you very much. There is a very specific procedure for measuring the air gap between the hall-effect sensors. Additionally, whenever changing a major component it seems as if BMW wants to see that all vehicle software is up to date.

Like all technology, when it works, it is great and when it doesn’t it can be a challenge. I‘ve been around long enough to remember the grotesque bumpers that car manufacturers were forced to switch to in the early 1970s, in order to comply with the government’s mandate to prevent cosmetic damage to the front and rear after hitting a barrier below 5 mph. Through the years they were able to engineer sheathing over the bumpers to blend in with the contours of the fenders.

My question is will those giant grills of today that have supplanted bumpers be able to prevent damage during low speed impact? The bumper standards have changed from 5 mph to 2. 5 mph with a focus on safety and less on damage. Several years ago I was road testing a Mercedes and dropping a bag off at a Goodwill drive-up and the car in front of me backed into me at maybe two miles per hour.

Although the grill was designed to give way with a series of springs, it still cracked the plastic. The repair was quite expensive. With most vehicles, under the bumper facia there is foam core and behind that a steel or alloy impact bar and series of pistons that absorb shock, but at the expense of cosmetic damage.

There are videos that show a crash test of a 1950’s car compared to a late model vehicle. Both crash into the same barrier the old car bounces off the barrier and the new car gets badly damaged, but the occupants have no injuries while the crash test dummies in the old car sustained major injuries. If we could combine both it would be perfect, but not yet.

I gave my 2008 Honda Accord EX-L 4-cylinder car with 30,000 miles to my granddaughter. The car was in beautiful shape and still looks great. After five good years with it the car recently had major problems.

Apparently, the catalytic converter and two oxygen sensors stopped working but the check engine light never came on to warn her there was a problem. Now that the car is repaired, the check engine line is coming on. The shop looked for problems and said everything looks fine.

My granddaughter needs that car to get to college and her part time job and can’t keep borrowing cars. Do you have any insight as to what should be done? I’m assuming the code was a PO420 which is most commonly cured by the catalytic converter replacement, but it could also be a leaking exhaust gasket. At this point you need to keep working with the shop to get the car repaired properly.

It may be one of the sensors or even the catalytic converter is not working properly. The other possibility is the catalytic converter was not the issue at all. I would go back to the shop and chat with them and say they diagnosed the car and either you misdiagnosed the problem or one of your parts is defective.

At this point the shop needs to fix the car at no charge or refund your money. Is the car safe to drive? Yes, so at this point try to work with the shop and have it repaired at her convenience. Stay up to date on all the latest news from Boston.

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