We know we can't use central locking by phone mast! But have found for the last 4 months or so (since travelling to new work place) that the engine warning light comes on near a mast - once we are away from it, the light goes off - the car drives fine and garage checked and felt that it could be radio mast - has anyone else heard otf this?|||Ok, then on the way home from work, go past the cell tower and exit near it. Then gradually drive away on a local road until the MIL engine check light goes off. Then turn around and approach the cell tower again and prove that it comes back on. I'm guessing it's a coincidence, but what your asking comes under the electrical engineering subject known as EMC (Electromagnetic Compatibility) issues with electrical and electronic systems. Your car is designed and tested to operate normally under strong EMC fields. Cell towers typically use less than a 100 watt transmitter at 900 or 1800 MegaHertz. However, they do have about 20 decibels of antenna gain which multiplies the radiated power by 100 times to 10,000 watts (Effective Radiated Power, ERP). So it's definitely possible and many cases have been reported in the literature of similar cases over the years. Of course a television station might be radiating 5,000,000 watts, so you might wonder why your MIL lamp doesn't go on when you go by those much more powerful transmitters. One reason is that the EMC response of your auto electronics subsystems are frequency sensitive.|||No, I haven't, but I did have a "faulty" indicator light on my mid sized truck. Took it to the dealer, and they kept resetting it and after a while it would come back on. They replaced the sensor for the warning light, and I never had that problem again.|||Im guessing you can't use the central locking near the phone mast because of the radio frequencies being used both by the mast and the remote.
As for the check engine light (CEL) it should not come on when you drive near the phone mast. The only thing I could think of that would cause it is if the phone signals are interfering with your vehicles electrical system. Normally it is possible for a cell phone to cause feedback in the sound system, so I am assuming it is also possible in other systems. In which case it would sound like the interference is causing the computer to detect a faulty sensor and turn on the CEL light. And as soon as you travel further away it re-retects the sensor as good and turns the light back off.
As I said though, this is all a guess as my only expeirience is eletronic feedback through my radio when my phone or a phone near my car goes off. This normally only happens for me on a winding mountain road though.
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