Thanks Peter, there has been no warning lights what so ever. i am in the forces and have just taken it to the car club. they have had an over look and there appears to be no obvious problem, alhough they are not JAG specialists. i will hand clean the engine bay to clear any soot, take her for a nice run and then monitor closely. will make sure that the car gets a run at least once a week now. also, i don't think it has anything to do with it. the air conditioning was not cold when selected to low so i have just charged it up via workshop at work. nice and cold now. Thanks for repling