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Technical Engine Management Light - Advice needed

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Technical Engine Management Light - Advice needed

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simon7685

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Joined
Oct 25, 2008
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Location
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Hi All

I have a 2001 (Y Plate) 1.2 Brava, it has done 42006 miles.

I know absolutely diddly squat about cars, other than topping up the oil and water and changing a fuse:eek:

On my way home last night the dreaded yellow engine management came on:eek:. I left the car overnight and this morning topped up the oil, which needed about a pint maybe, and topped up the water for the cooling system. It wasn't low but not quite full either.

I started the engine and the light was still on, though it seemed to be running as quiet as it normally does, no missing, coughing, burping or farting. So I took it out and drove for 3 miles, it was absolutely fine and drove as it normally would. The light then went out, I stopped at the supermarket of all places and when I came out and started the car the light was still out. After moving off the light came back on after a few seconds and ramained on all the way home (another 3 miles).

I left the car for abut half an hour and went back out and started it. No light, so I went out for a drive again (just a few miles) and the light remained out all the way.:D

I know nobody can diagnose this but I don't know whether to book it in to the garage or not. Truth is I can't afford it really. It had a major service and overhaul 12 months ago and has only done 2500 miles since, so its not as though it gets thrashed or anything.

I don't want something major to go wrong but if the light stays out am I safe to just ignore it for now, or until after Xmas at least. It is running as normal, no unusual sounds or bad handling or any symptoms what so ever.

Any advice greatfully accepted.
Thanks very much
Simon
 
I had exactly the same problem with the new brava I bought on thursday. It came on after 30 miles of driving (i was driving it home from the dealership) and stayed on all the way home but it still sounded and drove absolutely perfectly. I waited about an hour after i got home then i drove it again and the light was off. I took it to a mobile mechanic friend the next morning and he said it was the tempurature sensor that had gone, that was all!

hopefully its something as simple as that for you.
 
Thanks for that, I hope it is something like that, though knowing my luck, it won't be. How much did it cost you to find out and get it fixed?

If anyone else can offer me any advice I would appreciate it. Can I assume that if the light stays off, I can just carry on driving the car without worrying???
Thanks
 
The temperature sensor. I'm having it done tomorrow while im at work. The mechanic said its reading that the temperature is 91 degrees when its actually 50 (or something like that i can't fully remember) and thats why its putting the engine management light on. Hes getting the part from our local fiat garage
 
The management light is triggered by any one of many different sensors reporting a fault to the engine management / control unit. If there are no immediate symptoms then without connecting your car to a fault code reader it's pointless trying to guess what the fault was.

The light goes out after a few starts and the fault code is stored in the engine management unit. This doesn't necessarily mean that the problem has gone away; the light is turned off because it's already reported a fault, and needs to be turned off to so it can report any other faults that might occurr. If the light comes back on, then it's had another sensor reading that is outside it's expected range ie. another fault.

A garage will charge £25-£40 for connecting a car to their fault code reader for diagnosis; this will read out all the faults stored on the cars ECU.

If it's still working and there's no immediate change in power, engine sound, fuel consumption etc then you will probably be ok to drive it, as a previous poster said it could be something as trivial as a faulty sensor and quite frequently is (this is an italian car and it's been raining).

However you do so at your own risk so I would get it checked as soon as you can afford. Just pay attention to any changes in the car's behaviour and any patterns to when the light comes on; this will give you an idea if there's any serious problems.
 
Joe_Pineapples said:
The management light is triggered by any one of many different sensors reporting a fault to the engine management / control unit. If there are no immediate symptoms then without connecting your car to a fault code reader it's pointless trying to guess what the fault was.
Click to expand...

Nope, the OP has done it the other way and checked the resistance of the temperature sender.

Simples

Cheers

SPD
 
I drove the car again this afternoon. It started straight away as normal. There was no light on. I only drove a short distance but the car performed and handled in a normal manner. There is still nothing obvious, or no strange noises and the engine sounds fine.

I am going to take it out on a longer run tomorrow so I will see how it goes. Am I correct in thinking then that because the fault has been reported to the ECU that the light will not come back on again for the same fault?

If I am understanding this right, that means that when it went off for a short period on Friday and then came back on, that means they were 2 different faults?
 
simon7685 said:
I drove the car again this afternoon. It started straight away as normal. There was no light on. I only drove a short distance but the car performed and handled in a normal manner. There is still nothing obvious, or no strange noises and the engine sounds fine.

I am going to take it out on a longer run tomorrow so I will see how it goes. Am I correct in thinking then that because the fault has been reported to the ECU that the light will not come back on again for the same fault?

If I am understanding this right, that means that when it went off for a short period on Friday and then came back on, that means they were 2 different faults?
Click to expand...

Had the same problem in my friends '01 Bravo. If i had to bet, it's the throttle position sensor in yours which has gone. That sensor will cause intermittent lighting of the engine managment light and will also affect all throttle responce and power from you're car.

Not very expensive, but i'm sorry to say, is a pain to replace!
 
simon7685 said:
I drove the car again this afternoon. It started straight away as normal. There was no light on. I only drove a short distance but the car performed and handled in a normal manner. There is still nothing obvious, or no strange noises and the engine sounds fine.

I am going to take it out on a longer run tomorrow so I will see how it goes. Am I correct in thinking then that because the fault has been reported to the ECU that the light will not come back on again for the same fault?

If I am understanding this right, that means that when it went off for a short period on Friday and then came back on, that means they were 2 different faults?
Click to expand...

Get the car warm and give it some moo.

Then revisit.

Cheers

SPD
 
rallycinq said:
Nope, the OP has done it the other way and checked the resistance of the temperature sender.

Simples

Cheers

SPD
Click to expand...

The OP hasn't established what the problem is yet has he? I think you're referring to Sonic74205's post there.

@simon7685: Yeah that's right. Each time the light goes out then comes back on, it's a new occurrence of a fault. It could be the same one or a different one. They all get logged in the ECU memory, and the light goes off after a few key starts (I think it's 5 but can't remember, I'm no expert) so it can report another fault if it happens. These can be read from the ECU by an engine diagnostic reader / computer interface.

As I said before, it could be anything with a sensor on it so without some other symptoms it's pointless trying to guess the problem.
 
simon7685 said:
Hi All

I have a 2001 (Y Plate) 1.2 Brava, it has done 42006 miles.

I know absolutely diddly squat about cars, other than topping up the oil and water and changing a fuse:eek:

On my way home last night the dreaded yellow engine management came on:eek:. I left the car overnight and this morning topped up the oil, which needed about a pint maybe, and topped up the water for the cooling system. It wasn't low but not quite full either.

I started the engine and the light was still on, though it seemed to be running as quiet as it normally does, no missing, coughing, burping or farting. So I took it out and drove for 3 miles, it was absolutely fine and drove as it normally would. The light then went out, I stopped at the supermarket of all places and when I came out and started the car the light was still out. After moving off the light came back on after a few seconds and ramained on all the way home (another 3 miles).

I left the car for abut half an hour and went back out and started it. No light, so I went out for a drive again (just a few miles) and the light remained out all the way.:D

I know nobody can diagnose this but I don't know whether to book it in to the garage or not. Truth is I can't afford it really. It had a major service and overhaul 12 months ago and has only done 2500 miles since, so its not as though it gets thrashed or anything.

I don't want something major to go wrong but if the light stays out am I safe to just ignore it for now, or until after Xmas at least. It is running as normal, no unusual sounds or bad handling or any symptoms what so ever.

Any advice greatfully accepted.
Thanks very much
Simon
Click to expand...

Should be Serviced every 12 months or at particular mileages, as your car has so few miles on I'd do a low mileage service, pay particular attention to oil quality and the filter, plus make sure you have a 50/50 water to coolant mix in the cooling system not just pure water, or your warning could be due to a cooling issue developing because of system furring or internal corrosion.

P.S. it may be an erroneous warning thrown up by a poorly charged battery or a battery approaching its end of life, consider a new one, winter has a habit of exposing such issues.
 
Last edited:
Okay, I took it out today for a good run, I travelled 30 miles at varying speeds. The car performed as I would expect it to, no lack of power or anything. I stopped for 30 minutes, on restarting the car there was still no light but after only a few yards it came back on.

I drove the car back with the light on and it still performed as expected. No lack of power or anything out of the ordinary.

I went back out again after about an hour and started the car. The light was still on but this time something I class as definately odd! My fuel guage dial went right up to the top as though the tank was full, it wasn't. Then I noticed the temperature guage did the same, it went right up to the top. I stopped the engine straight away, waited for the dials to drop back down and restarted the car, the light remained on and the dials were back to normal!

I think I am just going to have put it into the garage and see what it comes up with.

If anyone has any ideas then please let me know. I do really need to use the car tomorrow only for a short journey but I do need it, so I hope it will be okay for that and that I am not damaging anything.

Will any garage be able to read the ecu and diagnose the fault, or do I need a Fiat Dealer?
 
now you've lost me???

Haven't got a clue where is the earth strap?

told you I didn't know anything about cars!:confused:
 
An update on my light problem.

I had a look for the earht strap and to my surprise (not) couldn't find it, told you I was thick when it comes to cars!

Anyway, on Wednesday I did about 25 miles and there was no light at all coming on, this included numerous start stops.

Thursday I ran around town, again stops and starts for the engine and still no light on at all.

Friday another 15 - 20 miles and no light.

I haven't been out over the weekend at all. I am even more baffled by this now. Is it safe to assume that the fault, whatver it was has rectified itself and I just carry on as normal now and wait and see what happens? Or am I liable to be storing up trouble for myself further down the line?

I meant to add the performance of the car hasn't altered one bit, it still accelerates as it always has and sounds the same.

Another thing I wanted to ask, the cambelt has not been changed on the car, is it due, or can I eek it out for a few thousand more miles?

Thanks for your help
 
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