Hi,

I'm sure many people have asked the same question but here goes.

My injector warning light sometimes makes an appearance in the dashboard on my 1996 1.4 12v Brava.

I know it could mean any number of things, but to save me taking the whole thing apart, would anyone know what might be the problem?

It has no problem starting, will generally idle smoothly, but then that light will come on and the engine will suddenly become really rough.

If I put my foot on the clutch and allow the engine to idle, it stalls and I have to restart it every time I stop at a junction or traffic lights.

The car will cough and splutter on acceleration and fuel consumption seems higher than I would expect, then suddenly the light will switch off, and everything will be fine again!

It's only intermittent and only seems to happen after about 5-10 minutes driving, but nevertheless it's driving me mad.

Does anyone have the magic answer as to what it could be? Injector? One of the sensors? Fuel pump?

I've looked at the throttle body and it seems covered in some sort of gun-metal grey film which I'm not sure should be there...

Any input would be gratefully received.

Thanks!

James

Has the lambda sensor ever been replaced and/or injection system been cleaned?

I had the exact problem.
the thing was:
-the thermostat was stuck open and that means that the engine didn't reach a normal operating temperature.
-until the engine reaches normal operating temperature the ECU sends much more fuel to the engine.
-as mine didn't warm up enough it was burning fuel like mad.
-the problem is that the extra fuel is going in the exaust and the lamba senzor will pick up that extra fuel; that in turn will make the ECU go into "limp home" mode ( as someone here put it) that wil mean that the engine will work, but very rough.

Does your engine warm up to the normal temperature( half way on the gauge)????
I'm 90% sure that is the problem.

The lambda sensor has never been replaced to my knowledge, but I have put some injector cleaner through the fuel which didn't seem to make too much difference.

And to be honest I don't really drive it long distances but I don't remember the temperature gauge reaching half way. More like a quarter and that's it.

It starts to run rough only after may a couple of minutes driving so I don't think it would have even had the chance to warm up then?

Well I've tested the thermostat and it seems to be working fine.

Back to the drawing board I guess.

Could it be the injector? I know that's common fault with Fiats but I'd have thought it would be more of a constant problem than an intermittent one?

Welcome to the forum james,

Does your rough running sound like the symptoms here;
https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-bra...v-throttle-potentiometer-position-sensor.html

Im worried about the gunmetal coloured film, If it looks like this paste it might be worth taking the rocker cover off to check the camshaft for wear. This camshaft has had no oil the paste is metal and oil mixed toghether. Take a picture of your throttle body if you can.

before you try anything to dear, you should check these:
-spark plugs
-ht leads
-check if the coil pack is working properly( check the resistance)
-watch out for any bad wires, any wires that might be earthing.
-i would also unplug the battery, then unplug all the connectors you find and give them a good cleaning, maybe use some special spray-like cleaners.

aurick86 said:

before you try anything to dear, you should check these:
-spark plugs
-ht leads
-check if the coil pack is working properly( check the resistance)
-watch out for any bad wires, any wires that might be earthing.
-i would also unplug the battery, then unplug all the connectors you find and give them a good cleaning, maybe use some special spray-like cleaners.

Click to expand...

Good point Thats definatly the things to try first.
Here is the coil pack test;