Help I have a Brava SX 14 cc 12v that won’t start. The engine swings fine but the low fuel light is on and remains on after I have added more fuel. Even after I have added more fuel ($45 worth) the fuel gauge does not show it.

did the petrol light issue start at the same time that it refused to start? or did you get the car in this state and its never worked for you? i'm struggling to imagine how the two problems could be related.

check the fuel cut off switch hasnt been activated. check the fuel gauge sender wiring. also check the wiring to the fuel pump. have you done basic tests to find out if the plugs are sparking and fuel is getting injected?

The car was parked for a long time. I never heard it start but my wife uncle said it did. Took it from the mechanic home on a wrecker since he (the mechanic) had it far too long. I changed a brake line that was leaking, as well as change the oil, oilfilter and front disc pads. Then went to start car and it wont start,added more fuel still wont start.
I dont see a fuel cut off switch like in the owner manual but l realised that there is a black box ( well sort of) under the front passenger seat.

you know i had a feeling you were going to say it hasnt been started for some time. you need to fix it the old fashioned way, check the basics- fuel fire and air.

fuel- check pump is working, check fuel rail pressure sensor is ok, check fuel injectors are working.

fire- check coil, plugs, leads

air- is the idle speed control valve blocked, are all breather pipes secure and clear.

who knows maybe the timings out, maybe it has compression problems, maybe the ecu has died, maybe the immobiliser is stuck on etc etc.

have you tried using the red key?

its hard to say how much you can assume about the car, what work has been done to it, why was it off road in the first place? if nothing obvious shows up with basic tests you are probably better off getting fiat to do a diagnostics check. at least that will rule out many problems. there's so much that can be wrong and not enough information to justify spending money or attmepting any work at this stage.

Car was parked for four years since a previous owner had died. My wife uncle bought it and i bought it from him after my previous car was in an accident then the insurance had written it off.
I am using the red key it is the only one i have. It had a new fuel pump recently. I was told by my wife uncle that it started and was driving fine except that the brakes was not worknig well. I change the broken brake line as well as the ,oil oil filter and front disc pads and it wont start now even though it has a new fuel pump

A friend came and help me but he said that the distributor aint getting no current

distributor?? they dont have a distributor. i think you mean the coil pack. they commonly fail on pretty much all the bravo/a range. its an easy fix so be thankful

how do i fix the coil pack or do I need a new one?
I checked the car again today and change a burnt out 10 amp fuse (not sure if it was ignition or fuel) still wont start. The dash board light up fine the code warning light come on and goes out in the apporpiate time .

you need to change the coil pack, you cant open it up or repair it as its a sealed unit. i think the 1.4 has two coil packs, not sure but thats what i remember. follow the plug leads, they plug into the coil pack(s). a new one is usually about £80, so i'd try and find a scrapyard part instead. both my bravo's have had scrapyard coils fitted with no probs.

someone with a diagnostic came twice and have not diagnose the problem as yet. The man with the diagnostic said he dont have software for the ecu and that he needs to download some information and he assured me that the ecu is working but i have not heard from him since. The diagnostic machine he had was a Launch x431.
A friend came over today and test the coil pack with a multimeter or volt meter which ever it is. he said the coil pack is good since it tested 13860 ohms at the side with 4 and 1 then 3 and 2. Then 0.5 ohms at the top with the center pin and the outter pins. He also got a reading from the plug wires. I tried starting again and he said that the volts from the battery drops to 9 volts when trying to start.
What is keeping this thing from starting. Is it the battery which is label 450 cranking amps,which is kinda smaller than the battery that was in the car before. The engine swings fine but wont turn over.

if the battery is not good enough the starter motor wont turn very quickly, as you say it "swings over" fine so the battery isnt the problem.

i'm trying to think of problems that would be caused by a long period of inactivity. also including the fact that it has been working recently for a short while, and you've changed the fuel pump etc. and all i can think is that you need to get back to basics and check for sparks and fuel. you must check to see if fuel is getting injected when attempting to start the car. if you try to start it for a good while and then remove the sparkplugs, do they look damp (or smell of petrol)? if they are damp it probably means there is petrol getting injected, if they look dry then there's probably no petrol getting injected. also check the plugs to see if they are actually sparking, you should be able to see the sparks of you try to start the car with a plug removed, yet still connected to the coil, and held in a place where it can earth (near engine). look for sparks.

hi try unpuggin the ecu and leave it for 24 hours go bk plug it in and it might start i had a punto that did the same hope this helps but it mite not be the prob

Buy a new battery. Voltage never should drop to 9 V. You're battery is gone.

I once had to park my car for some driving licence issues for a year, after that it didn't start either. My battery was completly distroyed by the radio and clock which constanly pull a small current if the battery is left connected. Lead-based batteries get destroyed by deep discharge. They can even form internal short-circuits which might prevent successfull starting with external starting aids.

If it's a cheap "refill-it-yourself" battery, then most of the water part of the acid will have evaporated by now. I once had that problem to, there was only about 1 cm of acid left after two hot german summers (yes, they exist) when I started wondering why the car did have trouble to start.

In both cases, I bought a new battery, charged it and - presto - the car did run fine.

Zardo

I'll try anything now I think i gonna try unplugging the ecu and another battery as well. I will keep you posted

Great news, a mechanic vistied today and the car "started" . It was fuel that kept the car from starting, probably the pump i didnt hear it ticking, the guy poured gas into the inlet at the top. magic the car started
I think he said that the pump has probably stuck since the previous owner said it is a new pump. Well he also told me to remove the pump, add direct current like straight to a battery and that should fix the prob.
I will keep u posted.

like i said, check the basics, check for fuel.

Youre right but i wonder if that is the same reason that the fuel gauage isnt reading correct? I will have to wait until tomorrow to find out . I hope I get it to work. Anyone following this thread post please be careful if u want to try jumping the fuel pump, first take it out of the car. I dont like to take chances since a spark can ignite gasoline. If you can take it to a mechanic.

damn fuel pump. seems like i have to get a new one.
I tried but it still wont work:bang:
someone suggested that the diaphram has stuck but i tried blowing through the pump as well as sucking, end up with my mouth full of stinking gas it taste awful. Any ideas :idea: as to what i can do to get it worknig?

just replace it, for £10 at a scrapyard it isnt worth the hassle.

Looks like i will have to go to the dump. Will another fuel pump from another type of car work? I may not see another fiat there.