I'm clutching at strawst trying to find the cause of the problem, before I take it in for a diagnostic I'd like to try all possible diy angles!
Car is Fiat brava SX80 1.2, 2000 reg. Engine management light came on, flashing at first when under acceleration, now constant. Acceleration is extremely sluggish, verging on severely handicapped! Cruising is fine, it's just when the engine is under extra load it seems. It's most severe when going up hill, but if I put my foot down even on the flat it starts lurching!

So far, I've tried the following:
1) Removed air filter, checked path between air filter and intake vent ok. Air filter is fairly new, looks cleanish.
2) Removed and reseated each HT lead. With engine running unplugged each lead in turn, noticeable drop of engine revs with each lead. Not exactly the same level of drop, but hard to quantify by ear! Each lead had an impact on the engine anyway.
3) Tried to get at the fuel pump to check the filter, by this time daylight just about gone and couldn't see anything quick to try so gave up!

Things to try next:- Test impedance of lambda sensors, expect lowish ohms for the heater elements? Test injector impedance,14-15 ohms?

Does anyone have any other suggestions?! Any advice greatly appreciated

i've never heard of an injector problem on a 1.2 ever, so i wouldn't rule them out but i greatly doubt its a problem.

the throttle position sensor often causes problems with the ecu, usually after the battery has been disconnected. have you disconnected the battery lately? also, does it idle ok? if idle is also higher than usual then i'd suspect the throttle position sensor needs to have its range relearnt by the ecu.

personally, i think a diagnostics check is your best bet. it'll save time and money, but it will cost about £30-40.

Battery hasn't been removed since before the service was carried out many months ago! Any other reason for the throttle sensor to be out?

A guy at work just described similar problems with his ford mondeo, turned out to be a faulty cat Makes sense with mine I guess, engine only struggles under load, when the highest volume of gas is being pushed through the exhaust?
Hope it isn't the cat mind, sure that'll be expensive.....
Gonna meter out the lambda's tonight just to rule them out, but not hopeful!

if the same problem happens at the same revs even when not in gear then its definately a possiblity

Just to confuse me even more...... tried the car this evening, engine management light is off!! Car is still jerking when I put my foot down though.

However I might have over complicated the problem, went up a quiet road and noticed the exhaust sounds a bit different to normal when I put my foot down. My guess now is I have the beginnings of a hole in a section of the exhaust, and the engine management flagged some dodgy readings from the lambda sensors?! At my last service the mechanic did say my "flexipipe" was corroding quite badly, I've read that this is a particulary weak section of the exhaust?

Anyway, got a quote for £25 for the diagnostic so will probably do that, one question though will the fault code still be in the ecu memory or does it clear itself when the "fault" is gone?

the fault code 'should' be logged, fiat have assured me it will be several times, but on the last 2 occasions i've taken a car in for a diagnsotics and the light just so happened to switch itself off for the test, no fault was found. on both occasions the light came back on before i even got home. what a great laugh that was. so i personally dont think the ecu logs faults, or if it does then fiat dealers cant retrieve them. take your pick, its all fun and games :bang: