Right, i have a sei 1.1 Sporting Abarth 1998, when i drive it, it drives nicely but when i come to a stop quite sarpish (not harshly) and clutch it to a stop line i.e. a junction it dies, the revs just plumet and it stalls, a real pain.
Could this just be a sign that it needs new plugs and leads? I will hopefully get it serviced next week.

I don't know if this is linked in any way but it has an oil leak.

Many Thanks

Sort the oil leak, fill with the correct grade of oil and a new filter if not done recently.

Check the air filter and all the vacuum tubes, then clean the idle valve.

Cheers

D

spotted this today on a car site i was browsing. would this work or is it utter cr4p?apologies if it is

quote
" Hi what u need to try is resetting the ECU. You have do this in this order:



1) Start the engine and warm it up till the cooling fan has come on, gone off and come on again. If the engine cuts out restart it! (The cooling fan operates around 90 centridge.)

2) Once the fan has come on for the second time turn the engine off and disconnect the Negitive cable of the battery (furthest away from front of vechicle) and leave it disconnected for 45secs. (it will be easier to take the cable off beforhand so it will be loose.)

3) Once the 45secs is up replace the cable and start the engine giving it a heavy rev as it will struggle to start as it has now forgotten how to idle and start. After a few seconds it will learn how idle. Leave it running for 2mins. Then i suggest you take it out down some kind of duel carridgeway or for a 10min drive!

4) Fill petrol tank up with fuel and add some petrol additive to clean the fuel system. This should then in effect either clean the injector or show there is somekind of fuel system failure.
has this been done on here?

There are many threads about resetting ECU's, but in reality most ecus are robust, its the fact that they are getting incorrect information from a sensor that cuases most problems. It might be the sensor thats faulty, it might be an airleak causing the mixture to run outside the expected parameters.

The idle control valve can soot up, so pop it out and clean it. Check the continuity of the throttle pot.

But usually, a proper service goes a long way to sorting a lot of ills. A blocked air filter will cause incorrect misture. Incorrect oil causes internal pressure increases that affect idle. Fuel filter, often ignored due to its location, can be blocked.

If anyone has bought a car and there is not an itemised service invoice within the last 12 months, get it done. So many garages offer cheap services, and they are only cheap because they miss out some things.

Cheers

D