OK. My Seicento EML started to flicker today. Car is overheating and it looks like thermostat. I have one to swap over but would overheat cause the light to flicker. I dont have OBD to read whats up so looking for pointers. Car is also hunting on tickover but goes like sh** of a shovel when giving it beans so could do with a service also i think.

I don't think overheating causes the EML to flash ,it should put the over temp light on though

I had the EML flashing on my MPI Seicento and it needed a phonic wheel reset which basically involved warming the engine to normal operating temperature and then revving up to 5000 rpm three times each time letting the revs settle back to idle and then switching off and restarting at which point the EML light stays off

Pretty sure this resets the ECU to the crank position sensor but why this should happen I'm not sure

New to me but being a Jock anything that saves me sticking my hand in my pocket is worth a bash

https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-ii/13892-fault-code-p1300-phonic-wheel.html

as above, no only the temp warning light will come on for overheating...
cables are cheap enough though and there is free software you can use to read and clear codes, totally worth having these things - will save you money in the long run.
Is your car spi or mpi?

Bugger. Head Gasket are these non intrusive engines? This is the 2001 1.1 sporting? Could a never did that before kind of guy do this or what am i looking at for a garage to do the job?

again, a blown head gasket itself it not going to throw a engine management light, the ecu has no way to know the HG is gone. Have you done a compression test?

by non intrusive i'm guessing your asking if its a non-interference engine.. as in pistons won't ever hit valves if timings out - in which case, yes its a non interference engine

Won't be a small bill to have it done at a garage, particularly if they do a proper job and not just whip it apart and swap just the head gasket. They will probably charge 5-6 hours of labour minimum. Parts bill would depend on whether they use genuine parts and what they change other than the head gasket itself. On top of that if its been overheating then really the head should be skimmed, the skim itself is not hugely expensive but does involve dismantling the head first and then rebuilding again after, so that more labour.

If it were myself doing it I would get a full head gasket set which comes with all the required gaskets and valve stem seals (I'd prob buy a cheap aftermarket set of gaskets and then buy a genuine head gasket separately). I'd also get a new timing belt as its gotta come off, timing belt tensioner. I'd consider replacing waterpump depending on its age. Consider new aux belt. Will of course need to drain the coolant so it will need new coolant - you can do it without draining the oil but not a bad time to do oil and filter if they are not new.

First things first though, are you sure its the head gasket? You really want to do a dry and wet compression test before you do anything if you suspect the head gasket. And still you should find out what the ecu thinks is the problem which is turning the light on.

Yes Blu73 i did mean non-interference engine Handy to know just incase i was to be a tooth or two out. I have now got water in the oil to i presume that is head gasket also the expansion tank is starting to look like ****. I was presuming if teh water was coming out and over the coil it would show up as a engine fault. Maybe not but the EML was mainly a flicker rather than constant on. It did come constant on when i took the car for an MOT last week but pulled over before MOT station and let it cool down and top water up and she was fine. Wife took it for a round trip of 22 miles yesterday and said she had a flicker when getting to her destination but that was it. Nothing on way home.

So. Taking the gamble i dont need head skimmed as im poor just now, Car is low mileage at 38k on a 2001 but no history so ordering a timing belt kit. What brand is good and whats not? Got a top end gasket set ordered and oil filter. Ill not bother with antifreeze just now as that will all want a good flush out and i can get that local cheap enough.

Dont know what engine i have just 2001 1.1 sporting so it this spi or mpi, whats the difference?

Oh. Chatting to a mate who has done a few head gaskets over the years so between us i think we will be fine. I am more happy doing brakes, exhausts changing alternators and the likes where as he likes to get to the guts. What could go wrong

Square airbox = SPI, rounded airbox = MPI

Mpi?

Yep

ps. if you could please either use the FF gallery or attachment feature, rather than external hosting, so that anyone who looks at this thread in 3,4,5 years can still see the pictures. Thanks!

Eklipze3k said:

Yep

ps. if you could please either use the FF gallery or attachment feature, rather than external hosting, so that anyone who looks at this thread in 3,4,5 years can still see the pictures. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Ta Daaaaa

This two engines is new to me apart from 900 and 1.1 so i presume the SPI and MPI share the same gaskets and timing belts or at least i hope

Yes gaskets are the same but i think there are different teeth sizes for the belt. Best to get a timing belt kit to suit engine number or at least model/year.

You will probably be lucky. As long as the engine hasn't got very hot you should be ok not skimming. It is a risk though that you'll have to do it all again ? iv been there before.

The eml may have been due to leak causing a missfire meaning lambda sensor picks up too much o2 in the exhaust which throws a missfire fault code.

Remember to get new cylinder head bolts.

Anyone know if this is defiantly my bolts or again are they the same for MPI and SPI?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cylinder-...pe:1.1&hash=item51bd91189e:g:pcwAAOxyzqdTddvE

they look right, and yes spi mpi are same set.

blu73, what type of obd leads are needed for the cinq/sei (assuming they are the same), or can you just send me a link of where I can buy them ? thanks

spi cars are fiat 3 pin
mpi cars car just obd2 so any normal OBD2 cable will work if you are wanting to connect to a computer to do it. Like so http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391109450635
Several free software packages out there, multiecuscan is what i use http://www.multiecuscan.net/

If you prefer to use a app on your phone then you want either a wifi or bluetooth obd2 dongle.. wifi if you use iphone & bluetooth if you use android phone.

bluetooth http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162455723125
wifi http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/302205420229

Probably the best known app is the Torque App, they have a few versions, one of them is free and i believe it will clear codes as well as read them. Can also use it as digital gauges although not sure the free version does that or not.

Thanks for the reply, I need the 3 pin one but I cant seem to find any 3 pin obd1 to usb cables, they are all 3 pin to obd2 adapters which means I will have to buy 2 sets of cables : 3 pin to obd2 and obd2 to usb ???

yes, for the 3 pin cars you need one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/131983212323
and one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391109450635