Hi
I have a 2006 panda 1.2 dynamic. For some months now the car has suffered with an engine cut-out problem.
Basically ,whilst driving along at any speed , there is a sudden loss of power and the yellow 'injector' ight flashes on. Sometimes you have to restart the engine and sometimes the power is just lost momentarily.
So far I've had a computer s/w update, new rpm sensor , timing checks etc etc and have spent £400. My fiat garage seem incapable of fixing this and we are getting desparate. They are now saying this relates to a power steering component as sometimes when it cuts out this light comes on..... I just cannot believe that the engine cut-out would relate to power steering .
Can anyone please help or advise
many thanks ( dont know what to do next)

Hmm, nasty one. Not sure I can help much, but the injection timing gets input not only from the Crank Position Sensor (also referred to as the RPM Sensor), which is down by the crank pulley, but also from the cam position sensor which is the black plug on the camcover next to the cam pully, on the LHS. Might be worth checking that out too.

I've attached the section from the eLearn Workshop Manual relating to the ECU and the sensors it uses - might be worth just going through those to make sure all connections are good and replacing some of them, as they're pretty cheap.

Phil G

For starters I would go back to basics and look for poor and/or corroded connections. Disconnect the battery and then remove all the electronic multi-plugs one by one and give them a spray with some electrical contact cleaner and look for any obvious corrosion. I had a random starting problem on my previous Panda which turned out to be a poor connection from the throttle position potentiometer - cleaning the connector solved it permanently.

Check that all the earth connections are tight and free from corrosion.

Check battery voltage and charging voltage - strange things can happen when the voltage is too low or high.

You don't say if your garage has been able to pull any fault codes. If you are using an independent garage they may not be able to read all the codes and might just be pulling generic (non manufacturer specific) codes. In my experience many independent garages claim their code reader can do anything that the dealer level diagnostics can do but this isn't usually the case and it can be more cost effective to get the main dealer to investigate in the long run.

However, if you suspect the power steering I believe its possible to interrogate the steering ECU by adapting the pinout of a K-line VAGCOM OBD reader (available fairly cheaply from ebay) and using freely available software (e.g. from FiatECUscan.net) with a laptop.

There are lots of threads about failure of the electric power steering on Pandas and Puntos that you could look at to see if the symptoms are like yours.

Failing that I'd find an independent auto electrician who can perhaps install a datalogger onto the OBD port and see if anything significant shows up in the log just before the problem occurs.

Good luck

Your problem sounds like a difficult one to trace. Not sure how useful this is but primitive trick might be to pop the bonnet in the dark and see if you can see any shorting / sparks which may be tracking across and causing problems with the electronics...

Had a cracked spark plug causing a misfire once and found it with this method.

good luck.

pandapain said:

........Can anyone please help or advise
many thanks ( dont know what to do next)

Click to expand...

For a start, find a garage which has a clue. I'm betting you have to travel some distance to a different dealer, but maybe it'd be worth the time and effort instead of paying out more to the clowns you're currently with.

thanks everyone , just to reiterate the car has no problems starting , the problem is cuttting out whilst driving ( at pretty much any speed) ..... will mention to my fiat garage to check all ecu related connections.... I wish I had any remaining optimism in relation to their ability to fix this problem !

N.B. The garage did pull error codes which originally lead to the replacement of the rpm sensor....

will update when know more.... I suspect I'll end up going independent and if all else fails be forced into getting rid

this is criminal ... for a 2006 car with only 20k on the clock and is otherwise immaculate

pandapain said:

this is criminal ... for a 2006 car with only 20k on the clock and is otherwise immaculate

Click to expand...

I agree. To have developed this fault after such a short time and low mileage is disappointing in the extreme - but for a franchised dealer (with all the brand-specific training, diagnostics & technical support) to be unable to diagnose the fault is absolutely disgraceful.

I'm thinking the old-fashioned way - first isolate the problem to fuel supply or ignition system (should be one of the two) - then think intelligently about just what has to be there for the fault to be triggered, and what is different from the starting condition, when the fault is not manifest. There is more to diagnostics than just plugging a computer into the EOBD socket & relying on the software to tell you what's wrong - but sadly real engineering skills are getting thin on the ground these days.

Could it be something like muck in the fuel line blocking a fuel filter, or intermittent failure of the fuel pump?

My Panda cutting out problem was the ignition switch. A trip to the scrapyard to replace it (insert comes out so you can use your old key). It always restarted.

The symptoms we had were total death at any speed, fortunately usually when at a junction or on the drive. Its a diesel so may not bump back into life like a petrol.
Sometimes the immobiliser light flashed, sometimes it stayed on, sometimes other lights came on or off. As said before if the controllers are powered up and down in a strange way they can do funny things.

Similar symptoms so might be worth getting another barrel and an hour or 2 to fit it, I think the Puntos are the same unit too.

Coilpacks and crank/cam sensors were always the problems when I was on the Seicento forum. Although we did have a similar problem to yours on our Sei (I think as it was a long time ago) and it was leads. The aftermarket leads I put on caused a slightly different problem so I ended up getting some Fiat ones.

I find the dealer way of fixing things frustrating, there should be a central forum on an intranet for all the technicians to discuss problems. They tend to treat your money as though it was coming out of the Fiat warranty budget and fit parts at almost random to try and fix the problem. If it was coming out of their pockets each time it would soon sharpen them up a bit.

If there was any evidence of the steering causing the engine to miss and sometimes cut out then it might be worth trying but its so unlikely its untrue. Obviously any bulletin they might be able to show you or error cause/action list that says otherwise would justify trying it.

Maybe you should ask the dealer if there is a special way you should sit in the car to make it run better?

A trick I used to use on my Vectra was to unplug the cam sensor whenever I experienced lumpy running / cutting out (the Vectra used to eat cam sensors regularly)...this would send the car into limp mode (limited to 4000rpm) but it would run smooth and helped me identify the cam sensor as the culprit.

Not sure if the same trick can be pulled on the panda...possibly worth a try...sometimes a cam sensor failure would manifest itself as cutting out, other times just as lumpy running...dependent on the way the sensor had failed...

thanks everyone for your help and advice on this problem....

if only the fiat technicians could be this practical , inventive and actually think outside the box for once !


in the end I've traded in the car for a nissan out of sheer frustration, last nissan I had I kept for 7 years and never let me down


all the best

which Nissan did you go for? Please say it isn't a Renault engined one, I just had a nightmare with one, which is why I'm in the Panda now....

Note? Seems like a grown up Panda.

This sounds like typical lambda sensor fault, shame the garage didn't pick up on it, or did they want to ?? can't blame you for jumping ship though

went for a 1 year old micra 1.2, bog-eyed I know but can't afford to insure my kids on a skyline !

pandapain said:

thanks everyone for your help and advice on this problem....

if only the fiat technicians could be this practical , inventive and actually think outside the box for once !


in the end I've traded in the car for a nissan out of sheer frustration, last nissan I had I kept for 7 years and never let me down


all the best

Click to expand...

This is a main engine earth fault, unusual but have had a couple, although irrelevant now.

Had a Micra hire car the other day, amazing panoramic view out of the screen.

Seems to be a bit more spritely than a 1.2 Panda too.

Hi all! Two years later from original post! I have a three year old 1.1 Pando Eco-Active which has been occasionally and randomly stalling, dying, jerking, juddering since January (Lewisham's speed bumps do not help). Whilst under dealership warranty I have had checks, rpm sensor replaced (24/2) and just recently software update that they said it would solve problem (no errors showing on log). I am NOT touching it inside to avoid nullifying warranty. On the way back from (low mileage 9,767 miles!) service and first ever MOT on Friday 21st Sept it stalled again within a mile just before Catford!!! I know intermittent problems are a real pain for all but this problem resulted in screams from my mother as we cannot get away from junctions or it cuts out during a U turn!!! Dangerous (as seen in another post elsewhere!!). Lots of useful advice seen around. Maybe this should be a product recall before someone dies? Trouble is the warranty expires TOMORROW (25/9). I am unemployed and thought this would be a cheap 'eco' car to run (when I was employed I bought it under the scrapage scheme). I phoned FIAT at 08.10 this morning but apparently it is hectic, am still awaiting phone back (noon now). I am just going to drop it off there today and let them use it to get the teabags so they can see the problem. I clarified that the new rpm sensor did not nave its own 3 year warranty and that I was liable for any repairs after expiry! Great!! I cannot afford to extend the warranty at £17 a month (more than I spend on petrol)!! Numerous posts have talked about whether the technicians read forums and customers' concerns to solve problems. maybe they are reading this now? I realise intermittent faults are a real pain but I submitted last February. They did not give me any paperwork the last time I handed it to them to check on 4/9 (they did 15/3) so no proof (although I had it booked in ASAP when I got back from hols). I have dutifully had all the optional 'Engine Performance Treatment' although this problem is definitely a performance one in effect!! Any other recent similar problems out there?? I shall get them to look at the Ignition and Cam Position Sensor. The car is relatively new so no contacts should be corroded. No water has got in as far as I know.

If they fixed the problem, then it re-appeared after the warranty expired then the dealer could argue that they have no warranty responsibility.
However, if they have never fixed the intermittent problem, but unsuccessfully changed items which did not fix it, then the original problem still exists and should be covered by the warranty. You seem to have a case.

I changed just about everything on a Ford Escort to get over a similar problem, in the end it was the ignition coil. When pressing the accelerator quickly ( but not far) the ECU asked for a bigger spark and this broke through the insulation. In normal running there was no problem, just under specific operating conditions.

As it is 3 years old is it a Euro IV engine, it should be shown in the log book?

I had a similar problem of the panda (2010 model) cutting out, particularly when going over bumps and costly work was done - basically the same work as other forum users had experienced- it was only after facing the garage with the comments of the other forum users that the possibility of an inherent fault in the model was taken seriously by the franchise. They had previously said this was a problem no one else had reported. I left the car with them one last time and on returning the next day was told they had received a 'flashmail' from Fiat identifying a 'software problem' with Pandas which could cause engines to cut out. This was recitified at their cost and I have had no problem since then (six months have passed) Without the posts from the forum I would not have been taken seriously in claiming an inherent fault. I hope this helps any other owner who encounters this problem. Well done the forum!