Technical Panda stopped, then occasionally starts for a while before stopping...

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Technical Panda stopped, then occasionally starts for a while before stopping...

pb1

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Hello, I was happily driving along then the engine management light came on before completely stopping. The car sat for a couple of hours, restarted ok, the management light went out and drove ok before cutting out again. I got the car home and now am struggling to start at all. With a cheap code reader there were initially faults U1600 and U1602 which I'm not sure are a red herring??
I had no spark and I don't think any fuel getting to the cylinders although I can hear the fuel pump initially running and pressure at the fuel rail.
I was thinking sensor so I have changed the crankshaft sensor after which I now have a code P0335 which I believe is a crankshaft sensor fault however I now have a spark and car tries to go but wont start. I sent the ECU away to be tested and came back ok. I changed coil packs for the hell of it and have a camshaft sensor in the post. The car ran for a while today and sounded fine before failing again... I've visually inspected cables re seated relays fuses etc. The dash now seems to be doing strange things - temp gauge going full scale while trying to start. Anyone got any ideas???:bang:
 
Just a few thoughts and questions...
Does the immobiliser light go out exactly as normal?
Have you had a flat battery recently? Is it definitely good?
Are you sure the new crank sensor is properly fitted, and the connectors are clean?
Have you checked your earth leads?
I know the ECU has been disconnected and reconnected, but are the connectors clean?
Is it a genuine crank sensor or a "cheapo" one? Have had problems with some non-genuine ones, so could just be faulty. If not genuine, don't eliminate it as cause yet.
Try these and see if things change.
 
Thanks for the responses.

irc -
Yes immobiliser goes out as normal. The battery seems good, it's cranking over well, I can try and charge.
The crank sensor was a cheapo... It looks fitted ok, the connector looks ok, dry etc.
All the connectors on the ecu and sensors looked clean, I guess I could try contact cleaner.

Thefox -
It was lashing with rain the day before so water damage is a possibility although cant see anything obvious. I wondered whether things had stopped talking to each other, although the immobilser light does goes out.
 
U1600 and U1602 seem quite common. Most people seem to ignore it. Surprised nobody's got to the bottom of it. Your probably right on it being a red herring.
 
Temperature gauge is driven from the body computer. The body computer gets it information directly from the ECU. Just two wires direct from the water senor to the ECU.

For a quick test if you disconnect the CTS does the temperature gauge stay on zero.


Don't forget to reconnect It.

Its a green connector under the airbox. Towards the back of the engine
 
Thanks everyone, there's a few things for me to check there, i'll give those a go tomorrow morning and see where it takes me (Work getting in the way). I'm up in the NE Scotland...
 
My money is on the crank sensor. They often do not raise any fault codes because the ECU simply thinks the engine has stopped turning.
 
Thanks everyone, there's a few things for me to check there, i'll give those a go tomorrow morning and see where it takes me (Work getting in the way). I'm up in the NE Scotland...


there are a few members - both FF and FS - up between Dundee and Aberdeen who have multiECUScan.

before fitting random parts I would interrogate the system properly;)

charlie
 
Right, I was going through some of the suggestions and recapping. With the old crankshaft sensor I have no fuel or spark, with the new cheapo I have a spark and fuel but not starting, so it seems the original crankshaft sensor is definitely faulty. I'm hoping a genuine crank sensor may do the trick although perhaps with all my poking around I've upset something else.... Sensor in the post. Also I think the instruments were going mad due to the battery getting flat after all the non starts so that's back on charge. I've got a set of leads for the ecuscan in the post too.
Thanks everyone, i'll give an update once the bits are here.
 
It'll probably start after recharging the battery. If it doesn't, pull the fuse for the fuelsystem and run the starter a few times to get rid of excessive fuel. then put the fuse back in, turn the key till the dashboard lights up and start after the lights in the dash go out.

gr J
 
Brilliant, we're in business!!! Dodgy cheap replacement crank sensor, I've learnt a lesson there. At least I've learnt a bit about panda engines, oh the other things I've learnt - If you have your arm through the drivers window switching on the ignition while standing by the side of the car 1. don't have the car in gear 2. definitely don't have your foot by the wheel...
Thank you all so much.
 
Brilliant, we're in business!!! Dodgy cheap replacement crank sensor, I've learnt a lesson there. At least I've learnt a bit about panda engines, oh the other things I've learnt - If you have your arm through the drivers window switching on the ignition while standing by the side of the car 1. don't have the car in gear 2. definitely don't have your foot by the wheel...
Thank you all so much.

Ouch! :eek:
 
Well done. As you (and we) suspected - crank sensor!

It sounds like OCD but bricks under the driving wheels are a great idea. Many cars will start and run in gear. Not too good when its facing out of the driveway.
 
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