Technical Can anyone tell me what this model......

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Technical Can anyone tell me what this model......

Mrs Goddard

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Panda is from the registration number, please? FV07 OCX?
It is Mums replacement car (she was side swiped by a lady who didn't know her accelerator from her brake! Took out Mum at 28mph and at 82 having survived 2 bouts of cancer and being flung across the road by a motorbike rider. JUST about enough for an 82 year old lady to put up with in 18 months?) So she bought this from a local seller and very shortly after starts giving problems. Limp mode? Jumping around like running out of petrol?? Mechanic THINKS IT is the ECU? But of course I need to know what her car is. And hence the question in the opening sentence. I had a look at eBay, but of course they are pretty specific!! But one thing that really threw me was the units that set there own codes??? Expensive but jhow do they work then??
My problem is , I was a Ford Mechanic myself but started in 1972!! And then qualified and joined the Royal Navy in 75! So ECU's were science fiction then! Thanking you in anticipation.
 
Panda is from the registration number, please? FV07 OCX?

A quick online search would indicate your Mum's car is a grey 1.1 petrol Panda.

If the ECU has failed (and I'd be wary of taking an unknown mechanic's word for it), it may have done so because of a fault in the coil packs.

If the coil packs are faulty, a replacement ECU may fail in the same way if the underlying problem isn't fixed first. If you're not sure what you're doing, you might consider taking the car to an independent Fiat specialist, who will have the necessary diagnostic equipment to work out what is actually wrong with it, and what needs to be replaced.

If it's just a coil pack (there are two), new aftermarket replacements aren't that expensive, but replacing parts on the offchance it may solve the problem can quickly add up to a sizeable sum!

If you're shopping for a replacement ECU, there should be a label on the ECU body.

The code on the label will tell you what to look for.
 

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DVLA reports it as 1108cc so it is most likely an Active.
It is possible for ECUs to fail but it is very rare. Usually they are replaced unnecessarily and don't fix the fault.
More likely to be dirty connectors.

Have you had the OBD codes read? They can indicate the best places to look. Otherwise, as a first step, get your mechanic to clean the ECU connectors. And get the codes read.
If it was me I would try all of the free/cheap fixes first.
Some mechanics have been known to keep swapping parts until problem disappears. That's fine if they are doing it under warranty but less good if you end up repeatedly paying for unnecessary new parts.
 
Zero is the number of ECU I have seen fail on any make of car.

I have seen a replacement fix a fault due to oxidation on the connectors. I am pretty sure a clean was all that would have been required.


Mercedes desided to the MAF sensor on the ECU which technically writes off a lot of cars. But this can be replaced by a specialist company.


They can be damaged by people incorrectly wirring welding jump starting and so on


But for a car to be working one day then the ECU fail I have seen zero.


Had a Corsa B that only fired on three cyclinders. But that was due to someone messing and bending one of the pins. Which did bend back okay.

Limp mode should log the error. Get the error read and post on here
 
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