Technical Temp. gauge goes to zero, engine light comes on after about 25 miles

Currently reading:
Technical Temp. gauge goes to zero, engine light comes on after about 25 miles

se75

New member
Joined
Nov 9, 2010
Messages
6
Points
4
strange little problem with my 2002 1.2 Punto Go...

Everything is fine on shorter trips, but on a longer journey after about 30 minutes (25 miles) suddenly the temperature gauge drops to zero and the amber engine light comes on.

After stopping for a while, the temp. gauge will work again but the engine light stays on for the rest of the day. Next morning, engine light will be out, temp. gauge will be working - until I drive for half an hour when it starts all over again.

There doesn't seem to be any air in the cooling system, and all the pipes are hot, could it be the thermostat not closing? but why would it work for 30 minutes and only then stick open?

Not sure if it could be related, but I previously noticed that on this car the temperature gauge has always read a bit low - it never really goes over halfway even when stuck in traffic.
 
Probably a faulty temperature sensor. Want to get it seen to asap as without that sensor working the fan wont come on to cool the car if needed and it will easily overheat.
Unless of course the ecu is putting the fan on constant as soon as it looses signal from the sensor.
Not sure if it will or not though
 
Probably a faulty temperature sensor. Want to get it seen to asap as without that sensor working the fan wont come on to cool the car if needed and it will easily overheat.
Unless of course the ecu is putting the fan on constant as soon as it looses signal from the sensor.
Not sure if it will or not though


Thanks that makes sense, I did notice the fan coming on for no apparent reason when the engine light is on (but not every time).

guess I better take the car to have the engine warning code read out
 
Thanks that makes sense, I did notice the fan coming on for no apparent reason when the engine light is on (but not every time).

guess I better take the car to have the engine warning code read out

Someone on here may be willing to read the code for you, alot cheaper than a garage aswell if anyone lives near enough to you.

Do you keep proper coolant in and has it ever been changed? If not then the sensor could have corroded away. Last car I took apart was like that
 
thanks guys, great advice.

does the Punto just have the single temperature gauge sensor (green plug at the back near the intake)?
or is there a separate sensor for the ECU that I should check/replace too

I really need to buy a manual :)
 
I had the exact same issue so took it to the garage. Identified it as the temperature sensor and replaced it.

Could there be another issue? or is there something that they could have done wrong?


any help appreciated
 
I had the exact same issue so took it to the garage. Identified it as the temperature sensor and replaced it.



Could there be another issue? or is there something that they could have done wrong?





any help appreciated


Hi mate,

So has replacing the CTS solved your issue?

Based on the symptoms described I would also diagnose CTS and it's easy to test too.

If your problem is still occurring after changing the CTS then I would be looking at the wiring to the CTS and the connector.

Really you would need to plug into diagnostics and see what codes are being thrown and look at live data to check out the parameters of the CTS IF the fault is still occurring.

Alan
 
Back
Top