Technical Crankshaft sensor problems.

[zamackie]

My 2009 Panda 1.1 active eco shows the engine management light from time to time for a few seconds and then goes off. The car stutters a little and then carries on without any trouble. Sometimes it goes for days without happening and then it'll do it several times in a day. I can't see a pattern. On the fault diagnosis computer, there was no sign of a malfunction, so I thought that it might be a loose connection but I've drawn a blank, so far. Does anyone have a similar experience and, if so, know of a solution? The crankshaft sensor has already been replaced.
It's most perplexing.

 

[bugsymike]

Strange, some diagnostic tools have fault "logging" where after a few days with it connected you can read any errors it logged.

 

[koalar]

Engine light on
Error logged
If you just read thr active codes it's not going to show anything

It it this one

And it's not blinking

 

[koalar]

Bumpy roads
Cornering hard
If so a wiring problem maybe

What happens to the rev counter
Misire under acceleration could be lots of things, spark plugs are often the cause, what are they like, when we they last changed

 

[09 johno]

Possibly the loose pin in the rear ecu plug connector for the coil, mine on my 2009 (early) 1.1 with the inline ecu bolted to the battery platform, used to do this and get worse and worse with time until the fault was locked in. Which I initially sorted by fitting a 'strong back' on top of the ECU plugs and strapping the plugs down with tiewraps, however in the hot summer the tiewraps went soft and it happened again, so I removed the ECU plugs, inspected the pins and sockets it a close inspection with a magnifier showed one pin/socket not making contact properly (the one for the coil) with the lid removed from the rear plug, I refitted the plug then forced the pins in with an instrument screwdriver, I still used tie wraps to strap the plugs down, but I havn't had this same issue again since.....yet.

 

[zamackie]

Thanks for all your interest. I'll have a go at 09johno's suggestion and report back.

 

[zamackie]

I removed the rear ECU plug, slathered it in contact cleaner, and refitted it three times to be sure that any oxidisation of the pins would be eliminated. Even though the car is fourteen years old it has only done just over 8000 miles (2000 since I bought it), so it must have done a lot of standing around, hence the possibility of the pins oxidising. Ten days later and there has been no sign of the engine management light, so far so good but only time will tell. Thanks all.

 

[zamackie]

Weeks later and the engine management light came on again. It would seem that the plastic clips that hold the ECU plugs in place work their way loose. I plan to put a cable tie around both plugs to see if that has the desired effect. The message is that, before blaming the crankshaft sensor, check the plugs on the ECU. An annoying foible of the car but once discovered it's simple and cheap to rectify. Time will tell.

 

[koalar]

The ECU plugs are a cam lock system with a positive lock

They can not work loose if correctly fitted and not damaged

Even with the latch snapped off they don't normally work loose

What is the actual error code read

not learnt
intermitant
High
Low


Crankshaft errors aren't common with the ECU plugs, the common ECU 1.1 errors are normally injector or coil related

Are you sure it's not coincidence that touching the plugs fixed the car, if you just clear the code how long is it before it comes back

You really don't want to be touching the ECU plugs more than you need to. If there is slight corrosion on the pins it's possible to snap a pin off as you remove them.