Cinquecento Problem with my 97 Cinquecento 900

[Cento78]

Hi all, coil packs replaced, the plugs are not even sparking now! Took note what Fingers said about placement of the crank sensor, on my car, it's fixed by 2 screws on a solid bracket which appears to be part of the engine block, this looked ok when I checked it. Next step to check wiring from coils back to the ecu for 12volt power. Does anybody have a simple wiring diagram of the ignition circuit starting from the battery via the ignition switch and any relays and the ecu ending at the plugs? Because even though I have a Haynes manual, the wiring diagrams are not model specific and a bit complicated.
Regards
Bill

 

[fingers99]

I think all the others are worse!

If no spark, check for fuel dribbling onto the TB butterfly when cranked.

If no fuel and no spark it will be a TDC (Crank Sensor) sensor issue.

 

[Cento78]

Hi Fingers, checked the Crank sensor and connector today and all appears to be fine, the air gap is ok as well. The crank sensor was replaced with a brand new one recently. I've bought a multimeter so I will check for current/continuity to the crank sensor, coil packs, and I'll be checking the ignition switch as well to see if we get any joy there. This problem has to be something simple, it's finding the solution that's the hard bit!

 

[Cento78]

Hi all, well on a sad note, the Chinky has gone to the great scrapyard in the sky. After getting an expert auto electrician working on my Fiat it turned out that as the crank sensor was working perfectly as was most other things on the car, further tests identified a fault with the ECU, and to get this sorted was going to cost more than I was prepared to pay, and as there were other jobs to do on the car in preparation for it's next MOT I decided to cut my losses and let go and find a chinky that works. So thanks to all for their help(Fingers99 etc) it was much appreciated, even if we didn't get there in the end.

 

[blu73]

blimey, i hope the other stuff was more of an issue than that, £50 and couple of hours would have fixed faulty ecu complete with matching lock and ignition barrels etc!!

 

[Cento78]

Hi Blu 73, The other issues were Corrosion near all seatbelt anchor points, it needed replacement headlights as the reflector bowls had broken from their mountings. It also needed an exhaust centre section as it was blowing. I was going to go down the road of having my ecu refurbished which would have meant I wouldn't have needed to touch the immobiliser and lock and barrel but I was quoted £59 just to diagnose the problem and then whatever else to fix it which would have come to just over £200! Hardly worth it for a car that's only worth £300! I did look on line for a used ECU, immobiliser lock barrel with transponder key but the ones I did find were for the 1.1 model and not the 899cc, I enquired in the local breakers yards even looking for a Seicento 899cc but got no joy. So in the end I lost patience and heart and let it go. But there's always another Chinky out there. Thanks again for your help.

 

[blu73]

fair one, at least it wasn't just an ecu then..

and yes, cinqs are getting rarer but there is still plenty out there at the mo - give it a few more years though and they will getting pretty rare i reckon.

 

[Cento78]

Agreed, however when they do get to that stage where they are rare classics, I think the real money spinners will be the Soleil and Sporting models, I don't think the S and SX models will be of much value. Take classic Ford Escorts for example, when was the last time you saw a 1.1 Escort MK1 or MK2 or a 1.3? Most surviving examples of those seem to be 1600's or RS2000. Hence my point about the little Cinq, even if I had have gone to the trouble of fixing everything on it and got it back on the road, I would never have got my money back. However I did remove the parts I bought for the car and they are now on Ebay, so it may not be a total loss after all?.

 

[blu73]

mmmm even longer term though they will be the rarest and most sort after - with classics it is always the rare ones that are the most desirable.

Like panda's everyone wants a 4x4 sisley but because of this there is now more 4x4 pandas left that any other model. The really obscure ones in decent condition are the ones that command the highest price now. The cinq soliel will be the rarest most expensive ones in future as sportings are the common ones.

But yeah i get you, wasn't having a go or anything I looked on how many left the other day and iirc there is only 1,500 ish cinqs left and 700 of them are on the road sportings and then there is a load of SORN'd sportings. Numbers of all the others are dwindling, cause as you say, right now no-one wants them.

 

[Cento78]

Again, agreed, the base S model and SX in the future will be as rare to find as the base model Fiat Tipo and Tempra today the last one of them that I saw was my own Tipo 1.4 ie that sadly met a tragic end smashed up with a Fiat Panda 10 years ago. I know you weren't having a go I didn't get that impression. The cinqs are fun small cars and cheap on the juice, and I did like mine until it decided it had had enough. Fiat were never really that clever with electrics, and my Cinq and the many other modern Fiats out there prove that point. That hasn't put me off totally, just need to find one that works properly and has been looked after because Fiat do make nice cars.

 

[blu73]

to be fair, i have always found cento electrics to be pretty good.. and an ecu failing on one of these is almost unheard of - they are bulletproof really.

If you interested in a quick little cinq look for mine in classifieds, and click pic in my sig to read about it

 

[Cento78]

I don't think my ecu failed due to poor manufacture of the part because everybody's been telling me their not usually any trouble. I've got a suspiscion that it may have been damaged in some way in the past, because a cd player was fitted, and whoever did it didn't do a very good job, with wires everywhere under the dash it's possible that mr Bodge was at work and did something while the power was still on, and the rest is history as they say. I'll take a look at your Cinq, but I won't be buying another just yet due to needing to save some funds.
Regards
Bill