Hi all,

I'm completely new to this forum as have only owned our 1.2 sport for a couple of weeks. Really growing to like the car but first problem occured last night which is making me feel uneasy!

Started the car after a short stop at the supermarket last night and got a 'check engine' message and the yellow engine symbol (EOBD/Injection). This remains on constantly and the car feels under-powered, and the rev-counter has stopped working?!

The car is a 59 plate and done 14K miles so can hopefully take to the dealer's under warranty, but wondered if the symptoms suggested anything obvious to anyone?? Any advice greatfully received!

Cheers.....

Until you plug the car into an Examiner (or other good EOBD fault code reader), you're not going to know, it really could be anything.

More than likely a failed sensor hence the car is in LOS (Limited Operation Strategy) which basically means the engine management substitutes a 'safe' approximate value for the sensor it's no longer getting a sensible reading from.

Yeah - kind of what I thought but just wondered if the sysptoms with the rev-counter were specific enough for someone to have seen before...

thanks for the speedy response though - i guess i'll get it booked in and see what they can find.

I missed the lack of a tacho - usually that points to a lack of engine speed sensor reading (i.e. crank or cam sensor). Is the engine hard to start?

A little harder than it has been definitely - turns over for a little longer than previously and then splutters into life. Sounds smooth enough on tick-over once started though.

Also, just started engine agian and tacho working for a minute, then drops out (EOBD light always on though) - power drop seems to correspond with the tacho drop out as well.

Crank/Cam sensors sound like major repairs to my uneducated ears - are they difficult to replace?

I've not investigated on the 1.2 - but usually they're pretty easy to remove, albeit sometimes a little difficult to access. Usually one or two bolts and a plug and they pull out.

Thanks for the advice bgunn - really helpful.
I'll take down to the men with the computers and see what they say....

Just thought I'd post the conclusion to this story in case anyone encounters the same problem...

Took to my local specialist who services our other car and he plugged into his diagnostics. It was indeed the crank speed sensor that had gone. £60 and 1/2 day later it's all fixed.

Thanks a lot for the remote diagnosis bgunn. Without this I would have waited for a slot at my local Fiat dealers (Friday earliest) and their conclusions. As you suggested it may be the crank sensor I thought it was worth getting checked out and not too expensive to get sorted without Fiat's involvement.

Sometimes more valuable to get the car back quickly than save a bit of cash....

Thanks again for the advice....

Result!

Great diagnosis by bgunn there then. You should expect a bill in the post from him shortly

Nice one, glad to hear you got it sorted, and at the right price too

Hi,
I have a 2013 twin air 500l. It has 40k on it. I was driving it the other day and the engine light came on and lost all power. It was driveable then wouldn’t even rev. My husband disconnected the battery and now it is driveable again but still can’t get much power out of it or past 2nd gear. Do you think this could be the same problem?
Thanks

It certainly could but as stated on the original post and everywhere else the only thing that will tell you what the problem is, is diagnostic software. We all use MultiECScan which is near dealer level software for a fraction of the price. Depending on where you are, someone might be able to do it for you.