General Another injection thread

[Moco]

Hi everyone,

Bought a fiat Brava 1.6sx today at an auction, mint condition car on a W plate.

Unfortunately, being at an auction, i didn't have a chance to drive the car before buying it.

Im pretty sure from reading on this site that it is the Injection problem that seems to occur in alot of these 1.6's.
Basically, it sounds almost like a deisel engine, and doesnt seem to have the power it should, quite stuttery when being driven also if you see what i mean.

It's not having problems starting or anything, but just isnt running smoothly at all.

Does this sound like it definately will be an injection problem? Or is there a possibility that it could be caused by something else?

I did take it to a garage today (booked it in for monday) and before i even had a chance to speak the guy pretty much told me it is an injection problem. Thing is, he opened the bonnet and with the engine on, was taking off 4 little "cap" type things (sorry, honestly dont have a clue what im on about so sorry if this is sounding wierd lol). Now when i was reading some of the threads on the forum i saw that when these caps are taken of that the engine idle wouldnt change if there was a problem with injection. Im not 100% but i think the idle dropped each time he took one of the caps off.

So wouldnt this mean that the problem is something else? He said to bring it in on monday, and that it probly is the injection still. And that 4 of the things will be £90 each + VAT and labour. So in that case im looking at like £500 in total from what i can gather :O, which just seems mad!!!


Also what i wanted to ask is, the guy at the garage said that i'd be fine driving the car until monday and that wont damage the car at all. Does that sound right to you guys? I mean the car doesnt sound very healthy really, but again, i dont have a clue so......


Many thanks for reading, any help would be SERIOUSLY appreciated. And sorry for bringing up the same old topic, i'm just really worried and wanted to give my personal circumstances to hopefully get a better answer.


Thanks all

Moco

 

[sammiboo]

yeah injectors dying are common on the 1.6

You shouldnt need to change all the injectors though.

shop4parts sell injectors. I got mine from there. I have had my bravo 2 years and replaced 3 injectors so far.

You can also get them from the scrappys for about £20 each.

 

[Moco]

Thanks, yeah il be sure to check out the scrappy's then if that does turn out to be the problem


Does anybody have any idea if the car is still going to be ok to drive up until monday? Or is it going to cause problems?

 

[jug]

the previous owner of my 1.6 drove it for almost a year like that (no one could fix it for them, then it couldnt pass an MOT so they had to sell).

there was no long term damage other than the cat was killed due to unburnt fuel entering the exhaust system and the sparkplug and HT lead on the cylinder with the faulty injector were burnt.

if you replace an injector, also replace the sparkplugs and HT leads.
(ht leads are the 4 things he was pulling off)

its a shame you cant fix this yourself, but it sounds like you have found a mechanic that isnt retarded so i hope you're in safe hands. if like sammi suggests you can supply the injector(s) yourself it should save you a load of cash.

 

[Moco]

Ok thanks alot, il continue to drive it (gently lol) up until monday.

The sound of the car does seem to get worse the longer i drive for which seems a bit odd.

Im just praying that it is the injectors and not something alot more serious. By the sounds of what i've read on here though it does seem like this will be the cause....

Do you know how much the extra bits that you mentioned to get changed with the injectors will cost..... seems like what i thought was a minor problem could potentialy end up costing me more than i payed for the car

 

[sammiboo]

Where do you live? so people can reccomend some local scrappys.

Also you need to know if its multipoint injection. My injectors have 4 holes so you need to find out which you need. Ask the garage that checked them for you.

if you do get the ht leads then you could get these from scrappies. Spark plugs dont cost much to get changed.

If you get the work done at this garage then I would suggest get them to give it a full service too. Might help clear some crap out of the system.

 

[Moco]

Where do you live? so people can reccomend some local scrappys.

Also you need to know if its multipoint injection. My injectors have 4 holes so you need to find out which you need. Ask the garage that checked them for you.

if you do get the ht leads then you could get these from scrappies. Spark plugs dont cost much to get changed.

If you get the work done at this garage then I would suggest get them to give it a full service too. Might help clear some crap out of the system.

I live in Brighton, im sure there are some about, il have to look into it.

ok il find out from the guy at the garage which i need....... he said he's going to hook it up to some test machine thing on monday so im sure he'l be able to tell me then.

Im also sure he said that if it is due to the injectors that it's best to get all of them changed? Is this not right then? Should i just ask him to change the ones that are gone?

 

[sammiboo]

personally if I was paying full whack for unjectors then i would just get the one that needs changing done. It is most likely that there is only one that has gone. I have never had my injectors die more than one at a time.

If you can get some at a bargain then get them all changed. But it up to you depending on how much you want to spend.

 

[jug]

Do you know how much the extra bits that you mentioned to get changed with the injectors will cost

go to your local motorfactor-

4 x NGK sparkplugs £12

set of 4 HT leads £20


if you fail on emissions at your next MOT it probably means the cat needs changing, the cost of that can vary a lot, but expect to pay £60-70 (fitted)

 

[Moco]

wow thanks for all this info you two It's really appreciated!!!

Seriously glad i found this forum, seems great!!

Ta again, will keep you updated once it's been to the garage.

 

[Moco]

Right after checking that i was talking about the right thing , i've just been out to try the HT leads myself. I tried taking all four of them out, one at a time, and on each one the idle dropped considerably.

Does this rule out the injectors then (even though the red injector light on the dash is on).

Is there another other simple tests i'd be able to do to try and locate the problem better?

 

[jug]

the plot thickens

before you assume the injectors are ok i would get a multimeter and check the resistance of all 4.

there is a connector at the right hand side of the fuel rail (when looking in engine bay) if you disconnect it you'll see 5 pins inside. test on the connector that is on your left, use the centre pin as the earth, and the other 4 pins are each for an injector. measure the resistance for all 4, all should give a reading of 14-15ohms, if any are much less it means they need changing.

assuming they are ok, we need to consider other possibilities. the fuel injection system fault light does not mean the problem is with the fuel injection, it simply means the ecu has noticed a fault, that could be anything, you dont know what type of fault or where it is.

often the best thing to do is a diagnostic, this will read fault codes stored in the ecu, hopefully telling you what the problme is, or at least giving you a good clue.

 

[Moco]

Ok well i dont have a multimeter so i guess il have to wait till monday then before i can give anymore info.

Im so worried at the moment that it's going to be something more serious.

Oh by the way, its actually a 1.6 Trofeo or something, not sure if that makes any difference.

Thanks again

 

[sammiboo]

Oh by the way, its actually a 1.6 Trofeo or something, not sure if that makes any difference.

Thanks again

nope

 

[Moco]

Well im afraid to say that all this was a bit of a waste of time.......... i got crashed into yesterday and the brava is now dead well i should think it is anyway.

The car was taken away today, im not going to hear anything from the insurance until tuesday/wednesday..... so il find out then whether it's a write off or not.

Thanks for everything you two.... was really appreciated

 

[sammiboo]

oh dear whose fault was it? Was the car fully comp you could buy another bravo/a they are ace cars

 

[jug]

Well im afraid to say that all this was a bit of a waste of time.......... i got crashed into yesterday and the brava is now dead well i should think it is anyway.

as long as you're ok.

cars are easily replaced, especially bargain cars like bravo/as. fingers crossed for a good payout.

 

[Moco]

Yeah i am on fully comp, the accident wasnt my fault though. Tbh it wasnt the ladies fault either i dont think, the crash was mainly due to an illegally parked car right on the corner of a t juction. The Lady took pics of the juction and how the car was parked so we will have to see what happens there.

Im not too sure how much il get if it's a write off. I mean i payed £700 for the Brava, 1.6, 2000, with like 65000 miles on it. Im not 100% sure whether id get the list price of the car (which im not sure what would be) or the amount i listed on the insurance that i paid for the car. The car (minus the injection problem) was in great condition inside and out.... so if it was the list price i got back id be hoping for the higher end due to it's condition.

Should find out within the next couple of days.

 

[Moco]

Got my cheque through for the car today. £1700

Seeing as i only payed £700 for the car in the first place... i'd say that's a tidy profit

 

[jug]

nice, do that once a week and you're sorted for life.