General Fiat Brava Idle problem / oil light

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General Fiat Brava Idle problem / oil light

Simon The Pieman

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My 1997 Fiat Brava 1.4 lite is idling fine at startup and for the next 20 minutes of driving, but then the idling drops a little and the scary oil light start to flicker in and out. The engine does not die but gives the impression it will. We have already replaced the RPM sensor (£130 including diag.)and this stopped the car from dying when this happens, but now it is just getting annoying. I would appreciate any constructive input here. When you accelerate a little of course the light disappears. Is there a way of altering the Idle speed on this particular model of car, or can anyone else suggest what the issue could be here? The two mechanics I have taken it to have given me the old Shoulder shrug and sent me on my way. Please help!:confused:
 
Oh, one more thing, I tried tightening the accelerator cable and that seemed to keep the idling up, but then this morning, when it got to the 20 minute mark again and stop at traffic lights, the oil light would come on permanently. Then when you start driving of from the lights it disappears. I have checked oil levels, the mechanics said it is not the head gasket...Please help...anyone???
 
Simon The Pieman said:
Oh, one more thing, I tried tightening the accelerator cable and that seemed to keep the idling up, but then this morning, when it got to the 20 minute mark again and stop at traffic lights, the oil light would come on permanently. Then when you start driving of from the lights it disappears. I have checked oil levels, the mechanics said it is not the head gasket...Please help...anyone???
the oil light could be coming on due to low oil pump pressure. or it could be a faulty oil sender switch. as for the idle problem it could be the aps sensor.
 
runninggoose said:
the oil light could be coming on due to low oil pump pressure. or it could be a faulty oil sender switch. as for the idle problem it could be the aps sensor.

Hi Running goose, I just had the car serviced on the weekend, as I suspected it may be the type of oil used when the car was sold to us. The oil switch was replaced as well, as well as new oil/filter/plugs etc. After driving off everything seemed perfect, but the oil light still comes on after about 20 minutes of driving. mechanic suggested it could be the oil pump as the pressure is low. Do you know if the car will still run ok with a dodgy oil pump. (ie. I don't want to invest any more money in the car!):eek:
 
Simon The Pieman said:
Hi Running goose, I just had the car serviced on the weekend, as I suspected it may be the type of oil used when the car was sold to us. The oil switch was replaced as well, as well as new oil/filter/plugs etc. After driving off everything seemed perfect, but the oil light still comes on after about 20 minutes of driving. mechanic suggested it could be the oil pump as the pressure is low. Do you know if the car will still run ok with a dodgy oil pump. (ie. I don't want to invest any more money in the car!):eek:

the car will run but you risk ruining the engine.
the 1.4 already suffers from poor oil circulation on the cam .
due to clogging on the oil sprayer bar.
low oil pressure at tick over in some higher milage engines came be normal as long as the light is off at revs over about 1000 rpm . there could be a ground fault on the oil switch wiring. i have heard that sometimes a wire can be wrongly connected to the radio making the lights on the dash work wrong.
most commonly noted by the speedo flipping over to 100 while starting the car.
but i would suggest you change the oil pump if you want to keep your engine from siezing. pistons tends to leave the crank when the oil pressure is low or non existant.
 
To Simon The Pieman
I have had a similar issue with my 1.4 96 Bravo, the car seems to have drop in power after 20min driving.
I have managed to control the fault by removing all electrical plugs under the bonnet then spraying with light spray oil.
This removed the issue for only 5 months, I repeated this process and then replacing the spark plugs and all spark plug leads the issue has not return.
For the oil light have checked all pipe around the single point injection system for cracks, and vacuum pipes the air filter box for cracks and correctly fitted?
 
the oil light will come on.. wen the engine is about to stall.. ie the revs drop really low.

you need to find out why the engine is stalling.

no oil, oil not been changed and it's turned into treacle, fan belt too tight, alternator funked, battery on its way out, spark plugs & other ingnition stuff..


just a few areas to consider.....

the belt, alternator, battery might seem alittle wierd.. but if the battery is dieing, it could be caussing loads of strain on the alternator to charge.. causing it to require loads of effort to work thus nabbing all the engins power.. and if the belts to tight u can be adding more effort to the engine... bit like having ur bike chain to tight.. it makes it harder to peddle.. and having a dynamo to power ur lights made it loads of effort to start off!


You could always pop to fiat and ask them.. you don't have to pay for it.. just a quote ;)
 
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