The latest. The car runs smooth and fine on all 4 cylinders all the way through the range whether revved fast or slow. Starts first time when she's cold but just turns and turns and turns when warm.
My brother suggested(though he has no experience with fiats) that possibly the car has a sensor that tells it when there isn't enough oil pressure which is faulty. Is this possible?

gotta be lambda sensor. warm start probs like this are almost always lambda, and usually dont show up on diagnostic for some odd reason.

Hmmmm, the garage said they'd changed it(They could have put in a universal i suppose). Just to refresh my memory Jug, what's the resistance range i should be looking for on the lambda sensor?

this attachment should help. definately do a quick test to see if its ok.

Thanks Jug, so if i'm reading this right, connect to the a and b pins and look for a reading of 5000 ohms, yes?

Stark said:

Thanks Jug, so if i'm reading this right, connect to the a and b pins and look for a reading of 5000 ohms, yes?

Click to expand...

yes, 5000 ohms max, more would indicate a fault or inappropriate sensor has been used eg universal crap. (open circuit means dead probe)

also test the heater element, pins C & D should give a resisitance in the range 4.2-4.7ohms. if it isnt then the lambda is not suitable for the car.

problem with universal lambdas is they only really go off the number of wires, the heater and probe are just a generic setup designed to work on most cars, but not work well. most modern engine management systems are so sensitive to out of range values that the new universal lambda is likely to get ignored even if it is working.

Thanks mate

Good call Jug. Just tested resistance, pins c+d 4.7, pins a+b not a twitch, utterly dead. God this sucks lol. But at least now the light at the end of the tunnel is a great deal nearer

:woot:

so it seems the garage were telling fibs about changing the lambda. tut tut, very tut tut.

Well after 5 months of the luck ever (including my computer going tits-up in a most spectacular and smoky fashion) i finally have the car back
She seems to be running beautifully which she should seeing as the bloody mechanic replaced every sensor on the damn thing and skimmed the valves etc lol.
The only problem we're having with her now is that when she's been running for a while (up to temp) the starter motor plays up, when you turn the key it doesn't seem able to turn the engine over a full revolution. Give it ten half an hour and it starts easily.
Could this be a bad contact on the starter motor, perhaps an earth

Could be the starter motor itself - clean the brushes, their sliders, inspect the bearings.

Stark said:

when she's been running for a while (up to temp) the starter motor plays up, when you turn the key it doesn't seem able to turn the engine over a full revolution. Give it ten half an hour and it starts easily.
Could this be a bad contact on the starter motor, perhaps an earth

Click to expand...

seen this many times, its due to excess resistance in the circuit. when hot, a rusty or dirty connection will have greatly increased resistance, which reduces the current that can pas through the circuit.

the most likely culprit is the battery terminals so i always try these first. i have a wire brush terminal cleaner, but you can use anything that will get them shiny and clean. dont forget to also do the connectors before reattaching them to the battery.

next most likely culprit is the earth strap, this is atteched to the gearbox and to the chassis above it, remove, clean and grease the connections at both ends of the strap, and check that the strap is not rotten. if in doubt, try adding a new earth lead for the engine, use some thick gauge wire.

finally if it still doesnt solve the problem, do the same for the connections on the starter motor. there are 2 wires bolted on, clean the connection for both of them.

Ok Jug, thanks for the advice......yet again lol.
I won't have a chance to get under it 'til the weekend, i'll check everything you've indicated and post the results when i have them.
Once again, thanks mate