I have had my Bravo 1.4 150 t-jet for about 3 months and its done around 1,750 miles.

I've recently been experiencing a problem where the car will intermittently lose all power both accelerating and cruising at a constant speed. When it happens I can push the pedal to the floor and have no revs at all. Once taking my foot off the accelerator and then putting it down again the car regains power.

The problem isn't consistent either, it happens at different speeds, at different revs and in different gears. No warning lights come on.

I took it to Glynn Hopkin Dealer yesterday and they had a quick look at it and said they couldn't find anything wrong with it, yet on the way home from the garage it happened 9 times, 5 of which was in 6th gear at 70mph. Its a bit concerning as it sometimes happens when pulling out at a roundabout or away from lights and im afraid that it may cause and accident if not fixed soon.

I've looked around and cant find anything relating to this problem im having. Is there anyone having the same problem or has heard of this?

It's pretty dangerous! It might be something wrong with transmisson from throttle or in the accelerator itself. Never experienced so far. Anyhow, take it to another garage for scrutiny as soonest, they should put car on a dyno and read the electronic unit to identify what's going there.

When it happens, did the engine rev up?if so, it might be the clutch slipping.
If the engine doesn't rev, did you get any engine warning light?

I had this exact same problem... It was fixed this week.
Brake light switch was faulty and switching on the brake lights when i wasn't braking.
The ECU detects the lights are on, beleives i'm braking and cuts power to the engine. (why would you want to accelarate when braking?)
The garage found this out by chance, they could tell there was a problem but couldn't find it until they pulled up outside a shiney shop window and saw the light blinking on and off without the pedal.
I know how it happend too.
About 3 weeks ago i had to anchor on to avoid some tosser who decided to pull a u-turn right in front of me. I Avoided hitting him by 2 inches, but in doing so i managed to crush the switch under the brake pedal so the return spring was weak.
The end up it was a half hour job to swap the spring.

maffc said:

I had this exact same problem... It was fixed this week.
Brake light switch was faulty and switching on the brake lights when i wasn't braking.
The ECU detects the lights are on, beleives i'm braking and cuts power to the engine. (why would you want to accelarate when braking?)
The garage found this out by chance, they could tell there was a problem but couldn't find it until they pulled up outside a shiney shop window and saw the light blinking on and off without the pedal.
I know how it happend too.
About 3 weeks ago i had to anchor on to avoid some tosser who decided to pull a u-turn right in front of me. I Avoided hitting him by 2 inches, but in doing so i managed to crush the switch under the brake pedal so the return spring was weak.
The end up it was a half hour job to swap the spring.

Click to expand...

Thats bad, which mean we cant use left foot braking and heel & toe on the Bravo then?

Dunno, I read the theory once, tried it and couldn't do it. Guess my rally career is over before it starts .

Isn't the idea of heel-toe to keep the engine at the right speed for the exit? If so then then engine will be still doing the revs as the wheels will be turning, as soon as the brake pedal is released the power is restored.

As i said, I never could do it so i don't know how big a problem it would be.

maffc said:

Dunno, I read the theory once, tried it and couldn't do it. Guess my rally career is over before it starts .

Isn't the idea of heel-toe to keep the engine at the right speed for the exit? If so then then engine will be still doing the revs as the wheels will be turning, as soon as the brake pedal is released the power is restored.

As i said, I never could do it so i don't know how big a problem it would be.

Click to expand...

Well, the idea of heel & toe are keep the rev up when you change down, so you don't need to build up you rev again in lower gear.
As for left foot braking, ideal for turbo cars, basically press the brake and gas pedal at the same time while braking but build up ur rev, as soon as you release ur brake pedal, your car will just go!!!

maffc said:

I had this exact same problem... It was fixed this week.
Brake light switch was faulty and switching on the brake lights when i wasn't braking.
The ECU detects the lights are on, beleives i'm braking and cuts power to the engine. (why would you want to accelarate when braking?)
The garage found this out by chance, they could tell there was a problem but couldn't find it until they pulled up outside a shiney shop window and saw the light blinking on and off without the pedal.
I know how it happend too.
About 3 weeks ago i had to anchor on to avoid some tosser who decided to pull a u-turn right in front of me. I Avoided hitting him by 2 inches, but in doing so i managed to crush the switch under the brake pedal so the return spring was weak.
The end up it was a half hour job to swap the spring.

Click to expand...

Yep, this seems to be what my problem is! i so much as touch the break pedal, and the lights come on, and i can get out of the car and they will still be on. I'll let the garage know and see what they say.

cheers

another one with the same problem.. the car is new only 2.320km.. at least the problem was identified and solved quickly

maffc said:

I had this exact same problem... It was fixed this week.
Brake light switch was faulty and switching on the brake lights when i wasn't braking.
The ECU detects the lights are on, beleives i'm braking and cuts power to the engine. (why would you want to accelarate when braking?)
The garage found this out by chance, they could tell there was a problem but couldn't find it until they pulled up outside a shiney shop window and saw the light blinking on and off without the pedal.
I know how it happend too.
About 3 weeks ago i had to anchor on to avoid some tosser who decided to pull a u-turn right in front of me. I Avoided hitting him by 2 inches, but in doing so i managed to crush the switch under the brake pedal so the return spring was weak.
The end up it was a half hour job to swap the spring.

Click to expand...

I know the thread is old as hell but wanted to say thanks! Had the exact same issue with a Grande Punto, changed a cheap part and voila it works. Saved me a ton of money.