Technical Cinquecento intermittently not starting

Currently reading:
Technical Cinquecento intermittently not starting

Joined
Dec 8, 2013
Messages
30
Points
10
Location
South London
OK i am not a stranger to a cinquecento sporting. I owned one about 13 years ago. Decided to buy another one and found a cracking 1997 model with 24k original miles on the clock!

Anyways to the issue. I have both blue keys and the red one. I have noticed in my 3 days of ownership that one of the blue keys intermittently fails to start the car. Lock light disappears, engine turns over but fails to fire up.
Wait a moment, swap keys (for other blue) - bam instant start.
I had this happen to me a few times when i owned my last one.

Is it the fuel pump being disabled?
How do i recode my already coded (and working) blue key?

Have a missed something.
Don't think it is the earth strap as the other key wouldn't work..right?

Any advise or help would be great.
 
Hi

When it fails to start next listen for the pump priming it primes for about 5 seconds to get the petrol to the injector.

If it is ok

Then lift air cleaner and sniff if there is a strong smell of petrol the injector has been firing.

if there is

Then detach plug lead and attach it to loose plug and set plug on top of camshaft cover. Get some one else to turn key if there is no spark it could be the TDC sensor intermittent.

It is possible to get the auto to remember the codes on both blue keys again with a brown key but the link to this I use is broken try Google. Don't try to initialize the ECU key codes unless you are sure the problem is the code.

OEM blue keys will have different codes if a code chip is dead a chip from another Fiat OEM blue key could be used as a sub provided you go through the initialization sequence again with both keys.

Id wait until the second blue key vanished or died.
 
Hi

When it fails to start next listen for the pump priming it primes for about 5 seconds to get the petrol to the injector.

If it is ok

Then lift air cleaner and sniff if there is a strong smell of petrol the injector has been firing.

if there is

Then detach plug lead and attach it to loose plug and set plug on top of camshaft cover. Get some one else to turn key if there is no spark it could be the TDC sensor intermittent.

It is possible to get the auto to remember the codes on both blue keys again with a brown key but the link to this I use is broken try Google. Don't try to initialize the ECU key codes unless you are sure the problem is the code.

OEM blue keys will have different codes if a code chip is dead a chip from another Fiat OEM blue key could be used as a sub provided you go through the initialization sequence again with both keys.

Id wait until the second blue key vanished or died.

Thanks for the comment.

Didn't hear the pump turning on or priming, i listened for it yesterday in the dead of the night. Nothing, nadda - which is why i thought it might be the car causing its own problem disabling the fuel to the injection system (strange how the code light disappears indicating the key was accepted?).
Doubt the keys are from different sources as the key works intermittently so it does work, just not 100% of the time.

It has got me so spooked i carry both blue keys with me at all time!
I have one hidden in very secret place inside the car and the other on my keyring :D

Do keys become less effective over time. I mean the car is now over 13 years old? Is that what you meant by dead chip in blue key?
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the comment.

Didn't hear the pump turning on or priming, i listened for it yesterday in the dead of the night. Nothing, nadda - which is why i thought it might be the car causing its own problem disabling the fuel to the injection system (strange how the code light disappears indicating the key was accepted?).
Doubt the keys are from different sources as the key works intermittently so it does work, just not 100% of the time.

It has got me so spooked i carry both blue keys with me at all time!
I have one hidden in very secret place inside the car and the other on my keyring :D

Do keys become less effective over time. I mean the car is now over 13 years old? Is that what you meant by dead chip in blue key?

the blue keys have a code device in the plastic fob if it fails the auto won't start. If you drop the key or mistreat it it may damage this device.

It won't age.

If the other key works 100% of time and the delinquent is intermittent it could be either the autos antenna or the chip is marginal. Do you have anything else on the key ring with the delinquent key?
 
Oh dear. I think i have the answer. I thought the key becomes energised when it is in the lock. Do you think if both keys were on the same key ring next to each other it could cause a issue.
Ps i am going for the idiot of the year award!
 
Yes don't worry...

But if you have other keys with transponders keep them on different rings, it is also undesirable to have to much weight on the key ring as the ignition key barrels can fail.

hope this is your problem the other possibilities are more annoying.
 
Thanks all. Looks like i might be a maker of my own problems. However it was being rather selective about which key it liked before i put them on the same keychain, but i doubt it helped when they are together.
Given this is rather old technology, has anyone found a way to bypass this system yet permanently?
 
Yea auto thieves burgle the keys from your house and drive the little auto away.
 
There was one nicked the week before last, hide brown and spare blue somewhere safe.
 
Thanks all. Looks like i might be a maker of my own problems. However it was being rather selective about which key it liked before i put them on the same keychain, but i doubt it helped when they are together.
Given this is rather old technology, has anyone found a way to bypass this system yet permanently?

You can buy chips for the ECU which have no code, so any key which fits he ignition will start the car.

If worried, fit an aftermarket immobiliser/alarm.
 
Any one please this is driving me insane plus i need a car that start first time every time.
Who or where can i get a modified ecu that removes the immoblisation.
 
Ideally you need an early ECU which has a push in (rather than a soldered in) chip. Try members jiminwatford or CentoPainter. But it is possible to either de-solder the chip or fit a chip carrier to the ECU.

Then you need to contact McCritch who burns chips. He's not around here much, if at all, but someone managed to eMail him in the last month. An advanced search should throw something up.



First, though, make sure that it is a key issue. If you don't get a "CODE" light (signifying that the immobiliser has been triggered), it's more likely to be something else.

The TDC (aka Crank, aka Rev) sensor is a possible candidate. Next time it fails to start, check for a spark at the plug and fuel past the injector (it should be possible to see fuel dribbling down onto the throttle butterfly with the air filter lid removed when the engine is cranked). If neither, 95% of the time it'll be the TDC sensor.

If you filled in your details, we'd know where you are, someone local might pop over and take a peek.
 
Back
Top