My 0.9 cinquecento has this problem for about a year. None can diagnose what it is.

The red injection warning light comes on either my engine is hot or cold.

When the light is off it works fine for some time and then all of a sudden i don't have gas. I have to step on it, the red light comes on and then it works almost fine but the idle is so poor.

Tried to change the intake pipe 3 times and I changed the injection unit with no result.

Please help me I love my little car so much.

Hi,
The engine ecu will have stored a code in its memory why the fault light was on.
Find someone who can read the fault code.
Post the fault code on this forum and you will receive help.

Or you can buy the equipment to read the fault codes yourself.

Happy Christmas

I don't know if this helps but my cinquecento had the same problem since the previous owner. While trying to solve it I have replaced the lambda sensor. That solved the bogging down when the light wasn't on and I kept the gas pedal steady. But the injection light kept coming on. An ecu scan showed a wire malfunction. I checked all the ecu wire harness, replaced the two relays in the engine bay, replaced the throttle body with the one from my seicento sporting, replaced the map sensor, changed the coils and leads as I could see spark coming between one of the leads and a coolant hose. Nothing changed. The injection light appeared to come on when the engine got warm. When the light was on, the car behaved as normal. Sometimes I could feel a hesitation right before it came on. When i stopped the car with the light on, it stayed on after the next engine start when the weather was hot. I then noticed that the air temperature sensor connector was wiggling. I cleaned the contacts and bent them. The injection light hasn't appeared since then and I haven't had any hesitation. I am not yet sure that I have fixed it but you should check the contacts in every connector as it appears that these are the weak links.

And also, the problem can be caused by a malfunction on the fuel line: dirty fuel filter or bad fuel pump.

jackwhoo is correct here, if you have the light on (or even if you don't and it has been on) and its not immediately obvious what's wrong you should read the codes..
the cables are cheap, there's free software, there's no reason to just take stabs in the dark..
changing things at random that it could maybe be is just throwing money down the drain. get the codes and you will have a definitive 'this is broken' or at the very least a massive hint at what the issue is.

Check the coils. When it's being moody, disconnect one of the spark plug caps (wear insulation and don't get your face caught in the alternator or fan). If the rpm drops or the car stalls, replace it and try another plug cap.

If you find that disconnecting two of the cylinders doesn't affect the idle, but disconnecting either of the other two does, then the two cylinders that don't affect the idle when disconnected are probably connected to the same duff coil pack.

If only one cylinder disconnected makes no difference, then the HT cap or the spark plug is the culprit.


Ralf S.

Thank you all for replying and I am so sorry for not posting for that long. I still have the car. The problem was the map sensor. I found after about 10 months a guy with the diagnostic tool. I replaced it and the engine was running smoothly again. I have a new problem now that I will explain on a new thread. Again thank you all very much.

Here is my new thread