So my girlfriends car has well and truly thrown us a curve ball. Now the starter motor has been giving it a squeak when starting over the last couple of months, buts it's still started everytime and other than that it's been fine.

The missus goes out to start it and nothing, not clicking no nothing, there's power to windows and radio etc, but the immobiliser light is on and won't come off.

Someone came with a diagnostics and said that some parts were showing up, but the main ecu/body control unit would not show up, he said he has seen this before and the Ecus have failed, even to check it and repair it if it can be repaired would be over a week and £250 probably.

Having the information we did I though I would get the whole ecu kit from Ebay, keys, locks, ignition ring, ecu and body control unit. He changed that today but still exactly the same out come and same reading. Surely can't be starter motor? Battery is healthy too. I'm really stuck, could it be as simple as a earth? Gear box earth. Or am I hunting for wires and the loom etc? Obviously there has to be a line on how much is spent to find this fault so any help would be so appreciated.

Thanks

Matt

Yes, earthing problems are common. Take a jump lead from the battery negative to the engine block (make sure electrical contact is good at each end) and try it. If it starts, you know it's the engine earth that has failed. If it doesn't, take a SECOND jump lead and put that on the battery negative too, and the other end to a good earth on the body. If that works, the earth cable has failed between the battery and the body. Ours did. The cable was just green powder inside its insulation where the body earth connection is crimped on to it. I changed a perfectly good starter for what turned out to be a £4.99 earth strap failure!

Hi Matty,

I believe the ECU is protected by a dedicated fuse (seen that fuse blown on a VW Caddy, was no more than a tiny 5 amps...), need to investigate this a bit, will come back later...

Regards, Bernie

Hi!

My car wont start! I'll run down what I've tried so far but I think it is an electrical fault somewhere.

Bought reconditioned starter and swapped, still nothing.
Checked fuse, its fine.
Cleaned connections, still nothing.
Cleaned starter with petrol, still nothing.
Bit the bullet and took both starters to the garage to see if they work and BOTH do.
They said its a wiring problem.

Now, not to sound like a complete goon, but how would I go about testing the wires individually? As you said it could be the earth connection. Am i right in thinking it is the wire with the loop on the end that fits onto the starter before the black clip? Also, how did you fix the earth strap failure?

Any help will be appreciated as I don't want to go to the garage if its really this simple!
Thanks!

11giggs11 said:

Now, not to sound like a complete goon, but how would I go about testing the wires individually? As you said it could be the earth connection. Am i right in thinking it is the wire with the loop on the end that fits onto the starter before the black clip?

Any help will be appreciated as I don't want to go to the garage if its really this simple!
Thanks!

Click to expand...

The answer is in post 2 above

https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/449249-2007-grande-punto-not-starting.html?p=4256097

Agree...earthing issues can play absolute mayhem. If in doubt, make up a heavy duty lead (even just one jump lead will do) then run from the negative termial of the battery to the engine body. I believe this is a known issue on the Panda's.

Hi,

" the car's not starting/immobilizer light on/ECU not showing at OBD "

As said in post #3 , the ECU is fuse protected and relay activated; if you can't connect to it via the OBD port, it's probably not powered, or dead ... You need to perform some checks !

Regards, Bernie

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