So I've had my Punto nearly 2 years for which for half of one year it Sat on a drive. Had the mystery judder and fixed it with cleaning the egr but I ended up blanking it and putting it back on for MOT's etc. But then soon after that for a solid few months I had the error message excessive fluid temperature and my power steering went one day. Had the alternator and battery replaced as well as the belt. Had power steering back but still now an again I had the error message and my car wouldn't start on first attempt but rather the second attempt. So I just ignored it and learned to live with it. But this last week it got a lot worse and it was taking over 8-12 attempts to start the engine. Spent the whole of last week searching these forums, people have spent loads replacing, glow plugs, fuel pumps, crank sensors, starter motors and to no avail does it fix the problem of excessive fluid temperature and no start. I checked my battery with a multimeter this morning and it was showing 12v. But I still had the error message and now the car won't start at all. I now go to double check the battery voltage and it shows 9v!! I wait for my old girl to get home and I chuck the jump leads on my car, let it charge up for 15-20 minutes and it started first time! I let my car idle for an hour and took it for a 40 odd mile drive and as I get home I pray when I turn the car off. I let the car sit for a bit, put the key in and waited for the glow plug lights to go off etc, turned the key and it started first time! I just really hope this is a fix for others as I've spent hours on this forum looking for a fix.

It is a 1.9 multijet 2008 Punto too sorry

Hi Owen.

So you are suspecting a drop in voltage..


Its possible the jump leads being laid out are bypassing a dodgy earth cable.. (food for thought..)

Charlie

thats also a good suggestion, i did clean the negative terminal on my battery before jump starting it too. i know of one other earth point above the ecu but im sure theres another

You had the battery and alternator replaced and you still have the same issue ?
For me it clearly shows the problem is somewhere else !!

- starting issue: test your glowplugs, they're in // so if one goes bad you'll have minor start problem, if more are gone you'll have huge start issue...

- power steering: it switches itself OFF if low battery voltage is detected. Can happen with bad earthing point/cable, or if your battery actually gets low (short trips, frequent stop/start, ...)

There has been MANY threads about this, have you ever performed the earth test ??

BRs, Bernie

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I don't believe you read my post properly. I fixed power steering with the alternator and battery and belt replacement. And I didn't yet have the problem where my car would not start at all. It was just intermittent an started on the second turn of the key. And I have said I spent the last week looking on these forums. But this morning my battery still has proper voltage and won't start again. But this time it's throwing up, asr disconnected, esp failure, and no hill holder. I've cleaned the earth on the gearbox and on top of the battery and they're both showing correct voltages. There is another I'm sure near the ECU but I can't find it.

Update! Replaced my battery this afternoon and the car starts no problems! Suspect a dead cell in the battery even though it was showing over 12v

For anyone confused too, in my first post I thought I had fixed it with charging my battery after jump starting it. But the next day it didn't start again but did off jump leads again. So I bought a new battery and all the warning lights have gone (including excessive fluid temperature) but one, it says check stop lights everytime i hit a bump so I'll check the bulbs and brake switch when I can

Thanks for the update !

A dead cell wouldn't show 12v at terminals: if open you wouldn't read anything, if short-circuited you'd read 10ish volts. A resistive connection between cell bank and terminal or between two cells (they are wired in serie) would show 12v when no load is applied (like with a multimeter) but would deeply drop when draining bigger current from the battery. A dying battery also get a (relatively) high internal resistance.

Ohm's law again: U=RxI: the higher the resistance or the current: the bigger the voltage drop ... A real battery test would have shown that immediately !

BRs, Bernie

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Spot on! Took the battery down to Kwik fit and although it was only a year old they said it had the health of a 7 year old battery! But bit of good advice, Kwik fit test batteries for free! Had my report off them which allowed me to have a replacement battery after a year or so after purchase!

Thanks for the update, job well done !