Just before Xmas I bought a 2002 Multipla 110 ELX JTD and within a very short time I was regretting my decision. There is so much I like about the car, but it has more faults than any car I have ever had despite passing an MOT on the day that I bought it.

My main problem is starting. When I bought the car it was a bit of a reluctant starter, but after some serious cranking it would fire up and run fine, so I thought it would be a fairly simple fix. However as the past couple of months have gone by it has just got worse and worse, to the point that now it wont start at all without a squirt of Easy Start into the air intake. Again, once it starts it runs fine straight away. Someone suggested to me that it is the heater plugs, but as the problem is the same whether the engine is cold or hot, something makes me think that it must be something else. Although I have done a lot of work on petrol cars, I am a complete diesel novice, but as I understand it, the glow plugs are only needed when the engine is cold. What is baffling, is that it runs absolutely fine as soon as it kicks in. I'm really hoping someone can give me an easy fix answer, as I am reluctant to spend money that I don't have to spare on this car in case it is a lost cause.

Also, I don't know whether it is related in any way, but it has a really irritating fault that if I let the revs drop too much, as soon as I accelerate and put any stress on the engine, a "Engine Control Faulty - contact garage" warning comes up, the engine management light comes on and the car seems to lose power, although it will still happily cruise at 60 once it is up there and the engine sounds more clattery than usual. As soon as I stop and restart the engine, everything returns to normal immediately. I read on this forum about poor connections on the throttle potentiometer, could this be the problem?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

First thing first.
Have the ECU read at a dealer for stored faults.
(I suspect bad glowplugs, and yes, they need working in a warm engine as well...)

AS PP-U says, get the faults read. If you've got an iPhone or Android, you can get a free app called Torque Lite which can be used to read many (but not all) fault codes if you by a cheap bluetooth OBD module off of ebay. These just plug in to the OBD2 port which is behind a plastic cover in the dashboard, just in front of your right knee when sat in the drivers seat.

If your fault happen from cold, you could have a problem with the glowplug(s), relay for same, or one or more of the injectors, or the pump. How many miles has the car got on it?

The sluggish running is down to the ECU putting the car into Limp Mode, which it does to protect the engine if it thinks something isn't right.

It is always worth cleaning the EGR valve. If you have previous experience with petrol cars it should be no bother for you. There are "how to"s in a few places.
https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto-guides/178715-cleaning-egr-valve.html
Also check out the Alfa Owners site.
A good clean of the MAP (Manifold Air Pressure) and MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensors will help get things running properly
If the car is going in to limp mode your turbo vanes, which control the boost pressure, could be getting stuck.
This worked for me before with an Alfa

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/un-sticking-your-tdi-vnt-turbo-vanes.107121/

There is a good chance your issue is the accumulation of a few small problems, which hopefully should be easily fixed.

The Alfa I had used to die every time I decelerated, which made for some interesting driving. A good service and clean out of all the soot etc, solved a load of issues.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have decided to replace the glow plugs as a first move. They are arriving tomorrow, so any advice on removal and replacement would be most welcome as I don't seem to be able to find much useful info on the internet.

I have also ordered a bluetooth OBD module to give me a bit of a better chance of understanding of what's going on with the engine control system. I'll let you know what it says.

I may leave the egr valve cleaning for a bit later when I understand what's going on a bit more.

Thanks for your help. I'll keep you posted.

Take a look at the other thread in the same subject a few below this one. I give some pointers in there. Also I dida post on how to change the glowplugs around a year ago. Search my posts

Soak the glowplugs with WD-40 a few times ( days) before removing them.
Use compressed air to blow away any accumulated debris from them, and again after turning them loose a few turns, to avoid debris falling in the hole after taking the old plugs out.


As for the EGR, close it with something like this:


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VD-EGR-blanking-plate-FIAT-MULTIJET-STILO-MAREA-BRAVA-182-JTD-DOBLO-MULTIPLA-/301541918346?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item46354c868a




If you're lucky, you don't get a service light at all, otherwise, the egr can be electronically shut by any remapper/chiptuner.
EGR kills modern Diesel engine's...

Well still waiting for the glowplugs to arrive, so I thought I'd take a look at what I have to do to change them. WHAT A BLOODY STUPID PLACE TO PUT A COMPONENT THAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED! I've found your post on how to change them glowplug, so I'll probably give it a go tomorrow. I suppose having to remove the EGR valve will at least give me a chance to give it a good clean.

Just one other thing. I've been doing a lot of reading around on the forums and I am now mystified about how I tell whether I have a 16v or 8v model without taking off the cover and looking?

For the Multipla:

8V = Diesel

16V = Petrol

Simples.

And yes, they couldn't have put the glowplugs in a more awkward place if they'd tried.

widemouthfrog said:

For the Multipla:

And yes, they couldn't have put the glowplugs in a more awkward place if they'd tried.

Click to expand...

Bet you the french could!

Thanks widemouthfrog. At the moment simples is a very welcome reply.

Funny enough, they couldn't, at least on our diesel Scenic, where they're fitted along the leading edge of the head. I changed all four in about 20 minutes.

Part of the price you pay for a crossflow head design, I guess. The JTD runs a lot more smoothly than the DCi, but has naff all torque. It feels more like the non-turbo XUD unit I had in my old Citroen BX (RIP). That was like a little sewing machine.

Well here's an interesting development. this is the first time I've taken the engine cover off since I bought the car and I've just found out that the area round the EGR valve is really oily. I'm guessing a split breather hose, but any suggestions would be welcome. Also someone has, for some reason, fitted a small auxiliary belt which misses out the air-con pump, so that is going to have to be sorted pretty quick as it is fraying.

It's really easy to get the belt off a rib when fitting, this in turn strips part of the belt off and it frays at one side, I know as it happened to me! I'd make sure the aircon pump is free moving before buying a long belt as you may find its seized and that's why the short belt has been fitted.

Had similar problems with our 02 multi. The fix was to replace the crank sensor, also know as rpm sensor. £30 for part and a fairly easy job to do if you can get under a raised car.

Crank sensor sounds like a real possibility. Anyone know where it is located on a Multipla 110 ELX JTD 2002?

My view is that glowplugs are unnecessary on DI engines like this.

My car has done 198k miles, at least 3/4 of that with the glowplug light on!

Crank sensor is on under side of engine. It's accessed from underneath. Locating it is the tricky part if not seen a photo. If you get under car and the belly pan is out of way you'll find it in the gap between the bulk head and main body of engine, sort of void there that exhaust pipe crosses. Sensor plug is on right side of exhaust pipe, sensor on the left of exhaust. The sensor is held in with a single hex bolt. The tricky bit is getting the plug disconnected, I found removing the bracket, single bolt, and dropping the bracket down to reach connector made the job doable. Also be aware that there's a spaced on the sensor next to the rubber washed, worth slipping a little oil on both of these on new sensor to ensure slides in to make good tight fit. My first go car didn't start at all as sensor was probably 1/4 of a millimetre from flush. Hope this helps!

Took me about 45 mins to do, but now know what I'm doing could do in 10 or less. Now done the poor starting, and not starting when hot has been cured.