i have recently bought a fiat punto and no nothin bout cars at all i have tried to see if the problem is on here already but i cant see it. i have a light keep coming on on my dashboard thats red and looks like a tube with sparks coming out. when it happens my car cuts out. does anyone know what it means??? and what is an ecu??? thank you!!! lydia xxxxxxxxxxxxx

dont know if this will mean much to you --but the warning light is "injectors" and ecu is electronic control unit which is the cars computor and tells which bits what to do.

if its advice of what to do next ,would suggest a garage who can plug in a diagnostic machine to your car which will at least indicate the source of the problem your having

Yes.. the little "injection" light usually means the ECU either has a fault (unlikely) or it has detected a fault in the ignition system. A garage may be able to diagnose it, as the ECU records error codes it detects.

My guess is the crank sensor could be faulty, if the car is cutting out.. but a garage will know for sure.


Ralf S.

Hi Lydia and WELCOME TO THE FORUM!!!

As has already been suggested, best thing to do is take it to a garage that can read your fault codes. The warning light would have stored a code in the cars ECU which is basically its electrical brain. This code will indicate why the warning light is coming on, such as a problem with one of the engines many sensors or electrical items.

When the car does cut out, does it start again straight away, or do you have to wait a while before it will start again?

Hope that helps,
Alan

i dont know sometimes it starts straight away but others i have to wait and then its fine again!!! thanks so much! is it going to be expensive? it sounds really complicated!!!!!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello again,

By the sounds of it, it could well just be a dodge crank sensor. The normal symptom with these is that the engine reaches its normall operating temperature and then cuts out. You then have to wait from a few minits up to half an hour for it to cool down before it will start again. A new crank sensor wont set you back much, about £30 and theyre dead eay to fit. I would still get the fault codes read though. Maybe somone near you has a fualt code reader. Where about are you from?

What engine has yor car got?

Thanks,
Alan

i live in fareham (inbetween southampton and portsmouth)! i really hope it is that because im skint haha! wat u mean wat engine do i have? it is a 1L. when i 1st got the car it had this problem and the person i bought it from paid a couple of hundred 4 it 2 get fixed but its not been fixed properly and when i rang the garage back up they sed it cnt b wat thy fort and 2 bring it bk in! bt i cn afford 2 pay another few hundred 4 it lol!!! blody car bin nothin but trouble lol!!!!! im useless!!!!!! haha!!!! neeedd help rle lolxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

i hope it is tht thn!!!! wat u mean wat engine? its a 1L. i had this problem wen i bought the car a month ago and the persn i bought it from paid a couple of hundred at a garage 2 fix it bt its still nt fixed so i rang garage up n thy sed it cnt b wat thy fort it was n 2 take it bk bt i cnt afford another couple of hundred lol!!!!! this car bin nothin but trouble lol!!!!! im useless!!!!!! i live in fareham (inbetween southampton and portsmouth) xxxxxxxxx

Hi
a diagnostic check is when the garage will plug a computor into your car and they will get a read out which will list the fault codes and if they know what they are doing it will tell them the problem with your car around here (north of scotland)they charge around £30/40 for this

if its the crank sensor, it realy is an easy fix (10 mins) plus cost of part, so dont get yourself ripped off

dont you know someone with a bit of mechanical knowledge ,they could replace sensor just as easily

jaybee said:

if its the crank sensor, it realy is an easy fix (10 mins) plus cost of part, so dont get yourself ripped off

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Hi and welcome!!

i agree with what jaybee is saying, i think often some garages try too hard to look for a big fault when 95% time it can be an easy fix!!