Technical Injection System Warning Light and "Engine Check" Message

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Technical Injection System Warning Light and "Engine Check" Message

scotlandstopboy

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Jan 4, 2010
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Hi all,

Firstly I would like to wish everyone a New Year.

This is my first post here so please forgive any indiscretions in technical jargon or idiocy! I have an 09 Reg Punto 1.4 which until now has worked seemlessly. However this afternoon it became an absolute pig to start in the cold and imeditately presented me with an Injection System warning light and a dashboard prompt to "Check Engine". Also, it fails to rev above 3.5-4.0K RPM and appears to be giving a stuttering sound from the exhaust. The engine itself sounds smooth and not like its misfiring, but as the car is so new I am slightly concerned. I'm hoping that the cold weather is a factor and that nothing serious has happened, and that the car has simply gone into some sort of "safe mode" that restricts engine performance until an ECU reset.

The car appears to drive ok up to about 3k RPM but there's nothing after that. I'm fearful of driving it too much in case I cause further damage, so for now it will sit in my driveway until I can phone the dealership on Tuesday morning.

I'm hoping that someone has had a similar issue and can provide some insight into what sort of issue/bill I can expect to receive from the marvelous Fiat Dealership network. I know that these things can often be the result of a million different problems, but I'm hopeful that some or all of the specific issues are common to one or more of you.

Thanks in advance

Laurie (a hopeful Punto owner)
 
re: Injection System Warning Light and "Engine Check" Message

Arnold Clark in Dunfermline. I was assuming a bill as I suspect the 'barstewards' at Arnold Clark to claim it's "wear and tear" or that the injection system isn't included in the warranty. Or maybe that's just my cynicism.
 
re: Injection System Warning Light and "Engine Check" Message

Thanks for the reply and vote of confidence, mate.

Laurie
 
re: Injection System Warning Light and "Engine Check" Message

Well, the car is due in to the Stealership tomorrow morning so hopefully everything goes well and I don't get charged an astronomical bill for any work required.

The latest issues are -

1 - Really hard to start from cold. Splutters and is reluctant to burst into life. But once it has been started it seems to start ok.
2 - There doesn't appear to be a lumpy idle and no obvious signs of lack of cylinders.
3 - There is an obvious lack in performance (will not rev beyond 3-4K) and is slow in reving, which I'm assuming is the so-called limp home mode.
4 - Injection System Warning light on the dashboard (orange coloured as it's an 09 Reg car - I think earlier cars were red coloured? Maybe) and a prompt to "Check Engine" on the dash.

The weird thing is that it starts from warm(ish) with no issues and other than the lack of performance (which I'm assuming is due to the limp home mode) the only problem is the rough start from cold and the warning light.

Hopefully the Arnold Clark Stealership will do everything under warranty and there aren't any big bills.........

Here's hoping.

Scotlandstopboy
 
re: Injection System Warning Light and "Engine Check" Message

Update - After changing every sensor that was giving errors (there were quite a few) it turns out there is no electrical fault, but the timing is actually out...?? No idea how that has happened especially on a car that's less than a year old, but the delay in getting it back as the garage is short of one of the tools to lock everything whilst setting the timing. Hopefully I'll get it back on Monday.

On the positive side, they have spent AGES on it and although getting it running much better than it was, they want it to be perfect before I get it back. They've also had this issue (same errors and symptoms) in the past and have spoken to 2 other Fiat dealers who immediately said "oh, those problems will be the timing!".

And I'm getting it fixed for nothing! :D
 
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