Hi all,

First of all Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!!!

I own a 2001 Fiat Punto 1.9 JTD ELX, and in the last couple of weeks my pre-heater warning light (amber light shaped like circles of wire, located within the RPM dial) has been going on and off for about 10-15 minutes after I start the car.

Let me point out that I always start the motor "properly", i.e. I first turn the key to contact position and wait until this light switches off (i.e. diesel is heated) before actually starting the motor, and never before I've seen this light being on during driving.

I suspect that low outside temperatures might be the cause of this (it's consistently between -2 to -8 Celsius here, maybe even lower during the night), but I would still like your advice - if this is the beginning of a more serious problem, I'd like to fix it before it becomes much more expensive and leaves me stuck in the snow somewhere.

Before you ask - I did try to consult the owner's manual, but unfortunately I only have an original Italian version, so the only thing I could make of it (after using online translators) is that if it's on for more than 60 seconds, this light can signify some sort of fault in the fuel heating system (If someone owns an English version I'd appreciate if you confirm this bit). In my case the light is only on for a few seconds each time, but this still has me worried.

I would appreciate your advice on this, many thanks in advance.

there are a few things to check that are common on these cars

sometimes the heater plug control moduals come apart causing random fault light operation

i think it's located on the inside of the left hand wing under the bonnet you may see some wires going to a small black box bolted to the inner wing iirc

i have seen this more than once

if not then you simply need new glow plugs

control box is on bulkhead in centre(1 x 10mm nut)

yes, i found the control box when we dropped the engine and found that the wiring was still attached for it and ripped it out

sounds like new glow plugs to me aswell, most definatly a garage job as they are extremely difficult to get to with the engine in the car

And the plugs don't heat the diesel, well not directly anyway. They heat the cylinder to help starting the car in cold weather

T14086 said:

control box is on bulkhead in centre(1 x 10mm nut)

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your knowledge never ceases to amaze me

have i been talking abut the location of multiple earth points under a plastic cover on the wing posibly

Thanks guys!

So you think my theory (wishful thinking, to be honest ) that the low outside temp causes glow plugs to kick in during first few minutes of driving is totally unfounded? Are they only used during engine start?

littlepip17 said:

your knowledge never ceases to amaze me

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I dont get out much,social worker only lets me out sunday between 7am-9am.

bane_car said:

So you think my theory (wishful thinking, to be honest ) that the low outside temp causes glow plugs to kick in during first few minutes of driving is totally unfounded? Are they only used during engine start?

Click to expand...

Unclip the 4 wire connector at the glow plug control unit (4 wires that go to glow plugs) then connect a multimeter(ohms range)between battery(or engine) earth & other lead to each of the 4 wires at connector.
A good plug will read 8-10 ohms.....if its faulty it will normally read infinity(open circuit) or way higher than stated value.

DONT change just one/two or even 3 glow plugs...renew them all

(see here post #8) ;

https://www.fiatforum.com/marea-technical/126318-glow-plug-warning-light-stays.html