Technical Engine, ESP, Hill Holder Failure Lights, MKIIb

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Technical Engine, ESP, Hill Holder Failure Lights, MKIIb

davzie

New member
Joined
Dec 28, 2010
Messages
3
Points
1
Location
Essex, UK
Hi Guys,

Story starts one day when it was very cold and I took a trip 25 minutes down the road. After shopping around the high-street I came back to the car (Fiat Punto 2004 MK2b Sporting 1.4) and it had since been snowing heavily and was even colder. When I started it up and the following lights appeared on the dash:
  • Hill Holder Failure
  • ESP Failure
  • Engine Failure
As well as the above the fan on the front of the car was going crazy. So I managed to get it home (it ran fine) and the next day when it had warmed up a little my dad cleaned all the ECU connections, disconnected the ignition electrics and other bits, also disconnected and reconnected the front fan, put it back together and it works!

So that was around 2 weeks ago. Today I was driving it and when eating my McDonalds I had the stereo working, lights on, phone charging, iPod charging etc and no engine on which killed my battery, my bad! Fortunately my girlfriend's dad jump started us but as soon as we got the engine going again those same lights that appeared above showed their face again! Got it home, done the same as last time except now all the lights are out with the exception of the Engine Failure light.

We thought it might be battery related so we took a brand new Ford Torneo battery from the garage and hooked that up to the car instead just to test but we were experiencing exactly the same (the Torneo battery was fully charged).

Before I take it to Fiat and get shafted for a good £200+ does anyone here have any recommendations for us to try?

Cheers!:slayer:
 
Hi Guys,


Story starts one day when it was very cold and I took a trip 25 minutes down the road. After shopping around the high-street I came back to the car (Fiat Punto 2004 MK2b Sporting 1.4) and it had since been snowing heavily and was even colder. When I started it up and the following lights appeared on the dash:
  • Hill Holder Failure
  • ESP Failure
  • Engine Failure
As well as the above the fan on the front of the car was going crazy. So I managed to get it home (it ran fine) and the next day when it had warmed up a little my dad cleaned all the ECU connections, disconnected the ignition electrics and other bits, also disconnected and reconnected the front fan, put it back together and it works!

So that was around 2 weeks ago. Today I was driving it and when eating my McDonalds I had the stereo working, lights on, phone charging, iPod charging etc and no engine on which killed my battery, my bad! Fortunately my girlfriend's dad jump started us but as soon as we got the engine going again those same lights that appeared above showed their face again! Got it home, done the same as last time except now all the lights are out with the exception of the Engine Failure light.

We thought it might be battery related so we took a brand new Ford Torneo battery from the garage and hooked that up to the car instead just to test but we were experiencing exactly the same (the Torneo battery was fully charged).

Before I take it to Fiat and get shafted for a good £200+ does anyone here have any recommendations for us to try?

Cheers!:slayer:

sounds to me like your engine coolant temperature sensor is playing up like mine does...it only happens in very cold and damp weather like we have now.

If you notice closly that whilst your fan is constantly on your engine temperature dial will show that the engine is always cold...like i said i had the same problem so i changed the collant sensor and it worked until we got a bit more damp weather and same problem.

I dont know the proper fix for this as soon as it stops being so damp the fault will go the engine management failure light is on for that reason to tell you there is a fault with that sensor mate...the light will go off as soon as weather stops being so damp possibly the next day it will be fine tbh

if you want try to change the sensor may work but its a circuit fault so might be in the wiring either way id just ignore it as ul only get it happen durin really bad winters mate
 
Wow thank you! Yeah it was particularly foggy and damp out today which would make sense!

Where abouts is that sensor? I will look at getting it replaced =)
 
Wow thank you! Yeah it was particularly foggy and damp out today which would make sense!

Where abouts is that sensor? I will look at getting it replaced =)

at that rear of the engine on the right hand side...near the top right of the engine block it is connected to the inlet manifold aswel...so you need to open the 2 bolts...unclip the wiring connector...undo the water pipe...then i cant remember you either push it down or pull it up to get it off the inlet...i do not think you an actually see the sensor as its right at the back mate bit fiddly but is a DIY at home job mate :)
 
Coolant temperature sensor (green top) is on right hand side of engine under inlet manifold.. screws into the manifold. behind thermostat.

that explains funny engine fan..

what is the relation between a hill hold error and a coolant temperature sensor?

explains ESP, because esp needs full control over the engine to throttle back etc.
 
Thanks Guys!

Well I'm not sure about the relation, maybe the Hill Holder / ESP Failure is related to a low battery? It seems that could be the case or it could be anything really. I'm no car mechanic, I'm just a computer programmer so quite the opposite!

It's still damp out here in Essex so I'm going to wait until things dry up to see how it goes and then I guess I'll have to take to Fiat maybe?
 
Thanks Guys!

Well I'm not sure about the relation, maybe the Hill Holder / ESP Failure is related to a low battery? It seems that could be the case or it could be anything really. I'm no car mechanic, I'm just a computer programmer so quite the opposite!

It's still damp out here in Essex so I'm going to wait until things dry up to see how it goes and then I guess I'll have to take to Fiat maybe?


Hi, rather than take to fiat, for the same amount in dealer fees you could buy http://www.fiatecuscan.net

it has about 60% of Fiat Examiner Features, maybe slightly more... but can read from most modules and clear codes
 
Hi, rather than take to fiat, for the same amount in dealer fees you could buy http://www.fiatecuscan.net

it has about 60% of Fiat Examiner Features, maybe slightly more... but can read from most modules and clear codes

no point buying that at all...its only going to read and clear the codes not solve the problems mate...any garage will charge you £20-£30 to read all your fault codes and clear them not very expensive

you need to read the codes see the faults it comes up with then fix them otherwise the fault will keep on comning back mate
 
Low volts will cause all sorts of system errors, so before replacing sensors get the generator checked out and the original battery and clean the battery earth points.
 
Hi guys,

Finally i found this post, i have this problem during two years ago.
I´m desperate because my mechanic already replaced three temperature sensors, he eletronic of fan, and finally that cost me to much, the ecu 550€ :(
The car only does this problem when i drive normally and stop the car for approximately one hour, when im back in to the car and start the engine the three lights appears and the fan turns on...
If the car is completely cold or to hot, this problem never happens.
I have this problem during the months (November to March), because the ambient temperature reaches numbers between 1 and 8 degrees.
From April to October i hardly have this problem.
I´m really desperate because no one can find the solution for this, and i´m tired of spending time and money and not getting any positive results :(

Appreciate very much that someone could help me, since this post seems to be my last hope to resolve this problem.

Davzie how did you solved this problem?

Thank you all.

I'll be waiting for some help :)
 
Hi i recently purchased a 2003 sporting,within a week i had the ESP failure,Engine Failure and Hill stop failure notice come up,also engine fan stayed on continuously from cold to hot until engine switched off. also had occasional air bag fail,steering fail come up too. cracked open the hood to find a bad/broken earth connected to frame around the battery. cleared the area and correctly re earthed,all warnings/fault messages and lights have gone and been gone for just over a week. just thought i'd throw this out as a few other people have mentioned same faults,good luck.
 
Hi i recently purchased a 2003 sporting,within a week i had the ESP failure,Engine Failure and Hill stop failure notice come up,also engine fan stayed on continuously from cold to hot until engine switched off. also had occasional air bag fail,steering fail come up too. cracked open the hood to find a bad/broken earth connected to frame around the battery. cleared the area and correctly re earthed,all warnings/fault messages and lights have gone and been gone for just over a week. just thought i'd throw this out as a few other people have mentioned same faults,good luck.

pic would we nice
 
original connection was to the rusted screw next to my finger,it only intermittently connected with bumps in the road,so we cut back wire to get fresh wire. then used a clamping/fixing bolt and attached from below the frame ,just to the left of original.got a good earth and no faults have occurred,done another 200 miles today no probs.
 

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I meant to add,A bad earth can cause lots of electrical issues,from blown bulbs and fuses,ECU issues.check these 1st as may save you a lot of money.
 
Hi Guys,

Story starts one day when it was very cold and I took a trip 25 minutes down the road. After shopping around the high-street I came back to the car (Fiat Punto 2004 MK2b Sporting 1.4) and it had since been snowing heavily and was even colder. When I started it up and the following lights appeared on the dash:
  • Hill Holder Failure
  • ESP Failure
  • Engine Failure
As well as the above the fan on the front of the car was going crazy. So I managed to get it home (it ran fine) and the next day when it had warmed up a little my dad cleaned all the ECU connections, disconnected the ignition electrics and other bits, also disconnected and reconnected the front fan, put it back together and it works!

So that was around 2 weeks ago. Today I was driving it and when eating my McDonalds I had the stereo working, lights on, phone charging, iPod charging etc and no engine on which killed my battery, my bad! Fortunately my girlfriend's dad jump started us but as soon as we got the engine going again those same lights that appeared above showed their face again! Got it home, done the same as last time except now all the lights are out with the exception of the Engine Failure light.

We thought it might be battery related so we took a brand new Ford Torneo battery from the garage and hooked that up to the car instead just to test but we were experiencing exactly the same (the Torneo battery was fully charged).

Before I take it to Fiat and get shafted for a good £200+ does anyone here have any recommendations for us to try?

Cheers!:slayer:

Dear my friend,
i have the exact same problem.. i don't know what to do and i can't figure out.. Did you find out any solution?:):)

I have checked the temperature sensor's resistance and it's ok. Also the voltage across the sensor is 5V. It seems that the problem is at 21/28 wires below. May the two wires accidentally grounded and arm the relays? But why the temp gauge is going dead?? Please help..
 

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I changed my battery one month before. The problem still exists. Any other solution?
 
Hi guys, was anyone able to sort these issues out? I'm having the same with my Fiat 500. Coolant temperature sensor was replaced the week before last and I was away last week. First time driving in cold, wet weather (7 deg Celsius) again this morning and all of the warning lights are back on. This is driving me mental!!:bang:
 
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