Hmmm... Perhaps this is answered elsewhere, but a quick search didn't reveal anything.

I have an 8v 1242cc, Punto ELX on a 2000W, with 65k on the clock.

last friday I had to go on a longer trip, mostly on the M25 at peak time. Traffic was slow, and when I stopped in the jam, I noticed my car slightly vibrating. I had other things to worry about, and soon enough everything was moving, and all seemed fine. When it came to return home about 8:30, my Punto wasn't liking being started and driven. Much worse than a normal cold engine. I managed to get it going okay with a few extra revs, and once back onto faster roads, warmed up it was absolutly fine.

Next usage was Sunday afternoon, and again there was the low speed issues - slight jerky motion of the car at idle and spluttering low power progress when going slow before the car had warmed up. It seemed to be okay after a while, again we happened to go on fast roads.

Then this morning (the Monday), cold engine, spluttering lack of power and the jerkyness at idle. I noticed the car get up to normal temperature. Then a minute later the temperature was right up in the red, warning LED on. I got a little concerned, and almost headed for home to deprive my wife of her transport . I carried on and the temperature returned to normal, and stayed there. In the 4 years I've had it, it has overheated by being in a traffic jam, barely moving for 45 mins or more. Not a case of steam, just guage going up and me reacting by putting the cabin fans on and windows open and/or turning off the engine to let it cool. So I think the radiator fan doesn't work, as in never has done - and I never used to need it, not often being in a traffic jam.

So, could there be some issue between a faulty temperature sensor (perhaps fallen off?), and the ECU? Something else? Getting old and worn out? Bad petrol? (I used to use only Shell, now sometimes some Sainsbury's fuel gets in, along with BP, but still mainly Shell). Does it sound costly to sort out? Bearing in mind anything over £500 would make me think about a replacement (despite only 3 weeks ago fitting some great Michelin Energy's on the front).

Fan may be completely unrelated to the performance.

Mine actually has seized it seems which I MUST get sorted out.

Bad performance could be a number of things but yours is reacting exactly the same way as my Girlfriend's Punto did when her ECU was on the way out.

Buy a JTD, with a fresh new cambelt and 60,000 mile service done

Sounds like a temperature sensor to me due to the eratic nature. One for the garage to have a look at. I think there are 2 or 3 on the engine so it might just be a case of replacing them all, although a good Fiat technician (oxymoron ) should be able to diagnose which one it is. My friend had the same problem on a 206 XSi which cost her £300 for a new sensor (there were 3 to choose from and fixed it by trial and error...)

I would also get the cooling fan fixed before the summer, my fiances cousin ignored hers on her 1.2 8v not working which mean the head-gasket went when it overheated... Probably just the fuse (as it was in her case).

I have never heard the cooling fan on my JTD kick-in because diesels tend to run colder than petrols, so I assume it works (never had the temperature go above the 'normal', touch wood...)

Well, taking a look through my Haynes manual, and looking at the car, I found the radiator fan fuse is okay. I couldn't find the thermistor, but did manage to top it up with antifreeze. That's seemed to help, although it's still claiming to overheat, so I have to book it into a garage ASAP.

At least I found a job quickly so I can afford it. Chris, not sure on swapping for the JTD :chin: as my commute's now under 20 miles, so if I get this all fixed it should be fine for a while.

Yikes! The garage says it's the head gasket (?), and that it would be getting on for my magical £500. Well, not sure if I really want to pay that kind of money on my car that's getting on a bit. They're then going to do a valuation against a Stilo JTD, which is what I'd reckon I'd go for if push came to shove - because swapping for JTD Monkey's Punto means I have to sell my 'dodgy' car, meaning auction and getting less money...

I'd hoped it would be something not nearly so bad

Gav

They will value your car in its current (i.e. dodgy) condition so don't expect mega-bucks on the trade-in (think auction price... ).

You are better-off getting it done (no need to get it done by Fiat) and selling the car privately, or keeping it for a while to save-up the money it has cost you

Looks like the JTD is going in End May/ June time so you can save up a bit. I'll do a good deal

Monkey

Basically they valued it at the normal value minus the cost of the work it needs doing. I talked with my wife, and she doesn't want another Fiat (I wouldn't mind a Stilo, but we don't need another family car), so we could disregard the P/X outright, especially since it would be against a new car - there just aren't used ones around with the extra's I want (skywindow/sunroof, MP3/CD-changer etc).

I've always found Wilson Purves to be good in terms of pricing and honesty, so they've got the job, since it's much less hassle to find another place and get it there etc...

At least the car's depreciating less now, so the running costs aren't going to rise astronomically for this, the 5th year I've owned it.

Just take it to another garage.. they never look under the bonnet, and only ever give book price anyway.

I care for my car like mad, and when I went to PX value it last week they offered me book price (plus about 200 notes).