Good afternoon and thanks for taking the time to read this!

My dads car has a few problems...

To start with, his exhaust was falling apart and needed to be replaced, the EML was on during this time so we assumed this was the cause.

Now the exhaust has been replaced and the EML did disappear for a while...but now its back! I disconnected the battery to see if it would clear but it came back immediately.

The car now has hardly any power and sounds like the engine is struggling when at idle, missing maybe?

It also smells really rich from the exhaust, like the petrol isnt being burnt or is over fueling.

I've had a quick look at a few things... like the throttle body and boost sensor (If that's what its called on non-turbo cars?) and they are all clean.

Any ideas?

Wow... epic number of replies and views! LOL

But seriously, any ideas?

I've searched the hell out of this site, and the common problems/how2 threads etc... So have some ideas, but anyone with any experience of problems like this themselves?

well to me it sounds like the car has gone in to LIMP mode (GET ME HOME) but the question is why.

normally this mode would be something to do with the ECU, picking up on a sensor that is showing errors or an electrical component has come lose. i wouldnt drive the car to much as the car has gone in to this mode for a reason. some times it can be something as simple as the car is over fuelling. but could be something like loss of oil pressure.

are there any puddles under the car after its been sat up?

if you were messing around with the exhaust is there a sensor that you have knocked/Broken?

Hope this helps a little.

For one of your issues, when you say it sounds like it's struggling at idle this tells me there could be an issue with your idle control valve so get that checked out. For the other things it's not my area of knowledge, so I'm sure someone will come a long and help with those.

also with the car smelling rich, this could also be because of the limp mode. i believe some cars reduce engine to 2 cylinders as to not damage them.

check the spark plugs and the HT Leads, see if 1 or 2 of the plugs are soaked.

Thanks for the reply, it does smell like its over fueling... really sweet exhaust smell.

Some people mention checking the lamda sensor, does anyone know where this and what it looks like?

There doesnt seem to be any puddles under the car, the oil looks clean and the air filter is reasonably new.

Idle control valve, does anyone know where to find this one too? lol

im not sure coz i dont have a punto. but if you google the part in images or shops, you will see what it looks like and then search around for it.

sory i cant be more specific.

I appreciate all the help and advice guys your putting in here! Please know its all useful to me!

As far as I know for the Idle Control Valve it's all part of the throttle body so maybe throw some carb cleaner in there and see if that solves it, but if that doesn't solve it then I'd suggest replacing the whole throttle body and mess with the tick over.

The engine is worse when its hot... and it sounds like a knocking noise is coming from the bottom of the engine, again, once its warmed up.

a basic car code reader could give some pointers on this
or a co test at your local garage that does mots
if its overfueling its usually a faulty lambda or map sensor or a blocked air filter or a plug off or the tps is faulty etc etc
a code read would show this, even a basic one if it shows a bit of live data
really needs deeper in depth interrogation im afraid