Hi all, I am a newbie here but have been using the Forum for past few months since I started having problems with my 1.2 16v active sport and after doing a lot of work to it I am still looking for a solution to some problems.

Bought the car in Sept 2012 with 103K on the clock (1 owner from new) and the first problem was overheating. After changing cooling fan, temperature sensor and thermostat, the car is now running fine at the right temp (93degrees all the time and the engine gets warm extremely quickly still though)

2nd problem, after a couple of months the engine management light came on and RAC were called out and ECM error code came up P1135 meaning Third Piston Deactivation Control Circuit - RAC bloke cleared the error with his code reader and told me to replace the front Lambda sensor and this should sort it out. I couldnt afford to do it straight away and the light came on again a couple of months later but disappeared on its own 4 days later!! I have now finally done the sensor last week, and 4 days later the light has come on again and the engine starting running on 3 cylinders. RAC came out again and diagnose one of the HT leads had broken down (£45 for a new set mind you!!!) so I changed all the leads and he cleared all the errors (P1135 again and P0130 lambda sensor again!!) and the car was running like a dream with proper accelaretion and fuel comsumption was so much better.

Unfortunately a couple of days ago the engine management light has come again and the car has lost it va-va-voom and running lumpy again and is now being slugish especially going uphill and not starting very well whether its hot or not. I havent called the RAC yet to clear the codes or find out what code it is this time (although I have a funny suspicion it will be the same codes!! (RAC will be starting to hate me now I have called them 4 times so far this year as you can imagine!!). I am a local delivery driver for a restaurant working 3 hours a night so stop/start/stop/starting all the time so I know its affecting my started motor and probably my alternator (which I have been told is on its way out cos the bearings are getting louder and louder). I am now at a total loss as to what else I need to check or replace or repair. Although I am a girl I have done most of the repairs myself and source all my parts on eBay to keep costs down. I have spent alot of my car so far and dont wanna lose it but this is really getting to me now so anyone who has any idea what else needs doing to finally keep clear of this poxy engine management light coming on and getting my engine to run smoothly and powerful again, your help would be much appreciated.

If you need any more details dont hesitate to ask questions and I will answer them promptly

Thanks all
CFB

any idea what else needs doing to finally keep clear of this poxy engine management light coming on and getting my engine to run smoothly and powerful again, your help would be much appreciated.

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the light is to advise you that the engine isnt running at peak efficiency and so is wasting fuel and damaging the enviroment
it was govt starting in los angeles that insisted cars became cleaner by fitting cats
basically you use the information from the ecu ie codes to point you in a direction of whats wrong

its quite possible because your lambda has gone faulty again or bad earth or any number of other reasons

why not buy fiatecuscan and do your own real time watching of all engine management systems
i appreciate you only get a 20 minute free window before having to turn the programme off and on again but i certainly found it useful for codes like P0130 as the first tme it was because the lambda was loose in the exhaust

I was thinking about the other sensor (I believe there is two). How do I check bad earth and can you point me in the right direction as to how to use fiatecuscan program to clear my codes. Would love to be able to do that myself

Get yourself an elm327 lead off eBay (obd2 reader)
Download free version of software
Plug lead into car and USB port on laptop.
Budget less than 30 finest pounds

Not entirely clear why rac suggested lambda....that shouldn't give you lumpy running which ids more likely to be misfire

Thanks I will put that on my next shopping list

RAC get codes as quoted although lambda sensor wasn't first cause on P1135. I am still clueless as to what that means

Code list and description available online
Lambda is a sensor used to ensure right fuel/air mixture
Not sure why I'm writing in fragments

Fragments lol no worries. Yes I know about the lambda. Since I have changed it the EML has come on again and my fuel consumption is down again from 55mpg to 43.9 hence why I cannot understand how it could again. Maybe something else is making it break down??

Did you use universal or pattern replacement lambda?
A post here relates to problems with universal sensor versus pattern

Btw, sounds to me like youre in limp mode, resulting in poor efficiency, caused by misfire.
This may be independent of the lambda, hopefully someone can point you in the direction.

A code reader will allow you to view the lambda outputs in real time, you can check if they are really a problem before shelling out.

I get mine from a scrappy, 2 for 20 pounds, one is often in better condition than the other.

Hey guys, I thought I would post at the end of this post to let you know how I managed to get rid of the two problems I have been having with my car.... Re engine management light, we found out I had a much longer than needed front lambda sensor and also an after market one which are apparently useless in those type of cars so I went and bought a brand new genuine one and got a deal from EuroCarParts at £70 and replaced it....got the EM light cleared and so far so good it never re-appeared so hopefully that problem is now solved if anyone out there has the same problem the golden rule from my mechanic is dont buy cheap OEM after market replacements parts....

I have another problem for you... Apparently just before I bought the car back in September last year the previous owner had a new clutch fitted but to my dismay I noticed it had serious clutch judder to the point of being unable to start in hills at all without the whole car shaking from the engine mounts etc... am sure some of you know what I am talking about. The worse thing was that I do a lot of three point turns and every time I reversed back, the revs were too low and by going back into first gear and go with the low revs the engine would stall several times.... I had enough of it and decided to have the clutch changed once again a couple of weeks ago.... It was working fine until now three weeks down the line it feels like its going again so the revs are going down again for some strange reason and I having to ride the clutch again for it to go when doing three point turns.. I have looked into my Haynes book and they talk about bleeding the system as by disconnecting the system to change the clutch could have caused air bubbles etc or there is an idea of changing the master and the slave cylinder as the puntos have an hydraulic clutch and no clutch cable.... has anyone got the same problem and if so what have you done about it.... I dont want to go back to the mechanic who changed the clutch and accuse him of doing something wrong if he hasnt or if it is something else I must get changed.... comments well appreciated

Thank you
CFB

(ps I will be posting this last problem as a new thread so please look out for it)