Technical new ECU, flashing light, what is wrong??

[barabap]

Hi to everybody,

I have a punto 1.2 8v 2002, last week I had a failure of the ECU that caused the car to run on 2 cylinders. I drove it home slowly (about 10 km) and found that coils, wires, and plugs were all in order. The ECU light was solid on.

I did buy a brand new ECU which had exactly the same part number etc..I did also change the two coils, plugs and wires. just in case the failure on the ECU was due to some malfunctioning of any of these.

After installation of all this new equipment, the car started perfectly and now runs as required. The only thing is that the ECU light is now flashing. Some friend told me that the ECU needs to readapt and re-learn and hence I had to bring it to 6k revs a few times. So I did but the light is still flashing.

Some my questions:

-Is there anything else that needs to e done on a new ECU to stop this light to flash?
-could I have burned the catalytic converter in the few km i drove the car when it was running on two cylinders? I have doubts about this as the car runs very well and the light starts flashing right away after the car being turned on. I would argue that the ECU cannot figure out a faulty cat if not warm.
-any other ideas on what to check?

Many thanks for any help, I am reluctant to bring the car to the dealer as they tend to rip me off each time.

regards

 

[SeiJunkie]

yeh your ecu does need to relearn the charachteristics of the engine but if you dont have the red key i read somewhere that you wont be able to get rid of the light and in the worst case scenario it could not work all of the sudden due to the immobiliser feature in the ecu.

 

[NumanR]

OK the procedure you need to do is called phonic wheel learn, and basically your friend is right except for a few details.

The engine must be up to temperature (75 degrees plus), and the engine needs to be revved rapidly above 5000 revs and allowed to rev down on its own. The easy way to do this is just to stab at the throttle pedal and release it, the engine revs need to come down on their own so as soon as shes reached 5000 revs remove your foot completely from the throttle. This needs to be done three times in a row and provided you have done this correctly the light will stop flashing, switch the engine off and leave the ignition off for the power latch period (60 seconds) before restarting.

Numanr DET.

 

[barabap]

Thanks!
I did follow your precedure to the letter and IT WORKED.
Many thanks again

 

[dave]

nice one NumanR, thanks very much

oh SeiJunkie mk2 puntos dont have red key system

 

[SeiJunkie]

i do apologise dave i thought puntos in general did, im sorry please dont get your cane out

 

[reedbradshaw]

mine had same problem with new ecu then the garage guy cained it to limiter a few times and it was fine

poor little 1.2 was screamin only a 8 v !

 

[Punto_Phil]

hi mine has kind of the same prolem with the ecu. anyone any ideas what i shud do?

the ignigtion failure light is on and the cooling fan is constantly in. ECU replacement is apparently needed, but dunno how true this is.
Plus the replacement is to set me back £300 big ones.

anyone any ideas of what the problem might be and what a quick fix could be!

thanks for help in advance!

 

[dave]

hi mine has kind of the same prolem with the ecu. anyone any ideas what i shud do?

the ignigtion failure light is on and the cooling fan is constantly in. ECU replacement is apparently needed, but dunno how true this is.
Plus the replacement is to set me back £300 big ones.

anyone any ideas of what the problem might be and what a quick fix could be!

thanks for help in advance!

what punto you got?

 

[Punto_Phil]

1.2 16v sporting (2001 - if that helps)

 

[Punto_Phil]

nice rabbit by the way :slayer:

 

[dave]

who said it needs new ecu? if it was just normal garage might be worth puting on the fiat dealer diag machine,
you tried the leave the battery disconected foar a while thing?

 

[Punto_Phil]

It went of the diagnostics machine at 'FAST' fiat in stockton - fiat & alfa specialists. The guys didn't seem certain about the problem and said that it would be likely to be just a fault in the ECU - thus needing to be changed.

 

[nicemandan]

Hi,

I have a 1996 Punto 55SX, and just fitted a new ECU from www.atpelectronics.co.uk which is reconditioned and made independant of the immobiliser, so the red key isn't required. Only costs £200, instead of the £330 I was quoted from Fiat (plus labour was £520 which made the car an economic write -off).

I'm getting the same problem with the ECU. I phoned a bloke at ATP Electronics and he reckoned it could be the throttle sensor... is this right?

At the moment it runs smoothly, then the red nozzle light comes on and the rev counter goes all over the place and the car starts spluttering around. I'll try that high revving tonight.

Anyone know what else I should try to fix this problem, if revving like mad doesn't help?

 

[dave]

blocked injector or coil pack on its way out

 

[T14086]

I'll try that high revving tonight.

If you want but you'll just waste fuel & annoy neighbours,doesn't apply to Mk1 puntos.

 

[nicemandan]

You're right... didn't help. The IAW light still keeps coming on and the rev counter goes all over the place. Although it is getting progressively better the more I drive.

I reckon it's one of the sensors. The engine temp gauge has always been broken on this car (for years) so I reckon it could be the engine coolant sensor...would make sense as the car seems to be fine for the first 10 mintues from cold, then miss-fires more and more... at high revs it's fine, just horrible between 1500 and 3000.

Do you think replacing the engine coolant sensor would help?

... I don't really want to send it to a garage as everything is cost prohibitive for such a cheap car... I've spent £250 on this already - car's only worth £600 and ran perfectly until this happened.

 

[T14086]

You're right... didn't help.

Really!

Get the codes read would be your best bet (and monitor temp sensor if you think its that) save guessing.

 

[forty]

My 1996 1.6 Sporting's ECU is kaput- took £40 to nail what the problem was- just sent it off to 'The ECU Doctor' in Plymouth. They repair your car's ECU (which is supposed to be less trouble than a newey). Cost £95.00! AND no charge if they test it and can't fix it!

Dave F

 

[T14086]

£95............can get it done for £70