1.2 bad misfire / won't run

[david]

Hi, can anyone help - 2001 1.2 bravo struggles to start then runs so lumpy the car shakes. Stalls unless revved. Car was running fine until yesterday when I cleaned the engine bay (I did get it a bit wet). All I touched electrically was to disconnect and reconnect the lambda sensor. What have I done?! Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Ive been told before that if you physically disconnect the Lambda sensor from the electrics of the car - you need to get it reset

Maybe this is the problem - not sure sorry.

 

[chris hawker]

maybe the timing is out. was the engine hot when you cleaned it?

 

[david]

re was engine hot

thanks chris; no engine was cold. when you say timing, i'm sure the timing belt side of things is OK. I should have mentioned the engine management light is on and flashing. any idea about the lambda sensor?

cheers.

 

[Owen]

running fine before washing - now struggles to run - looks like ignition problems then - make sure that everything is dry - remove spark plug leads and make sure there is no water around the plugs / leads and coil - dry everything with a hairdryer and use some WD40 if necessary. The engine management light is flashing because the ECU has copped there is a bad misfire which could potentially destroy the cat (catalytic converter).

Simple problem really - why the reply about timing ???. Disconnecting and reconnecting the lambda wont do any harm unless the connectors / wiring has been damaged and even then it certainly wont make it misfire badly !!

 

[Roger]

Lumpy Engine

I had the same problem last month, washed the engine then it died. Found out I had blew the coil and the engine was in get you home mode. Then got robbed by FIAT dealer to fix it !!

 

[david]

update

thanks for all the tips. so far no joy though after a dry out, wd40, ecu reset, and a new coil at £78!!

Roger - what did Fiat do to fix it??

 

[Roger]

Lumpy Engine

Looking at the work sheet they changed the coil, Reset and Cleared down all the error codes in the ECU (apparently the standard disconnect battery and replace after an hour resets ECU but doesn't clear error codes)then carried out a compression test to make sure the Cylinders hadn't cracked, and visual inspection of Camshaft. total £134+VAT