2006 55 GP 1.4 Active Sport 8V, 40k miles.
Just for the last three or four days I'm getting the same problems as witnessed in this and other similar threads, namely:-
1) On a cold start (no throttle) the engine fires immediately, runs for a few seconds and then dies as the temperature gauge rises to max and the coolant overtemperature alert is seen and heard. The temperature guage then falls to about 1/4 of scale.
2) Each time I repeat this the engine runs for longer before it dies. Eventually after between about 3 and 7 repeats it continues to run OK but the temperature gauge again drops to 1/4 of scale when the engine is still cold.
3) On an odd occasion it's even worse: on the first try, as the engine dies the check engine light comes on and the cooling fan starts up, continuing to run even when the ignition is switched off. This may repeat on further attempts, but eventually it goes into the mode as 1) then 2) above, then finally starts and runs OK.
4) Once a cold start and run has been achieved the engine will restart and perform as normal. The problem only recurs if the engine is allowed to go cold.
We have the car serviced at a local independent within walking distance, mainly 'cos main dealers are many miles distant. Thus, although I have had intermittent coolant overtemperature alerts on starting (with the associated rocketing temperature gauge) for at least a year now and more so in cold weather, I have done nothing about it - it is clearly merely a software bug and hasn't affected the way the car starts or drives. I took the precaution of checking the battery contacts in the past to try and make it go away and it did seem to make a difference for a while, but it might just have been warmer weather at the time.
The cold start problem is what is new since Tuesday last.
Last Friday, before the cold start problems began, it passed the MOT and associated emissions tests with flying colours. The battery seems really good; it has had no problems in -10C temperatures in recent weeks (although I suppose that stress might have made it start to suffer). I have loosened and retightened the connections on the battery, fusebox and engine earth strap today but it has made no difference.
Just in case the battery has begun to suffer and the volts have dropped a minute amount below a threshold that the software requires - in the morning I'm going to jump it as I try the first start of the day with my Mondeo diesel, which has a really chunky battery, and see if that makes any difference.
It is really inconvenient to get to a dealership, never mind that it would obviously have to be left with them for an extended time as they could presumably only diagnose the problem when the engine is cold.
So I am hoping that someone will be able to point me to what is likely to have changed this week (apart from the much warmer weather) that is suddenly causing the cold start problem. I'm hoping that there is something that my local garage can just replace and solve the problem. Any ideas please?
