Technical Brava. 1.2 16v in limp mode

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Technical Brava. 1.2 16v in limp mode

L7 KVV

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Hi all, i hava a brava i bought nearly two years ago to use the engine in my classic panda. I never got round to this, and now i want to put the car on the road.

I started the car on saturday and brought it to my own house towed with a-frame. But engine was running fine. When i got there i saw the fuel level was slow so i poured petrol i had for the lawn mower in (probably sittin 5-6 months). I didnt start the car again.

Monday night and time for MOT. Tried to start and battery flat so got the booster out, started ok but the injector light on the dash stayed lit and the car would not rev past 2k. As the MOT centre is only half mile from the house i took it anyway. Only needs a brake pipe, headlight alignment and obv to get the light off on the dash.

Has anyone else had this problem with limp mode comeing on? I left battery disconnected 24hrs but its still happening. Could it have blown a fuse? Obviously the petrol could be a problem but it occured immediately after starting so i cant see how the bad petrol could have got through the system already. Im gona get some treatment and good petrol for her tonight and let that run through her, might drain tank first though.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Your existing fuel was probably worse than the lawnmower petrol. Limp mode might be caused by a lambda (or other) sensor fault, it will depend a bit on whether you've got an older, simpler model with one lambda or a later one with 2 (one each side of the cat). In any case you need to find a specialist or autoelectrician to diagnose and clear the fault code(s) in the ECU.

Is it possible that towing the car jacked up caused some sludge in the fuel to cause a blockage? Just a thought.. Of course fuel could be a red herring, but try to run it for a while anyway with new fuel etc.

Which brake pipe needed doing? The 2 at the rear (one goes above the tank) always seem to need doing on these cars after a few years. If it's one of those, do them both...
 
Your existing fuel was probably worse than the lawnmower petrol. Limp mode might be caused by a lambda (or other) sensor fault, it will depend a bit on whether you've got an older, simpler model with one lambda or a later one with 2 (one each side of the cat). In any case you need to find a specialist or autoelectrician to diagnose and clear the fault code(s) in the ECU.

Is it possible that towing the car jacked up caused some sludge in the fuel to cause a blockage? Just a thought.. Of course fuel could be a red herring, but try to run it for a while anyway with new fuel etc.

Which brake pipe needed doing? The 2 at the rear (one goes above the tank) always seem to need doing on these cars after a few years. If it's one of those, do them both...
The a-frame tows with all four wheels on the ground. Il try get under the car tonight and see if there are two lambdas. All four pipes are rusty. He said 3 will clean up but the offside rear probably will need done. I dont know if this is te one that passes over tank or not
 
As regards rear brake pipes, if they are original then get them both done. On mine I only had the "over the tank" one done when it needed it, 18 months later the 2nd one burst when having its MOT test ! :eek: They are not very good quality steel originally.

To do them properly you drop the exhaust and tank, but you can replace the upper pipe by routing a new copper one around the tank instead.

If you are saying "injector light" rather than "engine light" then you may have the older engine with one lambda, no camshaft sensor, simpler engine management etc.

In any case get a diagnosis, but also check your plugs and contemplate new leads (check carefully and run the engine in the dark looking for sparks). I spent a while chasing down rough running and ECU lights, and finally it was failing leads and faulty not-very-old plugs.

If you get it running then you should also be looking at a complete fluids service on the car as it's getting old and been standing a while.
 
As regards rear brake pipes, if they are original then get them both done. On mine I only had the "over the tank" one done when it needed it, 18 months later the 2nd one burst when having its MOT test ! :eek: They are not very good quality steel originally.

To do them properly you drop the exhaust and tank, but you can replace the upper pipe by routing a new copper one around the tank instead.

If you are saying "injector light" rather than "engine light" then you may have the older engine with one lambda, no camshaft sensor, simpler engine management etc.

In any case get a diagnosis, but also check your plugs and contemplate new leads (check carefully and run the engine in the dark looking for sparks). I spent a while chasing down rough running and ECU lights, and finally it was failing leads and faulty not-very-old plugs.

If you get it running then you should also be looking at a complete fluids service on the car as it's getting old and been standing a while.

Ive pulled the tank off. So much for it reading empty, nearly filled a 20l drum with whats in it. It was only the short brake pipe to passenger side that needed replaced. So its il get one made up in work on monday for it

As regards to the injector light, i brought the diagnostic computer from work home but the car has a different plug with about 8/9 holes instead of the 16. So il need to check on monday if we have different leads for it. Though i would have expected the light to go out atleast temporarily after the battery being disconnected. So il check all fuses tomoro if i get the chance
 
l7kvv


This is the plug. Looks like different to the adaptors ive seen on ebay. Is it the three larger holes or 5 smaller ones

If anyone can fix this photo. It is impossible to work this on an iphone
 
Looks like normal 5pin waterproof connector with locating tabs to me.
The newer 1.2 are supposed to have OBDII port inside.
Older 1.2 should have the fiat 3pin on the relay cover on top of the strut.
 
Top righthand side of engine bay? Thats where this was. Cant find either 3 or 16 pin plug anywhere
 
No idea about your modelyear.
If your ECU is bolted to the firewall, it should have the 3pin on the cover near strut.
If your ECU is on top of throttlebody, the OBD port should be near where the bonnet release is. Or under the fusecover near drivers knee, not sure about this.
 
I found the 3pin plug eventually, it had fallen down and couldnt see it

Came up with a whole list of faults p1513,p0355,p0560,p0170,p105,p1030

Cleared the codes, restarted engine and threw p1513 back up, idle actuator control.

Anyone know where this is?
 
You still haven't confirmed whick engine management system / style you have but it seems maybe it's the older one? (pre-99?).

Obviously the actuator will be somewhere around the intake / injection area, with a cable and connector going to it. There are a few posts in this section about cleaning / servicing throttlebodies and actuators on these cars, some will have pictures so this should help. There was a huge thread in members motors about a Brava van: the guy (m20b25) was a bit obsessed with this issue!

Hopefully you're getting there now...
 
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The car eventually passed its mot. But the engine problem persists. Unfortunately my theory of a blown ecu appears to be the case. Can anyone tell me which ecu to buy from the pic. Ive seen a couple on ebay but im not sure of the part number.

65BCFB41-CC6F-4EE8-8011-508A71A604D7-10910-000009689C1AF4F6.jpg
 
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