Technical Fault Code P0101

[Colt]

Hi all, wondering if anyone could help me out with this fault code.

For a while my panda (312, 1.2L engine) has been having an issue when at idle the engine will go to 1500RPM and the throttle becomes unresponsive. After I turn the car off and on again it returns to normal but the engine warning light remains on.

After scanning with an OBD it's saying we have fault code P0101 (Mass or Volume Air Flow issue). We have already replaced the MAP sensor so I was wondering if anyone has any advice relating to this? I've also read on another forum here that this issue could be related to the clutch switch.

Thanks for your time.

 

[jackwhoo]

The big clue here is you have read a code p0101 and interpreted it as maf sensor fault. Your car does not have a maf sensor - there should be two more digits after p0101 which will help diagnose correct fault.

My guess is it is going to be an air leak into the inlet manifold

 

[Colt]

Thanks for your reply! Unfortunately I've only got a basic OBD reader so can't see those last two digits. I'll see what it says if the code comes back

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Hi all, wondering if anyone could help me out with this fault code.

For a while my panda (312, 1.2L engine) has been having an issue when at idle the engine will go to 1500RPM and the throttle becomes unresponsive. After I turn the car off and on again it returns to normal but the engine warning light remains on.

After scanning with an OBD it's saying we have fault code P0101 (Mass or Volume Air Flow issue). We have already replaced the MAP sensor so I was wondering if anyone has any advice relating to this? I've also read on another forum here that this issue could be related to the clutch switch.

Thanks for your time.

Your Panda 1.2 petrol does have a MAP (pressure) sensor, but does not have a MAF (airflow) sensor, fitted to the inlet manifold. (MAF generally only used with turbo engines)

I love it when people say "I've replaced the sensor"... Almost never do sensors themselves fail*. The fault codes and messages (if read carefully) nearly always say (I paraphrase) 'the sensor has detected that the thing its there to look out for isn't quite right'... For example, if an airflow sensor senses the flow is too low: that more likely means there's a leak in the tubes the air is flowing through, the air filter is clogged or the throttle isn't opening as much as it should be. Replacing the sensor doesn't fix that. And soon after, the same error will come up as the new sensor detects the same, un-fixed fault. The sensor can also become oil-soaked, in which case a clean is needed as otherwise it can give 'false errors'.

(*If the sensor has failed, the full fault code will show this with a message such as 'sensor short circuit to earth' or 'sensor open circuit'. And even then, more often than not, the problem isn't the sensor, but the wires connected to it, which tend to break just where they go into the plug.)

The free phone app called CarScanner is very good and often pinpoints the error (including the extra two digit code). But, it needs to be used with a reliable plug-in bluetooth OBD reader (ie one that's about £50, not one off Amazon for a tenner). See here for the one I have.

And remember, the codes can (and often do) lead to a wrong diagnosis. At times they're are little more than a 'best guess'. (They can be right, for example by identifying which of the four heated glow plugs in a diesel engine is faulty), but with things like airflow, there are so many places to look that it can't really be that specific.

 

[LittleBrownHare]

I've just had a run of P0101's on my '14 plate 1.2.
First time I cleaned up the MAP port on the manifold and replaced the MAP sensor (as a contingency), along with the air filter.
Reset the code and that was that.
Two'ish weeks later P1010 again, so I cleaned the [new] MAP senor and it's port (thinking I'd perhaps just done a duff job and missed some of the emulsion). Reset the code, but Pan wasn't feeling quite right - so I suspected I'd only fixed the symptom (as noted above). I was correct as ...

Two days after that P1010 again.
So this time I cleaned the MAP sensor and it's port again, then worked back through the airflow to work out why it was getting fouled.
I checked the filler cap and the breather outlet on the rocker case in case the head gasket had started to give up and spray emulsified oil and water at source. (Happily all fine, just oil - plus I'd had no other signs of HG failure).
Next I cleaned up the throttle body and the bottom end of the air box. Throttle was a bit mucky, but nothing I wouldn't expect. The airbox seal to the throttle body has seen better days, so that's next for replacement, but it was 'ok'.
Then I looked in the breather hose ...

Panda 2012+ - Pan - Updates

www.fiatforum.com

Anyway ... having got over the shock, cleaned the hose out properly and put it all back togther, Pan is like a different car (in a good way).
(Pan had previously spent a number of years with my mum doing very short, very slow journeys and never really getting even close to operating temperature, so I can see how the oil hose condensated into emulsion).

YMMV of course, but going on my experience - cleaning the gop out of the hose was transformational.