Hi all,
I'm back and have some interesting issues with my wifes Punto Mk2 1.2 FIRE engine.
She had been having issues getting it to start, espcially in cold weather. I (mistakenly) assumed the battery was good, it's less than 18 months old, reads 12.4v normally and ~14v when the engine is running. I bought a cheap battery jump starter to get her out of trouble, that died fairly quickly, then she managed to melt some jump leads when at work. At this point, I suspected the starter motor was trying to pull too much current so I replaced that and had the same issue. I finally went and did what I should have done at the start and borrowed another battery and the car started immediately with no problem.
This leads me to the current fault, while the car was idling, with no-one touching it, it suddenly cut out. Now it will start instantly without any hesitation but will only stay running with my foot on the throttle and the battery stays light on. If I take my foot off the throttle it stops immediately. When running with foot on the throttle, it runs perfectly, no choppiness or variation in revs.
I've put my scanner on it, that is reporting no faults. I've also checked the earth straps, crank sensor (connections only, I suppose the sensor itself could have gone bad), throttle cable looks fine and moves easily. All fuses are fine but I haven't checked all the relays. I've also tried disconnecting the battery again and leaving the car for an hour or so based on this post: Rough Idle
I'm suspecting electrical, mainly due to the suddeness when it cut out and the fact that is what I've been messing with but going by the battery debarcle, I don't trust my judgement any more!
Any ideas on what to check next? Is it possible to check/test any sensors before replacing them?
Cheers!
I'm back and have some interesting issues with my wifes Punto Mk2 1.2 FIRE engine.
She had been having issues getting it to start, espcially in cold weather. I (mistakenly) assumed the battery was good, it's less than 18 months old, reads 12.4v normally and ~14v when the engine is running. I bought a cheap battery jump starter to get her out of trouble, that died fairly quickly, then she managed to melt some jump leads when at work. At this point, I suspected the starter motor was trying to pull too much current so I replaced that and had the same issue. I finally went and did what I should have done at the start and borrowed another battery and the car started immediately with no problem.
This leads me to the current fault, while the car was idling, with no-one touching it, it suddenly cut out. Now it will start instantly without any hesitation but will only stay running with my foot on the throttle and the battery stays light on. If I take my foot off the throttle it stops immediately. When running with foot on the throttle, it runs perfectly, no choppiness or variation in revs.
I've put my scanner on it, that is reporting no faults. I've also checked the earth straps, crank sensor (connections only, I suppose the sensor itself could have gone bad), throttle cable looks fine and moves easily. All fuses are fine but I haven't checked all the relays. I've also tried disconnecting the battery again and leaving the car for an hour or so based on this post: Rough Idle
I'm suspecting electrical, mainly due to the suddeness when it cut out and the fact that is what I've been messing with but going by the battery debarcle, I don't trust my judgement any more!
Any ideas on what to check next? Is it possible to check/test any sensors before replacing them?
Cheers!