Technical help with 1.6 not firing up, loosing the will to live with it!!!!

[Marshall147]

This problem arose on monday morning, as I was rushing out the house to work. I get in the car, turn the key and I get a start motor noise and the car trying to fire, but how ever many times I try, it will not fire. The car will turn over but will just not fire into life. So im on the third day now and these are the things ive checked:

- battery ( 2 months old and i have checked it and even put a booster pack on )
- All the fuses in the box next to the battery
- took the spark plugs out and used a light wire bush to clean them up ( was serviced 2000 miles ago)
-When I turn the key i can hear the fuel pump so i gather thats okay
-tested the coil packs ( they seem fine)
-ran a code reader on the ECU and the only error i got was brake switch failure ( my brake lights work fine) i cleared the error and it hasnt come back.
-disconnected the battery for an hour, to reset the ecu,
-also took the crank shaft sensor off and checked all the wiring and the condition of the sensor, all seems fine

I just do not know what to do now. All i can think of is that maybe there a kill switch that may of gone faulty ( type of switch that cuts the engine out if the cars in a crash) but i cant seem to find one on the stilo.....?

if anyone has any ideas, it would be great as I'm loosing my rag with the car now

 

[cris1117]

Hi. Not too sure about the petrol stilo but on the dieselthe kill switch is on the passenger side under the glove box near the front ofthe front door, but I think it kills the fuel pump so if you can hear the fuelpump I wouldn’t have thought it’s that.
I could be thinking of a completely different car but Ibelieve some stilo’s had two brake switches one for the brake lights and one totell the ecu to cut the fuel when you brake, probably best to wait and see ifsomeone else can confirm this.

 

[richydraper]

pedal activated fuel shutoff is only applicable for diesels Iirc!

Sounds suspiciously like a crank sensor to me check the air gap (should be 1mm) and ensure is free from oil and grit ie clean it! Could be worth testing just to confirm before replacement its a hall effect device so when you test with your multimeter it Will show infinate resistance and when you put it against steel it Will show 0Ohms if its not broken

 

[A3jeroen]

I had this once. Flooded the engine by starting it, moving it for 1 meter and turning it off. Had to pull the fuses for the fuelsystem (IIRC 16 and 17 near the battery) and run the startermotor a few seconds to get rid of the excessive fuel. After that it started fine with the fuses in place.

gr J

 

[Marshall147]

Cheers for all the advice guys.And I did try most of your ideas, but no success so far. The car is been towed to a garage this morning so hopefully I'll get a call later on, on the problem. .. Otherwise I'll be rolling it down the scrapyard at the weekend!

 

[alsimmo]

Im sure it wont come to that ! I bet it ends up being something really obvious. Has the timing belt been changed or interfered with recently ? Let us know what they come up with later Regards alsimmo

 

[adamhughes86]

long time lurker, first post. Ive had the same problem on my 54 plate 1.6 stilo...yesterday battery seemed dead so changed it and now it turns over but not firing at all. Had someone run diagnostic on it and found the camshaft sensor was a problem, so replaced that and still nothing.

really dont want a massive repair bill on this, but don't know what else to try!!!

 

[james2609]

Has the timing belt been changed or interfered with recently ? Let us know what they come up with later Regards alsimmo

As mentioned by Alsimmo,

After all the steps you have taken, my next one would be checking the timing. Check the belt and see if all is where it's supposed to be!

 

[Marshall147]

I changed the cam belt and tensioners on it about 10,000 miles ago, and yeh I did check it yesturday and it felt tight. Still havent heard from the garage. And yeh I'll update if it does get fixed

 

[Marshall147]

the garage have said the fuel pump has packed up, even though i can hear it working when i put the ignition on, there isnt any fuel getting to the engine.

 

[adamhughes86]

like i said, i took mine to an auto electrics garage after a mechanic washed his hands of it...they've said its something to do with the key/ecu...
apprently theyve got a guy coming to look at it tomorrow. I'll post when i hear anything

 

[Marshall147]

Just to wrap this problem up, I've now got the car back in full working order and love it . It turned out that the pump was fine and the car was actually over fueling itself. So it was just flooded. They got it running and it then came up with a fault which was the lambda sensor. And there was the problem!
Running smoother than ever now!

 

[Yellow Peril]

Pleased for you Marshall. So good when a problem gets sorted!

 

[gerhardj]

Just to wrap this problem up, I've now got the car back in full working order and love it . It turned out that the pump was fine and the car was actually over fueling itself. So it was just flooded. They got it running and it then came up with a fault which was the lambda sensor. And there was the problem!
Running smoother than ever now!

Which one of the two?

 

[Marshall147]

Which one of the two?

It was th lambda sensor on the manifold

 

[gerhardj]

Thought so, had same problem with mine, but it took the Fiat agents a loooong time to pick it up. And a lot of my money. In short what happened is that the faulty one will advise the engine management system with wrong info, the back one will then say different, and the evil circle begin. The one will then try to compensate for the other one, and throw the poor car into fits.

It is good to see that you will not be towing it to the scrap yard!!

 

[Soul Evans]

That`s funny. But Bosch recommends and gives warranty for 02 sensor for 85kkmeters. Most of people don`t car and this is result.