Technical Injectors failing or just the FIAT demons?

[Jack9012]

I used to have brown hair. Then I bought a FIAT.... Fix It Again Tomorrow my mates chuckle as I describe yet another problem with this godforsaken car.

About twelve months ago I left my 2001 Multipla ELX standing for a week whilst I jetted off to Jersey to visit family. When I got home the car ran fine for about 5 miles then all of a sudden the "Engine Control Faulty" light came on with that ear-splitting, rage-inducing constant beeping and the car started to run like a bag of hammers. A pocket mechanic I know reckoned it may have gone into limp home mode for some reason but a week later it went back to normal; no fault report and no excruciating beeping (what were FIAT thinking of???). So all seemed well.

Then two months ago, the same problem. "Engine Control Faulty", annoying beeping, and car running on three cyclinders. I took it to an auto-diagnostic centre, paid my cash and got the report that an injector was off. £180 for the part then labour on top. So I got it changed and after a couple fo days was motoring along in my ugly bug again. Until now. The exact same thing has happened once more! I am now at the point of giving the car away. Can it really be another injector? The same injector? Or something else entirely? Someone has suggested maybe the car's electrics need stripping and cleaning.... I dunno. Any ideas?

The horn stopped working a couple of hundred miles ago after working only intermittently for a while so something electrical is not quite right in the car!

 

[JTDman]

Calm down Jack its only a car but if your after some advice some info on what engine would be nice oh and if you insist on giving it away im first in line.
Seriousley though if your having problems like that its prob a wiring fault (doh!) mines a diesel so i can only comment on what id try ,
Injector relays (not expensive via factors)
wiring loom (reach over the engine while its running and give the main section a good old shake see if it goes into limp mode).
all earths to the engine and body under the bonnet.
and my old favourite is the aftermarket immobiliser if its got one fitted.
Also the maf but you should have a diagnostic for that.

 

[MultiplaAbarth]

Cant help with the injectors, hope its fixed by now, let us all know what the cause was!!!
I can help with the horn though...
When I bought my second hand 2004 JTD the horn didn't work, a simple check showed it to be the horn itself, no problem as a new horn is only about £20!
The next time it stopped working it was a corroded/snapped off connection to the horn, so this was re-soldered as a fix.

Proverb of the day, vaguely relating to a Multipla horn...As in life, Its only when its gone that we actually realise how much we miss something...

 

[Jack9012]

Hi guys. I haven't sourced the fault on my own yet. I took out all the relays and fuses and cleaned them but to no avail but rather bizarrely the car has regained a little power after my amateur cleaning session..... still rough as anything but definitely more power. The car is a 1.6 ELX 2001. I'll have a go at the horn, though no idea where to find it.

I am loathe to take it straight back to the garage because I guess they will automatically just change an injector anyway. I'll let you know if I make any progress.

Just an after thought: what makes me think it is electrical is, sometimes when the car runs through its initial check it will come up with a warning saying brake fluid low, the warning goes off and no further problems. The break fluid is fine by the way. Also, at times I switch the engine on and EBD System Faulty flashes on then goes off, no problems there either. So could it just be electrical???

 

[rolo]

My (now departed) multi used to come up with irrelevent warning messages sometimes,I soon realised it happened when I was a bit keen starting the engine.After the warning lights first come on when you turn the key,give her a couple of seconds for the self check to finish before firing up.