Technical Punto Engine change HELP!!!

[ekz9892]

Heya, Im new to this and really need some help, I have recently brought a 51 plate 1.2 8v punto at a car auction, after paying for it we drove it home, It drives, just about, but is jollty and underpowered, After some investigation it seems its got a older style engine that does not match the ECU?, still a 1.2 8v but not compatible. Does anyone know anything about sorting this problem out, or what engine i would need, or what i need to change to get my current engine up and workin?

All help appreciated!!!

 

[richie.guy]

Purchase a virgin ECU from ebay for ~£120.

Assuming it's the ECU.

Is the management light on? When the coilpacks fail on these engines they often spike the ECU and kill it making it nasty to drive. The only way to fix is new coils and new ECU.

 

[ekz9892]

Yes the Engine managment light is on, thank you thats sounding likely, will get on to that one now!

 

[richie.guy]

If you don't know the history then I would be tempted to do cheapest first:

New Sparks
New Leads
New coils
Virgin ECU

The ECU light may just be a misfire, doing the first 3 options may well solve the issue for you. Like I say though if the coil has failed then they do often kill the ECU. Considering you don't know the engine history it's good practice to replace the sparks and leads as service items anyway so they can be ruled out for any future problems.

 

[ekz9892]

Yehhh, we have been all through them, just worried that the ECU is too old for the engine and that is why its playing up, when we had it on a diagnostic machine and it told us it was the knock sensor, had that changed but its still dodgey!

 

[richie.guy]

Timing maybe out? That would kick off the knock sensor.

 

[D4nny8oy]

When the coilpacks fail on these engines they often spike the ECU and kill it making it nasty to drive. The only way to fix is new coils and new ECU.

When the ECU's fail it's never down to the coils, it's an internal fault in the ECU and replacing the ECU only will correct the fault.

We get no end of people (AA/RAC included!) who condemn and replace one coil, then the other, before finally replacing the ECU- and don't believe us when we tell them it'll be the ECU in the first place. :bang:

Read T's guide if you're handy with a multimeter- https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-guides/52068-punto-coil-ecu-checks.html