Recently bought a lemon.

[baldscutter]

Hello, excuse me, this is my first (long) message. I recently bought a 2004 Ulysse 2.0 JTD Eleganza auto. 8 days after we bought it we experienced an occasional intermittent 'smoking/lack of power' issue, the fuel gauge was just below a quarter of a tank. I filled it up and the problem seemed to clear. same thing happened again about a fortnight later. A local garage looked at it for me and changed the fuel filter (long overdue so they said). They also said that some dipstick had removed the particulate filter and so the warning light connected with this would not work. They also did the fault code thing and said there was no EGR fault. This issue is ok at the minute. I have a cold running issue though where the car seems to have only maybe 50% power until 5 minutes or 2/3 miles of running. After this the heater starts to blow harder and full power is restored. Alternator is giving the battery 14.4V at all times. I don't know if I need a new MAF sensor/throttle position sensor or just clean out my EGR valve or if it's something else. Can anyone help please? The car otherwise starts and runs fine although is it very thirsty - 17 mpg last fill. Also, anyone with spares - I need the LCD panel in the dash beneath the speedo. I need the larger one without a button either side.

 

[T14086]

My advice for anyone with a problem with one of these is to take it to a good dealer with ulysse experience (ask questions first).

You could have a look in the ulysse section for possible cures but you really need examiner to monitor what is and whats not going on.

The LCD panel can cost £300+ depending on version, what is wrong with it?

Welcome to the forum by the way

 

[baldscutter]

Thanks for your quick reply, LCD panel is really faint but looks like it's probably working. Regards to the other issues - I've bought a laptop for Christmas and I might get myself a fault code reader. The problem isn't quite so bad now it's not -6 every morning.

 

[Vampy]

I'm also beginning to think I have bought a lemon too..I've had this Fiat Punto 1.2 Dynamic speedgear for what?..two months.. and I wanna cry. Its one thing after the other. Its so damn unreliable I am beginning to hate it...and thats a shame cos I love the way it looks and the colour - black with red interior. But I was obviously too girlie and let that sway me. Plus I have no one to ask to look it over for me before I bought it.
I only had it a few days and had to come here to ask for help and advice (and ty T1 for your help)
Anyhow..sorry to hijack your thread Bald..hope you have better luck than I'm having..I'm off to scour this heaven-sent site again for any help...at the moment I want my Corsa back

 

[T14086]

some ulysse panels had a back light bulb, have you checked the back of your display yet?

Vampy what are your problems with the punto?

 

[baldscutter]

Thanks, but it's not the panel with the three dashboard bulbs behind it. Mine is slightly bigger (part number 9653211180).
My wife informs me that the low power issue also occurs when the engine is fully warm too. I'm now starting to think I have a turbo fault. I thought turbos either worked or not? Could I have a loose wire or split/blocked pipe does anyone know? The rear passenger door didn't close properly either when I bought it, and today when my wife tried to close it (slam is a better description) it split/tore the fibreglass rear quarter panel and wouldn't close anyway. I finished work at 22:30 and have come home and removed the rear hinge/runner so the door would close.

 

[Vampy]

Hello again T1..what problems am I having?..well..where shall I start lol
..mainly non-starting problems. In the beginning it was the key code light coming on and refusing to go out until I disconnected the battery and left it for a time. After spending lots of time under the bonnet doing this it stopped responding to this temporary solution and no matter how long I left it before reconnecting the key code light wouldnt go out and therefore the car wouldnt start. I managed to get it to a guy who has the reputation of being a car electrics genius and he sorted it..changed some box..it was ok for about a week maybe then it did it again so I kept trying it all day and no the keycode light wouldnt go out so i called him and he sent the pickup truck for it. Before it went on the truckthe mechanic tried it and it didnt work for him either.
After a few days I called to see how he was getting on and he said he hadnt been able to investigate it as a non starter cos it had started every time he had tried it.
So it came home again.
After sitting for a week over christmas I went to go out in it and it refused to start. This time it sounded like a flat battery whir whir and no fire up. i got someone to give me a jump start and when i went to start it..the key code light was on again..so it wouldnt start..back to disconnecting the battery...
Next day when I reconnected it the light went out after trying it all day and it behaving and the light going out I got the person to come again and try a jump start..this time it started ok.
Next day..flat battery again...now i dont know if something is draining it or whats going on. The keycode light has come on twice today but at the second attempt it has gone out, something that didnt happen before.
I'm just finding I dont feel comfortable going anywhere in it cos I never know if I'm going to be stranded.
I took it to my local garage and they said the battery seemed ok I have no idea whats going on.
Today I spent all my Christmas money on a portable powerpack to jump start it so I dont need to rely on a stranger to help me out.
I dont expect you to fix it for me but if you have any ideas I'd be grateful for any input, thanks very much T1