Technical seicento warning light

[neil1960]

Hi - my wife has a 2001 1100 seicento which several months ago started firing up on 3 cylinders - rev it or let it tick over for a few mins & the 4th cut in. I'd change the plugs & the problem would go away for a while. This time it's only lasted a week & the warning light has come on. Seems to run fine is this likely to be 1 of the coil packs breaking down? How do I tell which 1?
Thanks in anticipation
Neil

 

[fingers99]

Just as likely to be a bad ignition lead.

Start the car up in the dark, open bonnet, look for blue flashes. They indicate an HT leak. Replace the component they're leaking from.

Alternatively, with insulated pliers, while the engine is running, pull off (and replace!) one plug lead at a time. The one which doesn't affect engine speed is the bad one.

Still, could be plug, lead, or coil pack. In (pretty rare) cases it could even be the injector.

Anyway, find it and sort it. To run it for lengthy periods with a misfire will result in damage to the CAT.

 

[neil1960]

thanks - the plugs are only a couple of weeks old, now it's gone into limp mode it fire's on all 4 when it starts. I think I've got some other plug leads I could maybe try - but I've never yet manged to pull a plug lead off without getting a shock - tried rubber gloves, wellies, cloths, pliers you name it! Hate doing it. Do I need to reset the ECU now? BTW - it's only done 30k miles.

 

[fingers99]

You can if you like -- just remove the battery negative for a few minutes.

 

[neil1960]

cheers fingers - will have another play tomorrow

 

[Benjammo]

Mine did this too, i changed the leads, plugs and packs still nothing, then i realised why, it was the head gasket that had gone because the engine fan was dead. Hope this isnt the case with yours but the mpi fan is a known weak point.
Worth a test, theirs 2 relays on the fusebox on the right, one of them has a thick grey wire i think with a black tracer, if you put a wire from the batterys +ive does the fan spin?

 

[neil1960]

went out to have a look this morning - it's running fine but the lights still on. Did a few checks but decided to leave it to see if I can get get the diagnostic code read. Wife took it on a 2mile trip to asda - light went out????? Is it worth changing the coils anyway - only £21.50 the pair on ebay.

 

[Benjammo]

The light maybe coming on because the fan fuse is blown, mine was exactly the same as this, just for my piece of mind, have you checked the fan? The fuse is a big green one behind the battery, atleast chech if thats intact. My light would go out and stay out for days but would come on if i got stuck in traffic or if i restarted the car while it was still worm.

 

[neil1960]

cheers, I'll check it - only takes seconds - but my lights been on when cold & going out when warmed up.

 

[Benjammo]

Where abouts are ya? Ive got a pair of new coils you could try if ya near

 

[neil1960]

Bishop Auckland - Durham