Tuning slightly high HC rate in MOT

[peterainbow]

hi,

the panda passed it's MOT for another year .

no advisers either!

however i noticed that the HC rate was quite a bit higher than last year.

any ideas on how to adjust/what might be causing it?

also i should add that every now and then the car goes into an odd state where when driving up hills it can almost lose all it's power, but go back to normal if pulling foot off accelerator. which it did on the morning going to the MOT which made me very worried.

anyone any ideas?

btw it's a fire engine with electronic ignition.

cheers

pete

 

[alexbpl]

hi,

the panda passed it's MOT for another year .

no advisers either!

however i noticed that the HC rate was quite a bit higher than last year.

any ideas on how to adjust/what might be causing it?

also i should add that every now and then the car goes into an odd state where when driving up hills it can almost lose all it's power, but go back to normal if pulling foot off accelerator. which it did on the morning going to the MOT which made me very worried.

anyone any ideas?

btw it's a fire engine with electronic ignition.

cheers

pete

By HC do you mean hydrocarbon content?

Hydrocarbons in the emmisions are usually caused by unburnt fuels. You may requrie a new engine sensor like an exhaust Lambda or a coolant temp sensor.

Seems to be a very common fault for the sensors on the FIRE fuel injected Panda's to fail or become intermittant.

 

[peterainbow]

hi

already got a new lambda, that went a couple years ago.

temp sensor dont know about, where is that? same sensor for gauge in dash?

can u get them cheap?

cheers

pete

 

[panda1408]

It's a different sensor to the guage, it is located in the inlet manifold on the right hand side. Should be no more than £10 from a motor factors. There are two different types though, so make sure you get the correct one.

 

[maddogmorg]

when did it last have an italian tune up?

 

[peterainbow]

haven't done a tune up :-(

is that the coolant sensor or lambda sensor, thought it was the lambda that was in the exhaust?

 

[panda1408]

You are right the lambda is in the exhaust, I was on about the coolant temp sensor.

Another thing you could do to help is an ECU reset. Which injection system does your Panda have?

 

[peterainbow]

yeah did an ecu reset which does seem to solve the problem

ITCrowd strikes again

 

[lewey]

yeah did an ecu reset which does seem to solve the problem

ITCrowd strikes again

Not that I doubt it is fixed, but how have you tested this? Have you got access to a decent emmissions machine?

Relevent ponder
It is interesting how a reset fixes stuff like this. It must mean that the learning the ECU has done has been based on dodgy sensor info at one time. I wonder whether in some cases a reset means the ECU bases fueling on what is now a dodgy sensor and achieves a better compromise of running that is not neccesarily optimal?

 

[peterainbow]

ah what meant was that it fixes the problem with sudden loss of power going up hill

i have no idea what the hc count is

 

[lewey]

Ah. Slightly malfunctioning water temp sensor is my guess. That or Italian tune-up required as maddogmorg suggests!

"Italian tune-up" means "go for a little cane"! ;-)

 

[peterainbow]

how much do the water sensors cost? where from?

whats an italian tune up?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

whats an italian tune up?

It means drive it like you stole it. Rag the engine a little to loosen it up and remove carbon deposts etc

 

[lewey]

how much do the water sensors cost? where from?

whats an italian tune up?

Wrote in my response. I wrote it small as it was a note for the uninitiated!

 

[peterainbow]

lol

is there anyway to test the water sensor?

eg volts range?

 

[Ffoxy]

Air filter is clean I suppose..... ? Has had a service as & when it should?

 

[lewey]

lol

is there anyway to test the water sensor?

eg volts range?

It's resistance that you need to measure. It will go down as the temp increases. You can put sensor in a pan of hot water and simply put a multimeter to the two terminals in the correct range.

From memory, you will be starting (room temp) at around 250 Ohms. It should fall considerably as you head towards boiling temp. Probably need proper book figures to check it is spot on I suppose, but this is a start.

 

[panda1408]

Have a read of these two threads about the temp sensor:

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/222201-low-mpg-4.html

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-classic/213951-idle-speed-clx-inj.html

If your Panda has the Bosch injection system the vacuum advance may not be working properly, this could cause the power loss problem. If you have the Weber injection system with coil packs however this is of no relevance.

 

[alexbpl]

The fuel injection can be tricky to suss at times.

Mine was suffering from low MPG, mixed with an irratic/high idle speed. It was eventually fixed by replacing the coolant temp sensor, resetting the ECU by removing the positive battery lead for an hour or so then going for a cane!

 

[peterainbow]

great thanks for the input everyone

now to work out which injection system i have

and then work out where to get the sensor from