Technical Stalling Panda

[Alex Garfield]

My wife's 58 Panda has started to stall whilst in motion generally restarting itself, in addition to other occasions when it will not and in particular when straddling speed humps and running over uneven road surfaces when the engine cuts out and the ignition has to be turned on. The garage advises that no code is shown on their computer although replacing the MAP sensor has had some effect in the past resulting in a the sensor being replaced at each annual service. However the last replacement (Nov) has had little effect and the garage still cannot find an error code.
My wife is not keen to spend any more money (we have just had the back box repaired and MAP sensor cleaned) and does not fancy the possibility of breakdown - can anyone help please?

 

[koalar]

Not easy. As it's affected by movement.

Normally it's a matter of wiggling wires until you find the right one

With no error code its going to be tricky

I'd start by reseating the fuses and relays

Then move onto jiggling the key

Then some wiggling like this




That's assuming you don't have anything way to read live data.

 

[A3jeroen]

Cranksensor would be my suspect. Especially if no codes are stored.

gr J

 

[Nickhmh]

My wife's 58 Panda has started to stall whilst in motion generally restarting itself, in addition to other occasions when it will not and in particular when straddling speed humps and running over uneven road surfaces when the engine cuts out and the ignition has to be turned on. The garage advises that no code is shown on their computer although replacing the MAP sensor has had some effect in the past resulting in a the sensor being replaced at each annual service. However the last replacement (Nov) has had little effect and the garage still cannot find an error code.
My wife is not keen to spend any more money (we have just had the back box repaired and MAP sensor cleaned) and does not fancy the possibility of breakdown - can anyone help please?

My "new" Panda started to miss when going over bumps too! She's a 1.1 eco 2010. It started to rev high when stopped at lights etc too. So I removed throttle body and cleaned out the idle control valve..worked for a while..but problem came back..sod it..I went on eBay..after being quoted £180 for a new throttle body (pierburg) from Euro car parts. ...I found a genuine magnetti marreli from Fuel Parts for £100 ..offered 80 ..bid accepted! Fitted today...WHAT a difference! Had to adjust the idle a little..but it's like driving a new car. Much more responsive! I've only done about two miles home with it but the car feels 100% better
Will be putting a few hundred miles on he in the next couple of day so will report back. But even at £180 I'd say money well spent!!!

 

[Goudrons]

But even at £180 I'd say money well spent!!!

I hope this doesn't come back to haunt you!

The 1.1 is notorious for the issue that Koalar has posted.
There is a dodgy wire in one of the connections in the loom from the injectors/coils.

It doesn't seem to effect any other model but the 1.1.

Owners have been chasing it forever until someone found it.
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/420817-injector-problem-code-p0202-cyl-2-injector.html

Commonly, they start to stall or misfire over bumps and humps in the road as it disturbs the wires.

Sometimes, but not always, they can throw some trouble codes, usually injector or coil related ones as I think the wire may be shared/split.

But to set most codes so they throw a dashlight, the problem usually needs to repeat 2 or 3 times in one drive cycle, turning the ignition off and back on resets the drive cycle!

The problem can get masked, if you fiddle about with the connectors or wiring loom, they tend to work again for a while, this explains why for a while, owners got a limited result by opening the connectors on the ECU and cleaning them with contact cleaner.

 

[Nickhmh]

I hope this doesn't come back to haunt you!

The 1.1 is notorious for the issue that Koalar has posted.
There is a dodgy wire in one of the connections in the loom from the injectors/coils.

It doesn't seem to effect any other model but the 1.1.

Owners have been chasing it forever until someone found it.
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/420817-injector-problem-code-p0202-cyl-2-injector.html

Commonly, they start to stall or misfire over bumps and humps in the road as it disturbs the wires.

Sometimes, but not always, they can throw some trouble codes, usually injector or coil related ones as I think the wire may be shared/split.

But to set most codes so they throw a dashlight, the problem usually needs to repeat 2 or 3 times in one drive cycle, turning the ignition off and back on resets the drive cycle!

The problem can get masked, if you fiddle about with the connectors or wiring loom, they tend to work again for a while, this explains why for a while, owners got a limited result by opening the connectors on the ECU and cleaning them with contact cleaner.

Well you were correct sir...it's has come back.. cars been running superb..much better than before I fitted new throttle body..until today. I hit a very large pot hole on the M6 at only 60mph. Started to misfire..pulled into services a few hundred yards away. Turned her off..rattled the wires to ecu and TB restarted perfectly drove for 80 ish miles then back home...perfect! Damn I'm upset so another weekend of messing awaits..no faults stored..but she definitely feels nicer with new TB.
I used to be a mechanic..but I'm no Auto electrics expert BTW when I pulled in she was idling perfectly.

 

[koalar]

The hard part is reproducing the fault

Once this can be done the repair becomes easy.

Gently poke push prod everything that's critical to it's running.

Not just electrical. Could be a vacum pipe, fuel line, pump and so on.

 

[Alex Garfield]

Many thanks to those who kindly replied to my query.

Alex G.

 

[Nickhmh]

Many thanks to those who kindly replied to my query.

Alex G.

Did you fix it?

 

[amadeus]

Hi we too had this exact same problem after reading this and I just wiggled with the wires, near the ECU and have fixed it (probably temporarily), but at least I know the problem and its not the crank sensor as we were lead to believe.

Thnks everyone who helped.

 

[DaveMcT]

Assuming there are no broken pins in the engine ECU connector, pull it up tight with Zippy cable ties. That stops it shaking loose.

 

[09 johno]

Tie wrap the ecu plugs down,
lift the wiring harness and tie wrap it so the weight is removed from the ecu plugs
make a strong back to support the wires as they enter the ecu plug.
All the above stabilises the wires and pin contacts in the ECU. have to explain the wooden spoon handle i used as a strong back to the MOT tester sometimes but it works (or it has for the last 30,000 miles )