weird engine behaviour

[subs]

my engine randomly over-revs itself, even when i'm not touching a thing. this happens especially when i'm stopped at traffic lights, in first gear..normally the car should be idling around 1000rpm but without me doing anything the engine goes upto 2000-2500rpm, bear in mind at this time i am not touching the accelerator AT ALL!!

the only thing i can do to stop it doing that is to bring the clutch up to biting point, after which, most of the time, the revs go back down and stay at 1000rpm. sometimes even the clutch control thing doesn't work.

i thought it was because the engine was cold but this happens when i first start the car up, and carries on happening all the way through a drive..

and sometimes it doesn't happen at all, and the car behaves fine!! what's do you guys think is going on!?

i drive a 1999 Fiat Bravo SX 1.2 3 door

 

[Anonymous]

Idle control valve?

 

[big al]

idle control valve..thats the first thing to check.

big al

 

[Chris Judd]

I had this!! Do you find your temp gauge is lower than normal? mine was the ect sensor was up the duff, replaced that and all was fine. The engine just picked up the revs to try and warm the engine up because the ect was telling it it was too cold (that was my mechanics suggestion!) and i changed that, it was about £24 from fiat and i've never had a problem since.

Chris Judd

Carzone Kit Smoothed Into Bumpers + Colour Coded Wing Mirrors and Base Plates - 35mm Lowering Springs - Red Dot 20 Grove brake Discs - Red/Black Bucket Seats with harnesses - 17" Mille Migila Alloys - OMP Strut Brace - C&B Med ROad Cams - SuperSprint Manilfold Decat pipe - Cat Back CSC Exhaust - K&N - MTX 6.5" Components, 5 Channel JBL Amp, 15" JBL sub - Alpine Head Unit - iPod

 

[subs]

thanks guys, is there any way to check the idle control valve by myself? does this need a repair or tweaking or replacement?

i dont think its the cold thing, the engine does it even when the temperature is normal.. :S

 

[keval]

yes i have seen that problem my mate has a problem like that with hes fiat punto sometimes fiats have that problem he says the engine is cold so its doing that.

 

[subs]

more trouble

guys, sorry to keep bothering you..but last night i was driving and the car randomly switched itself off. this happened when the car was going at around 25-30mph. suddenly the engine had turned off, and the steering became really heavy (its a mercy i managed to make it around the roundabout i was approaching at the time)

any ideas as to why this happened? also, can i fix the idle control valve thing myself? i don't know too much about cars at all..

i want to get a full checkup done on my bravo is there anywhere i could take it to where they would check EVERYTHING and tell me the things I need to fix? a lot of things are going wrong with this car..please help

 

[Anonymous]

Fiat is the obvious answer! be prepared to empty your wallet though.

Carzone Kit Smoothed Into Bumpers + Colour Coded Wing Mirrors and Base Plates - 35mm Lowering Springs - Red Dot 20 Grove brake Discs - Red/Black Bucket Seats with harnesses - 17" Mille Migila Alloys - OMP Strut Brace - C&B Med ROad Cams - SuperSprint Manilfold Decat pipe - Cat Back CSC Exhaust - K&N - MTX 6.5" Components, 5 Channel JBL Amp, 15" JBL sub - Alpine Head Unit - iPod

 

[Mark]

A decent garage should have the diagnostic equipment to plug in and tell you whats playing up.

As Chris said above, Fiat dealers will happily empty your wallet for you...

If the car just 'cut out', there could also be a fault with the lambda sensor. Way to check that, is to follow the wires up to the plug, and unplug it. There should be a noticable change in the way the engine runs. If not, it's goosed.

Always best to get a diag test done first though... will cost you about £30, but could save you loads of cash by buying parts that you don't need.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks guys for your replies, have really helped me understand what might be wrong, and what i'm gonna do..soon as i have time, that is lol

another problem's also cropped up, when i brake, at first gentle braking produces a little squeal, which im not worried about, but as i press the brake harder, right before the car comes to a complete stop there's a little grinding noise for like a second. is this something i should be worried about?