Fiat Punto - Cutting out

keefg

OK...OK...Before I start, no "because it's a Fiat / it's a Punto / it's crap" gags please

My dear old mother is having problems with her little 2001 Punto, for some reason it keeps cutting out on her.

She has had the AA man out and he couldn't find anything wrong with the car so she then took it to her local Fiat dealer (in UK) and with all their fancy-schmancy diagnostic equipment couldn't find any fault with it either.

The car has been serviced regularly and it passed the MOT yesterday as well so it's all very confusing.

Anyone here got any ideas what could be the cause? It's a 1.2 ELX if that makes any difference.

cheers.

Flat2dmat

Same was happening with my Honda, not saying it's definitely the problem but maybe someth to do with the connectors to the battery?when it cuts out, does the power go slowly or what happens exactly?
Could be altenator...

Check the http://www.fiatforum.com

There are sections for all models. Good search tool too. You'll need to know whether it's 8V or 16V engine, because afaik they have different engine management setup.

Edit. You'll also need more details, e.g. does it start immediately after cutting out, does the cutting out happen when slowing down (could be idle control issue or maybe MAP sensor) or does it cut out while driving constant speed (engine speed sensor, coil).

PS. Didn't check the site for you, above just top of my head.

WithCheesePlease

Same used to happen to an old Fiat Tipo I had years ago, was constantly cutting out. I'd be changing down to go around a corner and it'd cut out. Or approaching traffic lights or whatever else. I'd have drop it to second, put my foot on the clutch and hope the revs would kick it back into life again and rev the be-jesus out of it to get it moving again. Was my first car - learned some tricks from it!

But anyway - I can't remember exactly what it was at the time. I remember bringing back to the same mechanic repeatedly who was convinced it must have been something to do with the alternator. Then I brought it to a different mechanic who recommended I go to an auto electrician. I described what was happening to the auto electrician who then went and snipped and reconnected a wire and I never had the problem again! He didn't even charge me for it. I think it was just a faulty connection to the battery as Flat2dmat said.

Long story short - bring it to an auto electrician if you haven't already...

macnab

check the connection to the crankshaft position sensor.

keefg

gearoid_healy wrote: »

Same used to happen to an old Fiat Tipo I had years ago, was constantly cutting out. I'd be changing down to go around a corner and it'd cut out. Or approaching traffic lights or whatever else. I'd have drop it to second, put my foot on the clutch and hope the revs would kick it back into life again and rev the be-jesus out of it to get it moving again.

Long story short - bring it to an auto electrician if you haven't already...

This is exactly what's happening. I'll tell her to go to an electrician so.


Thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated.

aod2009

the battery is going down buy a new battry and she all right i have a 00 punto

colm_mcm

aod2009 wrote: »

the battery is going down buy a new battry and she all right i have a 00 punto

Unlikely, the OP hasn't mentioned anything about the car not starting.

keefg

colm_mcm wrote: »

Unlikely, the OP hasn't mentioned anything about the car not starting.

True Colm. Car starts fine first time every time it just cuts out when she stops at lights/junctions etc.

colm_mcm

I had a Punto with the same problem years ago, turned out to be a bad earth on the battery.

dsane1

I had the same problem with an uno ( long ago ) lol ,turned out to be dirt in the tank getting sucked into the fuel line and blocking it . Car cut out dirt flowed back into tank and she restarted again .Took a while to figure it out ,happens when you let the tank run low a lot .

Lex Luthor

Mk1 Puntos had issues with the coil packs

macroman

Could be any of the common Punto ailments.

• Oxygen Sensor/Lambda Probe - sending incorrect readings to ECU
• Coilpack - Punto's have two so it could either be one or both

If it's only doing it when warm I'd say that it's the Lambda probe at fault as it only takes readings when the engine warms up. Part is cheap enough, just you'll have to take it easy for a good few miles to allow the ECU to reconfigure itself.

Jixon

WithCheesePlease wrote: »

Same used to happen to an old Fiat Tipo I had years ago, was constantly cutting out. I'd be changing down to go around a corner and it'd cut out. Or approaching traffic lights or whatever else. I'd have drop it to second, put my foot on the clutch and hope the revs would kick it back into life again and rev the be-jesus out of it to get it moving again. Was my first car - learned some tricks from it!

But anyway - I can't remember exactly what it was at the time. I remember bringing back to the same mechanic repeatedly who was convinced it must have been something to do with the alternator. Then I brought it to a different mechanic who recommended I go to an auto electrician. I described what was happening to the auto electrician who then went and snipped and reconnected a wire and I never had the problem again! He didn't even charge me for it. I think it was just a faulty connection to the battery as Flat2dmat said.

Long story short - bring it to an auto electrician if you haven't already...

Have the same problem with 98 Fiat Punto, where would you find an Auto Electrician??

dgt

Jixon wrote: »

Have the same problem with 98 Fiat Punto, where would you find an Auto Electrician??

Try another crank sensor, that's what usually causes this