[srivatsahg]

Hello

Yesterday evening, On my way back from my native my Punto 90MJD just completely shut off. Fortunately I was near a toll booth at the time I was doing nothing more than 20km/hr on Bangalore Pune Highway. Luckily there were few good people who were able to push my car to the side of the road without getting rear ended by another vehicle. Such sudden loss of power on a highway would surely have resulted in an unfortunate event.

The vehicle just gave insufficient oil pressure warning and conked off abruptly. I tried starting it but it just didn't advance past the cranking sound. As my vehicle didn't give any other sort of warning, no smoke under the bonnet, no oil leak, no engine overheating warning, I opened the hood and checked for oil level with the dipstick and found it was nothing out of ordinary. The oil level was just OK. The lower flat part of the dipstick was well coated with oil soot mix.

After 10 minutes, I tried turning the ignition key ON and now the MID was showing Engine, Oil leak and Battery lights ON. Without waiting, I called up a towing guy. As I was with my family and on top, it was dark and raining. I thought it was best to get my car towed back home and then think about what went wrong.

So here I am asking all T-BHPians to assist me before I make a call and go to FIAT ASC.

• My vehicle has done ~87000 kms.
• Last service done at ~65000 with all the clutch and timing belt replacement made as per FIAT recommendation for 60K service.

My worst fear is the FIAT ASC simply looting me in the name of Engine replacement. etc with a huge bill estimate.

I thought of getting an OBD scan done before taking it to the FIAT ASC so that I would have some proof to argue with them if they tell me otherwise.

Please please respond asap
Thanks in advance

[.anshuman]

My 2009 Punto 75 hp faced a similar breakdown on highway. The issue was traced to a fuel pipe leading to fuel filter left loose due to negligence of mechanics at Tata Fiat service station. The car had been for service just before the breakdown.

[DRIV3R]

Yes, please get a OBD scan done before sending it to the workshop, but do not clear any errors present.

Did the car go over any water logged roads recently?

Did the car take any underbody impact?

If answer is no to the above, I guess it can be anything simple like a faulty oil pressure switch. Could you post a pic of the dipstick here?

Even with a faulty oil pressure sensor, the car should crank from what I know, I sense something else has gone wrong somewhere.

What was the driving style before this happened?

[srivatsahg]

Originally Posted by DRIV3R

Yes, please get a OBD scan done before sending it to the workshop, but do not clear any errors present.

Did the car go over any water logged roads recently?

Did the car take any underbody impact?

If answer is no to the above, I guess it can be anything simple like a faulty oil pressure switch. Could you post a pic of the dipstick here?

Even with a faulty oil pressure sensor, the car should crank from what I know, I sense something else has gone wrong somewhere.

What was the driving style before this happened?

Well I just drove in the rains but not in the water logged areas.

No underbody impact AFAIK.

Sure I will post the dipstick pic shortly

Originally Posted by .anshuman

My 2009 Punto 75 hp faced a similar breakdown on highway. The issue was traced to a fuel pipe leading to fuel filter left loose due to negligence of mechanics at Tata Fiat service station. The car had been for service just before the breakdown.

Well Anshuman, in that case I don't understand the reason it showed "Insufficient Oil Pressure" warning on the MID.

[kpzen]

From all the symptoms mentioned, it seems to be an electrical issue.
Some more symptoms and pics would help here.

After waiting for a while, did you crank the engine ?

Have you done 22000 kms after the last service ? or is that typo ?

[srivatsahg]

I'm attaching the picture of the oil dipstick reading. Mods please excuse my one liner response

[drsingh]

Originally Posted by srivatsahg

Well Anshuman, in that case I don't understand the reason it showed "Insufficient Oil Pressure" warning on the MID.

If you stall the car, the MID shows this message sometimes. Its a well known glitch of the MJD.

Like mentioned above, such sudden loss points to fuel cut off. A faulty switch, fuel line etc., clogged injectors? ( unlikely).

If the dealership doesn't give you a satisfactory explanation, I'd suggest you shoot an email to FIAT and get their engineers involved. Being the national engine, you could also have a competent independent garage take a look. My FNG just replaced the Turbo on a Fiat Linea and overhauled the gearbox using OEM spares.

[srivatsahg]

Originally Posted by kpzen

From all the symptoms mentioned, it seems to be an electrical issue.
Some more symptoms and pics would help here.

After waiting for a while, did you crank the engine ?

Have you done 22000 kms after the last service ? or is that typo ?

It is not a typo, My car was due for a service. And I thought I would give it for service after returning back from my Diwali holiday. Is this the only reason sufficient for FIAT ASC to shrug off entire responsibility and put the blame entirely on me.

[GTO]

Definitely seems like a fuel delivery issue, if the car was working absolutely fine just before it stalled.

When was the last time the diesel filter was changed? It could be something as simple as a clogged fuel filter, the problem only exacerbated due to bad quality diesel from a highway pump. If not the filter, then something else in the fuel delivery system.

Going forward, PLEASE service your car on time. You're abusing it by overshooting service intervals. I'm hardly surprised that your car broke down & left you stranded.

[sidindica]

Originally Posted by srivatsahg

It is not a typo, My car was due for a service. And I thought I would give it for service after returning back from my Diwali holiday. Is this the only reason sufficient for FIAT ASC to shrug off entire responsibility and put the blame entirely on me.

The diesel filter has to be changed every 15000 kms, impurities take a toll on the filter after a point of time. I make a point not to stretch beyond 15k kms. The selenia oil cannot withstand 22k kms, period. Its an oil which completely loses viscosity after merely 10k kms. I use synthetic oil, and change every 7.5-9k kms depending the usage.
Take the car to the Fiat ASC and get it diagnosed. Still, 7k kms of overshoot of service intervals is too much for a diesel engine to bear, esp with the complex VGT.

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by srivatsahg

It is not a typo, My car was due for a service. And I thought I would give it for service after returning back from my Diwali holiday. Is this the only reason sufficient for FIAT ASC to shrug off entire responsibility and put the blame entirely on me.

Recommended service interval is 1 year or 15000 kms, whichever comes first. You have overshot the service interval by almost 50%. It is more than sufficient reason for FIAT ASC to shrug off entire responsibility and put the blame entirely on you.

From your post, I am unable to make out, so asking - did you try to start the car even once after it stopped? All you are saying is that you tried turning the ignition key ON and now the MID was showing Engine, Oil leak and Battery lights ON. AFAIK, this is normal behaviour.

[srivatsahg]

Originally Posted by GTO

Definitely seems like a fuel delivery issue, if the car was working absolutely fine just before it stalled.

When was the last time the diesel filter was changed? It could be something as simple as a clogged fuel filter, the problem only exacerbated due to bad quality diesel from a highway pump. If not the filter, then something else in the fuel delivery system.

Going forward, PLEASE service your car on time. You're abusing it by overshooting service intervals. I'm hardly surprised that your car broke down & left you stranded.

Yes, I agree that was a mistake on my part to prolong the time of servicing. Vecto motors Mysore Road, had informed me that my next service was due on 90,000 kms. I took that for granted without bothering to re-check the manual.

Originally Posted by drsingh

If you stall the car, the MID shows this message sometimes. Its a well known glitch of the MJD.

Like mentioned above, such sudden loss points to fuel cut off. A faulty switch, fuel line etc., clogged injectors? ( unlikely).

If the dealership doesn't give you a satisfactory explanation, I'd suggest you shoot an email to FIAT and get their engineers involved. Being the national engine, you could also have a competent independent garage take a look. My FNG just replaced the Turbo on a Fiat Linea and overhauled the gearbox using OEM spares.

The vehicle starts intermittently but I can hear the engine rattle. I don't want to end up cooking up the engine assembly.

[sidindica]

First thing first, call Fiat roadside assistance and tell them your problem. They will send a technician within an hour max and have the competency to identify the problem at First place. Do not start the vehicle till they give a green signal. This can cause more harm to the ancillaries.
From the dipstick I can already see the oil deteriorated.

[srivatsahg]

Update :
I called up FIAT RSA. They sent a Rescue Personnel guy who inspected the vehicle, cranked up and after observing the rattling noise from the engine compartment he straightaway told to get the vehicle towed to the nearest showroom. And they will be able to relay more on the issue once they open up the engine compartment.

Should I be more concerned ? Please let me know what sort of surprises can I expect.
Things to bear in mind before the ASC guys open up the engine.

[akshay4587]

22000kms since the last service?
How can you?

I have had a detailed discussion with Fiat guys regarding oils and filters.
UFI fuel filter can easily be used for upto 20K kms without any issues.
But that Selenia oil is no good beyond 10K kms.
I am not sure, but it can be timing chain snap as well, symptoms point out to it.
You are at fault here, so you cannot go running after Fiat. Just pray that its not something major.