Lol i know the moral of this story.

If something breaks or isn't working fix it right then and there! Don't just think oh il look at it in a few weeks when ive got this and this done, because by then you will have forgotton what the hell you did which made it break or stop working!


Im learning this moral right at the minute with my car...Engine malfunction warning light came up but engine is running sweet as a nut... methinks argh too busy i don't want to know whats wrong with my car its going to be too expensive to fix an electrical malfunction in a modern car.... 2 weeks later airbag failure warning light  - now i know theres no way to test that the airbag is going to work  . Now though i can't think what the hell happened the day the engine malfunction light came up.... car goes to garage on thursday to have fault codes read. B£$(*%)D f%$king ELECTRONIC CRAP ARGHHH!

If there is one wonderful thing about teaching at a new high school is having access to the shop and all of its toys, including the computer which reads all of those horrid error codes.

Quote from: brown.rw on November 24, 2007, 09:20:01 AM
If there is one wonderful thing about teaching at a new high school is having access to the shop and all of its toys, including the computer which reads all of those horrid error codes.

I would love to have that at my disposal, then i could work on my car myself, i hate it ive always had bikes and diagnosed and fixed every problem on my own and sourced my own parts. Now i have to leave my car in the hands of someone who could quite possible rip me off because i don't know them and don't have the resources to diagnose the problem myself.

I could spend a fortune and buy the diagnostic equipment off ebay but then id be out either way.

>Kasumi:
As for your car issue, I remember you looking some time ago at a supermini like mine on eBay.
Did you end up buying that?
If so, the engine light may mean nothing. I used to have an engine diagnostic light come out once or twice on my old one (now gone), but it was nothing to worry about.

In the end i bought a 2003 53' plate Fiat Punto Sporting 1.4 16v. Light metallic blue.

Car was immaculate inside, had a small dent from something falling on it on the front drivers side wheel arch panel (near bonnet lid) but it will push out with my thumb if i can be bothered to get to it (its not serious) and a small scuff from a curb on the passenger side front body work but you can't see it unless you get down on ur knees so im not fussed about that, plus i may repaint it one day.

However mechanically she ran perfectly, i must have put on 500 miles before i got the warning light come up, it doesn't got away it warns me everytime i start the car, however it isn't a warning which requires you to sorta stop using the car its just telling you something isnt functioning at 100% i thought maybe injectors so ive been running injector cleaner in the fuel but no luck there, but the engine runs fine and no difference in fuel consumption since the light came on so i can't think its anything serious its just a sensor failure somewhere so i was leaving it till i had the funds to take it to a garage a risk getting ripped off for something but the airbag light has come on now, and i have no way to check that it is actually going to work in an accident so i can't risk driving it for weeks and weeks until i take it to get fixed i just have to bite the bullet. Im hoping to find an independant garage through a good friend who i can trust to do the work.

I miss my bike so badly i hate having to rely on other people to fix it because of the complex electronics technology, i mean even if i found a problem and fixed it i would have to take it into a garage and pay to have all the fault codes read and reset. Plus these big dealerships don't care if they lose your buisness so they have no problem risking selling you parts and hours of labour you dont need (plus labor been super high from main dealers) so im trying to find an independant guy who really will value my custom and hope i go back in the future and thus no rip me off.

^^^^^^^^^^
Ok, so it's not that same you spotted on eBay, I wonder...
'03, 1.4 litre...it has to be Mark II facelift, with the 100-ish hp 1.4 Fire engine. right?
I don't know about engine/airbag related failures, maybe I can take a look on the Web and try and see if this is a known/serious issue on these cars.
Above all, they're reputed as reliable little cars. Finish has still to be improved (they're not VW's, after all) but engine and electronics I don't think are likely to let you down.
The only known-to-me problem about the "Fire" engine family is the head gasket, it may blow off after 100000 kms or so (60000-ish mi). Experienced it on my former one (1200 8-valves 60 hp) , it's a common flaw of theirs.
I hope that story won't repeat itself on my other one, my current transportation (same 1200 but 16v 80 hp).
Hopefully too, things may have changed on your 1.4 engine. Just be careful and don't flatfoot the gas pedal till the water temp needle leaves the C.

(Curious how on a bike model-specific forum we have a different bike but share the (almost) same (uncommon) car... hehe)

Hehe. Its very similar to the one i saw on ebay i think (cant remember what i showed you)

I got the mark III the one before they fased them all out for the new style grande punto.

Yep 1.4 16v 100hp exactly.

Im reasonably impressed with the finish, most things look well cared for etc... the plastic trim in the cabin looks a little cheap in some places but its ok im more in it for the driving experience. I would be able to forgive the downfalls such as slightly poor feedback through the steering wheel and quality (possibly) if it ran right. I bought a car for the winter so i could get to where i wanted to be quick and easy and not risk wrecking my zxr in an icy crash but so far the car is just annoying me. I always defended everything about riding and one big thing was it was so much cheaper to ride than to drive regardless of what everyone said to me about the money i spend on tyres on my bike and stuff but in this one incident im spending a fortune on my car already, plus what i forked out for ridiculous insurance!!!!! I payed £300 for TPFT on a motorcycle capable of doing 0-60 in the blink of an eye and go all the way up to 150mph, yet im paying $1500 for TPFT ( i can't afford full comp even though i want it on my expensive car) for a car which does 0-60 in a reasonable time and goes to 130mph given a long period of streight road. (or nearly the whole airfield where i tested it lol. It makes no real sense to me (i know the logic behind it) wish it was cheaper! Just want my car fixed then id be happy without forking out for alot of expensive work that i could probably do myself if i had the resources.

It's the same old story with insurance companies...
Few 400 cc bikes --> fewer accidents --> lower insurance prices
MANY more 100 hp hot-hatches --> MANY more young drunk reckless drivers --> MANY more accidents --> MUCH higher insurance prices. (It works the same here, too)
BTW, I'd say not to worry about the warning lights coming on while you drive. It should be an easy and known-by-mechanics fix, just a faulty connection somewhere or a CPU reset needed for some trivial reason. Keep us informed.


Back to topic () I'd agree with what many folks said. It should be nothing major, maybe the OP fell by hazard into some false neutral somewhere, I'm no mechanic but I heard about this many times, and also about N being hard to find during a stop.
I fell into false neutral a very few times maybe, but I know it can happen, especially when being a new rider (like I am )..sometimes it's hard to remember what gear we're into at a given time. I am doubtful, too, about the possibility of being able to jump from 1st, say, to 3rd on a motorcycle gearshift.
And I'm also respectfully skeptical about 1st to 4th...I'm pretty sure my GS would stall altogether If I tried to do that
As sledge suggests, troubleshoot simple things first