Help- has dealer sold me a nightmare Saxo

[difazio42]

Bought a Y reg Saxo Forte 1.1i, EML came on then lost power on motorway. RAC say its misfiring on 1 and 4 and its the ECM and will cost 1k+ to fix it. I am a woman and haven't got a clue with cars. Could he be wrong? He used a computer to diagnose this. The dodgy Russian dealer I bought it from will not give me my money back or answer my calls. It cost me £900, 62ks on clock and fairly good service hx. I thought I had a good deal but turning into a nightmare!!

[Bedford126]

Bought a Y reg Saxo Forte 1.1i, EML came on then lost power on motorway. RAC say its misfiring on 1 and 4 and its the ECM and will cost 1k+ to fix it. I am a woman and haven't got a clue with cars. Could he be wrong? He used a computer to diagnose this. The dodgy Russian dealer I bought it from will not give me my money back or answer my calls. It cost me £900, 62ks on clock and fairly good service hx. I thought I had a good deal but turning into a nightmare!!

Prob's just the coil pack not providing a spark to cylinders 1 an 4. With no spark to 1 and 4 the oxygen sensor will be throwing a spaz with all the unburnt fuel and oxygen and throwing your Eml on. Take it to a local garage with a good reputation and get them to have a look. Never listen to the rac men always get a second/ 3rd opinion.

[CJMackin]

Saying anything will cost 1k to fix on a saxo is a lie!

A whole engine would cost £100 round where i am, heck ive bought saxos for £150 lol, get it round to a different mechanic for a second oppinion

[difazio42]

thanks for your reply, the RAC man tried changing the coil pack but problem remained. It will drive but the light comes on again. Don't dare drive it on the motorway in case loses power again

[blackie_2k5]

did he actually change it or just remove it and try to fuck about with it

id aggree its more likely the coil pack

[difazio42]

he tried changing for a new coil pack with no joy. You guys are giving me hope here!!

[blackie_2k5]

at the roadside?

[Bedford126]

Where did he get the coil pack from at the side of the motorway they don't carry parts? I would be inclined to try a proven coil pack (one known to work) and to check the plugs make sure there in good condition.

[f13sta]

Prob's just the coil pack not providing a spark to cylinders 1 an 4. With no spark to 1 and 4 the oxygen sensor will be throwing a spaz with all the unburnt fuel and oxygen and throwing your Eml on. Take it to a local garage with a good reputation and get them to have a look. Never listen to the rac men always get a second/ 3rd opinion.



+1 to this. we get it all the time at work rac. AA, green flag give the report and normally has nothing to do with what they though it were.
for example.
renult megane lost all power and wouldn't start. the brake down chap couldn't find anything wrong.

the water pump and seized and shered the cambelt fucking the head had to have all 16 valves replaced. now anyone who knew even a little about cars would hear that it were spinning over too fast when trying to start it.

they are almost as bad a kwik fit :wacko:

but i agree with beford take it to a reputable garage and get them to plug into it with a proper diagnosis machine.

where about are you located?

[difazio42]

the first guy who came out to roadside didn't have one but said they always carry them usually, managed to get home and then the next day another RAC guy came out to my home and brought one with him, changed it and drove my car around the block said the light came on. He had it all hooked up to a diagnostic computer? I will do as you suggest and find a reputable mechanic / garage. Thank you for your replies

[difazio42]

I'm near Fareham in Hampshire

[NismoSteve]

Yes, don't panic. Parts are not expensive for these engines. Breakers yards are full of them. Just get it diagnosed correctly at a reputable garage (avoid main dealers as they will try and relieve you of your hard earned)
They are generally reliable cars when the electric gremlins aren't playing tricks. Keep your chin up and let us know how you get on.

[vinnie_long]

drop a vts lump in it :) problem solved and it will cost less than 1k haha

[sam_16v]

can get a good 16v lump for £100-£200

[Prickle]

This lass has no idea whats wrong with her car.

"stick a 16v in m8"

Honestly..

[f13sta]

I'm near Fareham in Hampshire

ah right if you were closer i would have suggested bringing it to us but your miles away lol.

as people have said if it does turn out to need an ecu then unlocked ones are very cheap and saves changing the ignition key

[lhessey]

i was driving earlier and i could smell petrol really strongly so i pulled over and shut engine off popped bonnet and there was fuel everywhere, obviously i didnt want to start it again and i have an RAC membership so i rang them to come recover me too my house.. he had a look when he turned up and told me the injector o rings didnt even exsist anymore haha, i wasnt impressed but yeah got it home and had a proper look the fuel line that goes too the fuel rail was split at the end i cut the end off and attached it back with a jubilee clip problem solved.. i dont know where the RAC get there shit from ;)

[stevo67]

These RAC AA,Green flag people should just stick to towing people home rather than making out they`re mechanics.I had an old Metro that wouldn`t start the AA came out & told me it was a faulty immobilser he looked at me in disbelief when I told I didn`t have one.

[saxo-parts]

These RAC AA,Green flag people should just stick to towing people home rather than making out they`re mechanics.I had an old Metro that wouldn`t start the AA came out & told me it was a faulty immobilser he looked at me in disbelief when I told I didn`t have one.

+1 got to love the recovery boys, they really do make hard work of everything, think they work on the lines of its not a wire loose,out of fuel or a flat battery they have to come out with loads of techno-shite to baffle the customer

[Barry123]

ah right if you were closer i would have suggested bringing it to us but your miles away lol.

as people have said if it does turn out to need an ecu then unlocked ones are very cheap and saves changing the ignition key

I suppose I can help out being based in Guildford. I've got a lexia, so we pull off the ECU fault codes and either confirm and contrast with what the RAC chappies were saying.

At worst it won't cost a lot of money to fix anyways. Hate seeing people pay over the odds for easy things.

[johnr32]

+1 got to love the recovery boys, they really do make hard work of everything, think they work on the lines of its not a wire loose,out of fuel or a flat battery they have to come out with loads of techno-shite to baffle the customer

Its not even that mate, sometimes they just give a diagonsis without checking anything! had a boost pipe pop off on a friends's evo and they diagonosed it as dead turbo.

To the OP whats the condition of the spark plugs?

[saxovtsmad]

go back the garage and mention the words trading standards

[difazio42]

thank you so much for your help all of you. I've got someone nearby who is going to run some diagnostic tests on it for free and will tell me whats, what then I'll go from there. Really appreciate your advice

[Bedford126]

thank you so much for your help all of you. I've got someone nearby who is going to run some diagnostic tests on it for free and will tell me whats, what then I'll go from there. Really appreciate your advice

Give us a shout when you find out what's wrong or the error codes on the ecu and i am sure some one on here will know the problem and will be happy to help with the parts needed to fix the problem.

[DundeeUnited]

1k lol

[johnr32]

1k lol

more than most saxos on this site..:homme:

[Cam]

1k lol

Another helpful post from you :homme:

[difazio42]

Hi guys, managed to get the car to the garage and he didn't do the diagnostics as he looked at the fault codes the RAC man wrote down and said. 99.9% of time its the ECU because of water damage and that the coil pack will need changing too. He said he would send the ecu away for checking and if faulty they would send a replacement and he would also send off for coil pack. With fitting and all in will cost £450 which I can't afford. I thought that if I could send the ECU myself to a reputable company and get it checked and replaced it might be cheaper and then get a coil pack to then get a reliable local mobile mechanic to fit them. The fault codes are P0300 random multiple missfire, P0304 cylinder 1 missfire, p0301cylinder 4 missfire. Do you know of any reputable cheap company I can send the ECU to. Many thanks for your help guys

[darrenh84]

this may sound dumb...but cant u remove the stuff you need from a scrappie at a fraction of the cost ?

[Barry123]

difazio42, I'd heed darrenh84's advice and look at a second hand option. If an ECU is faulty, it's usually rather difficult to source the problem and fix (I could be a single resistor, or it could be a chip on the board, but it is the testing which takes time, and there's no guarantee that there is just a single fault within the ECU). The 1.1i was a popular model of the saxo and so many appear scrapyards up and down the country. Provided you get an ecu from the same 'version/phase' (there are two phases of the 1.1), you just need it unlocked. Plug it in and away you go.

On a side note for anyone else reading, does RyanMT do ECU unlocking for 1.1 ECUs?

[difazio42]

Give us a shout when you find out what's wrong or the error codes on the ecu and i am sure some one on here will know the problem and will be happy to help with the parts needed to fix the problem.

thanks Barry123 how do you get it unlocked?

[Barry123]

I can clear the codes on your ecu, that might restore it back to health, chances are the errors will return but it's a start - replacing the coil pack would be the first thing you should do though. Once that's replaced you should have the fault codes cleared, either by a garage or a friendly saxp'er. In theory it should behave, as the codes are coming up as coil pack related.

Regarding unlocking, this is assuming your ECU is fried (I doubt it though). I don't know the process sadly, all I can do is read and clear error codes, that's about it. The reason you need to unlock an ecu is because they are set to work on one vehicle only, this is for theft reasons. By taking an ecu from another car, and then unlocking it, that ecu will work then with your car.

There is a chap on here that can unlock ecu's. It might be worth private messaging him to find out costs once you've tried the coil pack and reset. RyanMT I believe.

Cheers,

[f13sta]

most of the time you can get away with the. removing the blackbox while running to unlock the ecu.

tbf i highly doubt that the ecu has water damage if that were the case the actual thing would be fubar.

more likely the coilpack is breaking down. iirc they are coilpack and ht leads not the sigle item.

so just like the ford zetec se engine they are common as dog crap for coil pack due to them being constantly energized and due to where they are (up high where all the heat is.)

also check the ht lead could be that it is arcing out down the line.

[Cam]

I can unlock ecu's aswell...,

[difazio42]

Just to let you all you helpful guys know that I sent the ECU off to the ECU doctor and there was nothing wrong with it. Got a new coil pack fitted and voila it's running like a dream. Nightmare over and I have a nice little car to run around in. It seems that the RAC put in a coil pack that was either damaged or as the chap who fitted it for me was not put on correctly /snuggly. Can't believe they can be so bad. I got the coil pack from a mates husband who works in car parts for £22. To think that the RAC were going to charge me £100 if they had got it to work, and as they didn't suggested it was gonna cost me 1k. Madness. Anyway thanks for all the helpful advice!!