Sounds like a limp mode to me, happened to me on my GT (like you it would sort itself after 5-10mins), and every now and then it would come back until i got the garage to sort it.

In my case (the GT doesn't have a DPF, not sure about the Brera) the garage said it was the EGR, and when i got it back, it still ran a little lumpy, but since I've been filling up on the V-Power fuel, it's been fine.

I think the problem is that doing short journeys and not giving the engine enough rev's (50-60 in 6th) causes the EGR to clog up. I give mine a few rev's (once the engines warm) every now and then, and i haven't had the problem since.

 

Cheers V-Kash,

I had a feeling it could be that - I've only ad the car a month and was wondering if my journeys would produce conditions that could cause clogging etc. Seems it's an excuse to have a bit of fun every now and again!

I'll be topping up with V-Power tomorrow but it's mostly been run on supermarket fuel (though this tank has had a Shot of Miller's Eco-Max one-shot-boost to help clean it out.

Anyone from the Brera/159 fold that has had a similar experience?

 

sounds like limp mode, though you usually get a warning on the dash along the lines of "get engine checked". Or maybe that only comes up when you re start the engine. I can't remember, only had it once and it was a false alarm. But the acceleration/speed characteristics were very much as you describe.

 

Nah, no warning lights of any kind, even when I went back out to pick the missus up from work. I've since filled her up and added a double dose of Millers to be sure.

Hopefully this, and a bit more rev variety will keep from this happening again!

 

Little bit worried about the white smoke you describe... but the fact that it cleared without engine warning lights suggest it may be just a DPF regen like some peeps describe.

Have you checked the coolant recently?

J

 

maybe because of the freezing weather..when you start up the car comes a lot of hot air out of it in the first moments...

 

Not too sure about this, as it's been quite mild of late, and I'd already done about 8 miles when it happened

J - I haven't checked the coolant, but at no time did the temp gauge rise above the normal 90C. Also, it was my impression a DPF regen would happen over a course of quite a few miles, rather than an almost instant blast!!

 

Yeah me too... I would imagine that the regen would last a good 10 miles or so of hard(ish) driving...

Unfortunately temperature gauges can't always be trusted... I remember an old Rover 200 I had losing power and blastic a load of grey/white smoke out of the back and it turned out to be the head gasket letting go.. not wanting to scaremonger at all, but get the coolant checked and keep an eye on it.

With a bit of luck it was just a small regen and all will be fine.

J

 

Mine's been doing this over the last couple of days (although no white smoke). Most of my driving is in a high gear at low revs to save fuel, but I had my foot to the floor and is was barely accelerating. A few high revs seemed to clear it. I was starting to think the Mod4 was playing up since it's failed once before.

 

I just happened to check the oil with dip stick today and noticed the level was at minimum (the dashboard showed max!). I wander if this had anything to do with the sporadic power loss - maybe a protection thing kicking in as the low oil moved around. Have topped it up so will see how it goes.

 

Mine says 'max' on the dash as well - haven't checked the dipstick recently but I'll have a look. Not had any problems since that day though, touch wood!

 

i have a 2.4 jtdm 159 and i know from experience that it doesnt like sixth below 70 mph, drop down a gear or 2 and it will stop it getting clogged up and give you better mph.

 

If you get FES, it keeps a log of the DPF regen, i.e when the last one was done, and (I think) was it successful, average distance between regen, well worth getting, its a real handy tool

 

Whats FES?

 

I assume he means FiatECUScan, great software.