Alfa Romeo Repair: GTV 2001, 3L, Electrical Problem, negative battery cable, negative cable

Question
Hi,
I purchased the GTV new in 2001 and love it. But I have had an ongoing, intermittant electrical problem that the dealership has not been able to permanently fix:

Periodically when I go to start the car, the yellow "code" light on the dashboard does not turn off, and hence the car will not start (the car has been towed to the workshop three times).

There appears to be no pattern in the problem, sometimes the engine is warm having run perfectly all day. At other times it occurs at the start of the day.

The Auto electrican (Dave) at the Alfa dealership tells me that their computor diagnostic tool cannot identify what is wrong. Dave is a methodical guy and is slowly working his way through the car replacing relays and fuses etc, but so far no obvious problem / cure has been found.

The car is well maintained and I am the only driver.

Have you come across this sort of problem before? or have you any ideas on the cause?

cheers....Ton Hulsbosch

Answer
Do this now.  Disconnect the negative battery cable from the battery. Wait 10 minutes then touch the negative cable to the positive cable ( + cable still attached to battery) for 10 to 25 seconds then reattach the negative cable.

Now, if it fails again have the dealership tell you exactly what the diagnostic reader actually printed.

(If the code says high or low voltage there is a faulty plug {connector} probably at the sensor mentioned by the diagnostic code).