Fiat Springs

[Lazarus]

Not the usual kind of topic hereabouts, but it might be of interest to some.

SWMBO and I have his and hers Fiat Grande Puntos and I took mine for its MoT this am.

Four years old and only 18k on t'clock.

Failed ............ front coil spring broken 'O'-red

Immediate thought: "So**ing Council and their inadequate/absent pothole repairs"

Asked to see the offending item and it is clear it has been broken for a long time. The good news being, I suppose, that such a failure doesn't seem to result in catastrophe.

The bad news is that I checked the Interweb thingy after I got home in their beaten up Courtesy Car, and it seems this is not uncommon on Fiats of 2006 vintage.

So, you have been warned!

Obviously normal Sod's Law applies in that they fail just after the Warranty is up.

Yours, slightly poorer, but infinitely safer

Gordon

 

[sonnetpete]

Well, you are no doubt reassured that Fiat build quality allows you to drive along quite happily without undue danger to life and limb. Though, perhaps those potholes weren't quite as bad as they seemed, given the lack of suspension?

Is it compulsory to have Italian marque cars in your family? Shame you couldn't have persuaded the OH towards a Ferrari or Maserati.

BTW, saw the thread title and wondered if it was a newly founded Australian town!

 

[Lazarus]

BTW, saw the thread title and wondered if it was a newly founded Australian town!

Not at all - it was based upon that classic ode "Fiat springs eternal in a young man's heart"

 

[pgh13]

I've had 2 cars have front springs break over the years.... first was a Mk1 Cavalier which came to light at the MOT. The spring had broken in the first coil so basically the last 3 inches and the loose bit was held captive in the seat. The second was more dramatic on a 406 which dropped the broken end of the spring onto the brake disk. Thankfully it happened as I reversed off the drive and not while doing 70+

 

[Lazarus]

Ouch!

Mine was the former .......... I have the broken bit in my hand right now.

No effect on handling at all, at least not that I noticed.

 

[Analoguesat]

Its a common problem on '99 era Fiestas as well - Ive broken both fronts and one rear in 3 years. In each case the spring has shattered at the top of the first coil so the upper case has held everything firmly in place. I suspected there was summat awry at the back - when we went away on holiday recently the loaded car was definitely low on the passenger side.

The garage tells me its poor quality spring steel to blame

Had to have both the passenger side springs done for its mot yesterday - and with a steering track rod plus both front discs needing replacing Im looking forward to a hefty bill.

 

[Lazarus]

Poor quality, yes.

Penny piching at manufacture to sustain a meaty after-market in Parts/Labour ............

Still, your Fiesta Fiasco makes me feel slightly better (relatively!)

 

[PaulR]

I've driven cars for forty years without a coil spring breaking. Leaf springs - yes, coil springs - no.

Until this year.

The Xsara (2001 vintage) went in for its MOT earlier this year and a broken coil spring, just on the bottom coil, was noted It was bitterly cold at the time and, as I was also running out of spare time, we asked the garage to repace it - which they did. Then, three weeks ago my wife had to be trailered back with another broken coil spring - this time on the opposite side of course. Unfortunately, as the coil had splintered off it had pierced the sidewall of the tyre with consequent catastrophic deflation. All at parking speed luckily.

When I got to work on it I discovered that the spring had broken twice; firstly on the bottom coil and then in the centre - which had caused all the damage. The first break was quite old as the ends were rusty so it makes me wonder how long it had been broken. Was it broken at MOT time, one wonders.

The job wasn't too bad as the weather was good and it was soon replaced. The tyre was a write-off, of course, but replacement was only about £12 as I buy Viking or Gislaved tyres which have a lifetime guarantee. You only pay for the thread thats worn; it's the same as the Esso tyre guarantee from years ago. This must be the third time that I've had to have a tyre replaced on this car and paid significantly less than full price - once the tyre was virtually unworn and replaced completely FOC.

 

[PaulR]

I've broken both fronts and one rear in 3 years.

That's because they haven't heard of tarmacadam up there and still make roads out of boulders.

 

[Analoguesat]

Lol. Unfortunately the bad winter played merry hell with the road surfaces around here. years of poor quality patching and general underinvestment in road repairs were rapidly undone in just a few weeks as the ice ripped old patches apart in a matter of days.

 

[Lazarus]

Same same here.

They closed our main access lane for 5 days to repair entire stretch.

When it re-opened, they'd done no more than half of it, and what they had done was simply appalling. Still is.

Just been to collect the victim and am now £168 (which includes the MoT, fortunately!) poorer.

£50 for a Spring, £17 for a Drop Link (not had time to Google that yet) , but a pretty reasonable £31 labour.

 

[T_G]

Citroen Berlingo, late 2000 model, same thing. Apparently happens a lot with them as well.
On the other hand, my 1976 Porsche 924 (basically a Volkswagen) which I drive every day no matter what weather, went through the MOT without anything for the last 4 years...go figure...and there I was thinking that materials used for car production have improved over the years.

 

[Lazarus]

Well I've just had another failure .................... same Coil Spring position (Front Offside) but on our other Punto Grande.

I suspect it broke at the end of March last year, a couple of weeks after it's MoT (Proving that an MoT is completely meaningless apart from the moment it is issued!) as there was a sudden loud clunk whilst driving back from a week's holiday. and a few miles later on a noise consistent with a chunk of metal falling onto the road. I suspect the bottom part of the coil parted and the broken-off bit sat for a while in the cup before finally being dislodged.

Since then, although it has driven well, there has been a thunk noise whilst steering at almost stationary speeds.

Took it for MoT yesterday and they confirmed it was bust, so that's booked in for repair tomorrow.

My Garage blames the Chinese.

 

[2cvbloke]

Might be time to invest in a Honda or two...

 

[Analoguesat]

Forgotten about this thread. The black 99 Fiesta finally expired with yet another broken front spring (the jaggy bit being an inch above the front tyre!), and the garage told me he didnt dare jack the car up even on the ramps for repairs - it was completely rotten underneath and all the repairs it needed was going to cost more than it was worth.

So that MOT failure cost me 4 grand for a new(er) bloody car!

 

[Lazarus]

@2CV: I don't think my budgie will stretch that far! Two Cars each owned for seven years and apart from Tyres, I've forked out in total for two Coil Springs, one second-hand Alternator and a MAP sensor.

Never had them "professionally" serviced.

Running costs really quite decent.

 

[Lazarus]

@AS: Ah, well, you see - Fiat used to have an awful reputation for corrosion, but not anymore!

 

[2cvbloke]

@2CV: I don't think my budgie will stretch that far!

Plenty on ebay for less than a grand, older models, but tend to be pretty darned reliable, and more fun to drive cos you don't have to worry about snapping cheap italian springs...

 

[Piltdownpaul]

I generally fit a spring a week -a few weeks ago we fitted 4 in a week, vauxhall rears seems favourite,corsas especially, golf front springs break regularly with the usual twang when the steering is turned,but ive never fitted one to the front of an Audi A4,they seem to unbreakable. No doubt tomorrow morning i'll have one in. The renault laguna mk2 front spring used to jump over the lip of the shock absorber and puncture the tyre. Makes you wonder if its cheap grade recycled steel or just the poor roads in general. Keeps me in a job though.

 

[Analoguesat]

We ended up with a 2008 Fiesta - and its a complete heap of crap. The build quality isnt good, the fuel economy is woeful and I certainly wont be having another Fiesta.