Fiat Springs

PaulR

Dazed and Confused Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jun 28, 2003
Messages
18,023
Reaction score
4,046
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
-----------See sig-----------
My Location
Wirral, NW UK and Vaucluse, France.
There have been rumblings here of going the other way - Starting later than 3 years old and also extending the gap between tests.
That's been talked about for years now. Unsurprisingly the motor trade is dead set against this and they're playing the safety card to try to stop it.
 

Captain Jack

Burnt out human
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
11,797
Reaction score
7,980
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See signature
My Location
North Somerset
It's at this point I would like to point out the superiority of my C5's hydraulic suspension...

I know people with the new C5s. Lovely engines (especially that 2.2L twin-turbo HDI) and a nice place to sit in in its fully loaded form.

Shame about the dodgy electrics .... and the hydraulic suspension woes..
 

PaulR

Dazed and Confused Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jun 28, 2003
Messages
18,023
Reaction score
4,046
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
-----------See sig-----------
My Location
Wirral, NW UK and Vaucluse, France.
I know people with the new C5s. Lovely engines (especially that 2.2L twin-turbo HDI) and a nice place to sit in in its fully loaded form.
Indeed. 170 odd BHP makes for a very civilised tourer. And the top spec ones still have the hydraulic suspension fortunately.

Shame about the dodgy electrics ...
Another myth. ALL modern cars have more electrical trickery in them to go wrong.

... and the hydraulic suspension woes..
Certainly not for me. I got my car with about 80,000 on the clock. It's now on 196,000 and I've not touched the hydaulics except to check the fluid level - which has always remained good. Another myth propagated by those not able, or at least willing, to understand them.
 

Captain Jack

Burnt out human
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
11,797
Reaction score
7,980
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See signature
My Location
North Somerset
Fair enough. Never owned Citroens so cannot comment on the suspension but have always owned Peugeots (2x 406's in the past and now the 407 with the said 2.2 HDI engine). Under the bonnet stuff is the same as Citroens and I've never really had any problems. Though, I do feel that Citroens are less well built than Pugs.

With PSA cars, you can get PP2000 interface from eBay for £70 and it will give you dealer level diagnostics - an absolute life saver.

I think PSA cars share some underpinnings with Fiats as well.
 

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
27,078
Reaction score
8,664
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
Anyway, back to Fiat Springs ..................

Half-hour job. A ton the lot, inc. Coil, Drop Link, Labour and VAT.

Overall maintenance costs (inc. Servicing) have been under £100 per year on both our Punti.

They're now worth very little so I think we will run one of them until it can go no further and probably replace the other next year.

I've decided against precautionary Cam Belt changes as I've heard too many stories of poor quality replacement including being a notch or two out on timing, failing to replace tensioner etc.

And when all is said and done, the Fiat 1.2 8v Petrol Engine is a non-interference design, so a snapped belt is an inconvenience, not a disaster.
 

PaulR

Dazed and Confused Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jun 28, 2003
Messages
18,023
Reaction score
4,046
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
-----------See sig-----------
My Location
Wirral, NW UK and Vaucluse, France.
With PSA cars, you can get PP2000 interface from eBay for £70 and it will give you dealer level diagnostics - an absolute life saver.

I think PSA cars share some underpinnings with Fiats as well.
The PP2000 is for Peugeots only, the Citroen uses the same hardware but with Lexia software. Both of those have now been superseded for the modern cars by Diagbox. I have a Lexia for mine and wholeheartedly agree that it's vital and is treated as an essential part of my toolbox.
I think that some of the vans are Fiats. The C Zero is a Mitsubishi I believe.
 

PaulR

Dazed and Confused Admin
Staff member
Joined
Jun 28, 2003
Messages
18,023
Reaction score
4,046
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
-----------See sig-----------
My Location
Wirral, NW UK and Vaucluse, France.

Captain Jack

Burnt out human
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
11,797
Reaction score
7,980
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See signature
My Location
North Somerset
The PP2000 is for Peugeots only, the Citroen uses the same hardware but with Lexia software. Both of those have now been superseded for the modern cars by Diagbox.
Yep, Lexia for Cits (use that on my mum's C4), though I cannot stand Diagbox. It's very slow on my old laptop and looks very Fisher Price-like.

Tccch. Trying to take this thread off-topic...

:oops:
 

simonutd

New Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2014
Messages
8
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Age
43
My Satellite Setup
Sky HD,
My Location
UK
Worth checking here

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/

If its a common fault, they generally recall them and change or repair the fault, I have an Audi A4 Quattro and I had a problem where the revs kept going high and my local garage said check on there as he had seen the problem before and Audi had recalled them to be fixed, mine hadn't been done so I took it in and they replaced the parts,
 

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
27,078
Reaction score
8,664
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
So this finally got the better of me.

Notwithstanding the various Spring failures recounted above, one of our Punti also had a noisy offside front top-mount whose occasional twanging was little more than a "characteristic" for a few years.

However, during a Bank Holiday jaunt deep into the North Yorkshire Moors, the noise changed to something more sinister.

Inspection revealed that the lower support cup for the spring had collapsed and was leaning dramatically down at the leading edge.

Took it for a new Strut and top-mount (Daft not to replace it as the suspension was dismantled anyway and the part was £20) and promptly px'd the car for a brand new one! Cost £182 all in.

Despite a 20% discount on the new motor, I also got £300 over book price for the old one, so am fairly happy, overall.

Interestingly, my dealer said they would now replace the other side before selling it on, on the basis that the corrosion and pothole impact induced degradation was likely to have similarly affected the near-side assembly. I didn't think this necessarily followed, but whilst recovering the nearly-new front tyres to put on our other Punto, I checked and there is already a corrosion hole in the cup.

I put this down to virulent cow poo.
 

Captain Jack

Burnt out human
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
11,797
Reaction score
7,980
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See signature
My Location
North Somerset
Is the new car a Punto?
 

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
27,078
Reaction score
8,664
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
Yep. Same model, updated.

Excellent vehicle overall - spring failures are common on all types of vehicle around here, so not unique to Fiat!
 
A

archive10

Guest
Hmm. Have had VW Passats for 7 years, never had anything changed but oil, tyres, and brakes. (And a door, but that was courtesey of kind fellow driver reversing into my car at the company parking lot.)

SWMBO had a Fiat Panda, and within the 3 years she had it, we changed steering components multiple times, rear-door lock-and-handle, and complete windscreen wiper system that had dislogded itself one morning after wipers froze on particularly cold night. And she only does around 10K kilometers per year...

I know the Passat is three times the price of the Panda, but it just so much less of a hassle.
And if I can choose - German cars it is. Ordnung muss sein.
 

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
27,078
Reaction score
8,664
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
But perhaps you don't live in an area with agricultural (in every respect) roads that pummel the hell out of even the Tractors ...................
 

skomedal

Regular Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Messages
2,108
Reaction score
2,112
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
This and that
My Location
thule
But perhaps you don't live in an area with agricultural (in every respect) roads that pummel the hell out of even the Tractors ...................

Bit off topic!

Would you be referring to a Fred Dibnah type steam traction engine that frequented rural england in bygone days?

430_1-m.jpg.png

Regards
 

Attachments

  • 220px-Traction_engine_exedon_lad.jpg
    220px-Traction_engine_exedon_lad.jpg
    8.8 KB · Views: 21
Last edited:
A

archive10

Guest
But perhaps you don't live in an area with agricultural (in every respect) roads that pummel the hell out of even the Tractors ...................
True. But then the Fiat failings are even more spectacular!
 

Captain Jack

Burnt out human
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
11,797
Reaction score
7,980
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
See signature
My Location
North Somerset
I like Fiats. The ex had a Panda and it was OK reliability wise, though it did have issues with leaking fuel, which stank the cabin to high heaven. I also love Fiat 500's - it's very retro, which is essentially a Panda underneath a prettier exterior. On the flip-side, I cannot stand the Mini - far too Mr. Beany... and I hate the "enlarged" versions of small cars - utterly pointless. Small cars are designed to be small for a reason in the first place, generally for city driving, which the Panda was very good at.

I am a Peugeot man myself having had a 405, 2x 406s and now on the 407 - all brilliantly reliable cars, despite being unreliably French. My mum's Shitetroen, though, has no end of issues and her '98 Clio fell to pieces, as all Renaults/Dacias do.
 

pgh13

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
1,688
Reaction score
414
Points
83
Age
72
My Satellite Setup
XTrend ET8000, Dr HD 15, PC/twinhan combination. 80cm dish. GBPVR with 2 DTTV cards +hauppauge Media MVP +Raspberry Pi running XBMC
My Location
Midlands UK
So this finally got the better of me.

Notwithstanding the various Spring failures recounted above, one of our Punti also had a noisy offside front top-mount whose occasional twanging was little more than a "characteristic" for a few years.

However, during a Bank Holiday jaunt deep into the North Yorkshire Moors, the noise changed to something more sinister.

Inspection revealed that the lower support cup for the spring had collapsed and was leaning dramatically down at the leading edge.

Took it for a new Strut and top-mount (Daft not to replace it as the suspension was dismantled anyway and the part was £20) and promptly px'd the car for a brand new one! Cost £182 all in.

Had similar years ago....bought a Lancia Delta from a mate and after after a couple of weeks (and on Christmas Eve), approaching the car from the rear noticed an extra groove in a rear tyre. The lower cup had failed totally and the spring was resting on top of the tyre. Fun and games getting the part at Christmas and had to shell out for an expensive 340mm tyre on top.

On reflection, though, it was over 10 years old and I suppose they have made improvements on the corrosion resitance of bodies. My dad's old Zephyr 6 struggled to get to 100k and the body looked pretty 'orrible after 6 years
 

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
Joined
May 29, 2009
Messages
27,078
Reaction score
8,664
Points
113
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors

hexah

Specialist Contributor
Joined
Oct 7, 2009
Messages
2,838
Reaction score
680
Points
113
Age
17
My Satellite Setup
motorized Gibertini 85cm, fixed dishes from 1m to 64cm, generic FTA HD RX, TBS DVB-S2 PC card, a pile of bits and pieces
My Location
Hadrians Wall
Loads of good Japanese cars available for that. :)
 
Top