Hello all,
I am desperately anticipating the arrival of the Fiat 500 here in the US.I am very interested in learning how to do the oil change proceedure.Would there by any chance be a tutorial type of video in existence that would instruct me as to the tools needed to do the job and a listing of the available recommended filters?Any commentary as to personal experience would be greatly appreciated.This may serve us all well as a sticky.

Welcome to the site and FIAT.

Engine capacity and type is going to be required for someone to help.

I suppose that WOULD be beneficial now wouldnt it?The Fiat 500 that is soon to arrive here is to be the 1.4L gasser.That is the initial offering but I dont know if eventually anything else might become available.Any suggestion as to where I might get familiar with the oil change proceedure?

Easy. I do mine every 4000 miles.

- Open the oil filler bit on top of the engine.
- Get underneath and remove the undertray.
- This will mean undoing the 4 10mm bolts and unclipping it from the front.
- Slide a tray under the sump plug and undo the nut. Wash oil off your hand.
- Wait until empty.
- Reach up the front of the engine on the drivers (your passenger) side and unscrew the oil filter.
- Screw on new filter.
- Put sump plug back in.
- Put the undertray back on.
- Fill with 3 litres of 5W/30 oil.
- Put oil filler cap back on.

Enjoy.

jnoiles,
That sounds simple enough.I cant profess to be mechanical savy person but I AM obsessive/compulsive about maintaining fresh oil in my cars.I have always changed oil much more rigorously than what is recommended in the owners manual.As a result,I have always been fortunate to have my cars last longer than my neighbors.Thank you so much.
Live it up,
Jeff C.

assuming its the 1.4 8V petrol Fire engine as used across the fiat European spec this guide from the Grande punto section will probably help you:

even if its the 16V its an almost the same under the car you will however need a METRIC 12 mm Alan key (male hex key or socket to fit a 1/2 inch drive ratchet)


https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto-guides/210683-oil-change-1-2-8v.html


for the correct spec of oil refer to your cars handbook there is the total capacity listed in there with and without filter to fetch it to minimum saves you guessing how much to slop in


when you do yours Jeff feel free to take a few pictures of the process and make a guide up and post in the guides section to help others

here:
https://www.fiatforum.com/500-guides/

have a read of the how too before you start we try to get them all to the same format and structure to help other members

No 1.4 8v in the 500.
I think the US 500 is getting the 1.4 multiair 105 too isn't it?

I agree with Jeff re the oil. I do mine about every 4000 miles and she's never missed a beat. Clicked over to 59,000 miles today.

I should write a guide for the oil change next time.

Jeff, whereabouts do you live over your way? Are you in a snowy area? Do you know what Fiat are doing about rust proofing in the US market? Just curious really. We don't get that much snow in London.

We are located in St.Louis,Missouri.Actually today,tonight and tommorrow we are forecasted to get probably 3-6 inches of snow.It can be a problem,but we get nowhere the amount of snow that places like Buffalo,New York gets.I mean it is so stupid there with snow that I have no idea how ANYONE puts up with it.I would think that people would just move away if they had to deal with the kind of snow they see.12-18 inches is just a typical type of snow accumulation.God help you if 2-3 feet arrives.To answer your question,I do not know what is going to be done for treating the metal to retard the rust.I remember that in the 60's when Fiat was here in America,Fiat was pretty much of a "rust bucket".
I am certainly hoping THAT wont be an issue again.From what I have read,Fiat intends to come on with a high quality product and I'm sure that it would be manditory to overcome the perception from years ago.Happy New Year to all and live it up---Jeff C.

JeffC said:

I would think that people would just move away if they had to deal with the kind of snow they see.12-18 inches is just a typical type of snow accumulation.God help you if 2-3 feet arrives.

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The very reason I moved from Toronto to London. Rain I can handle. Just. Snow is something you should fly to, ski on, then leave.

We've also had a bit of snow and slush over a few years here but nothing huge. Only a a foot or so at max and then it turned to slush pretty quickly with the salt/grit they use. I've been under mine and had a good look and aside from the standard steel exhaust which is looking a bit rough, the underside was fine.

It'd be interesting to see what Fiat's official line is on rust protection in the North American market, especially as you say, given their historic position of being rust buckets in many people's minds.

Americans do seem a tad obsessed when it comes to oil changes. Some change their oil every 3000 miles! It's no wonder they use 20,000,000 barrels a day. In all seriousness, these little engines are bullet proof. Mines the 1.4 T-jet (turbo) and since new I've done 26,000 miles with only one oil change. It's due another at around 30,000 but it does seem excessive to change it so often. The service intervals for the T-jet in the UK are every 18,000 miles.

Speaking from an environmental point of view of course, i appreciate an oil change in the US probably costs less than a gallon of milk! I also understand that fuel is a lot less refined in the US so engines do need a little more attention. Just remember some modern Audi diesel engines have oil change intervals of 30,000 miles! Yes, thirty thousand before an oil change is needed.

DraigFlag87 said:

Americans do seem a tad obsessed when it comes to oil changes. Some change their oil every 3000 miles! It's no wonder they use 20,000,000 barrels a day. In all seriousness, these little engines are bullet proof. Mines the 1.4 T-jet (turbo) and since new I've done 26,000 miles with only one oil change. It's due another at around 30,000 but it does seem excessive to change it so often. The service intervals for the T-jet in the UK are every 18,000 miles.

Speaking from an environmental point of view of course, i appreciate an oil change in the US probably costs less than a gallon of milk! I also understand that fuel is a lot less refined in the US so engines do need a little more attention. Just remember some modern Audi diesel engines have oil change intervals of 30,000 miles! Yes, thirty thousand before an oil change is needed.

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Yes seriously, changing oil every 4,000 miles? I think by following the manual and changing once every 30,000 km, there will be no problem with the engine in the long run as long as you check the engine oil level every 3000 km and top it up as required! I think that Fiat know what they are doing in their manual, so i'll just follow their advice! If the fuel quality in the states isnt that good, just fill it up with the premium stuff stateside!

I don't think anyone can tell Jeff that he is "wrong" to change his oil more regularly than is recommended, any more than anyone can tell Lloyd that he is "wrong" to clean his car every week (or whatever).

It is down to how cautious you want to be. Lloyd polishing his car will keep the paint in better condition for longer than if he did not. And the fact is that oil does degrade, so changing it earlier than recommended inevitably increases the likelihood of the engine lasting longer.

I'm sure that following the recommended intevals will keep the engine working satisfactorily for longer than most owners will own their car for, but Jeff may want to keep his for a lifetime, and may want to know he is giving his car the best care he can. Oh, and the cost (financial and environmental) of changing the oil is an awful lot less than the cost of a new car.

A little more tolerance perhaps, people?

DraigFlag87 said:

Americans do seem a tad obsessed when it comes to oil changes. Some change their oil every 3000 miles! It's no wonder they use 20,000,000 barrels a day. In all seriousness, these little engines are bullet proof. Mines the 1.4 T-jet (turbo) and since new I've done 26,000 miles with only one oil change. It's due another at around 30,000 but it does seem excessive to change it so often. The service intervals for the T-jet in the UK are every 18,000 miles.

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Depends on a lot of factors. How hard you drive etc. I change mine every 4000 because I do high mileage and I take mine on track days. I also change the cambelt far more often than the service schedule recommends for the same reasons.

Changing the oil this frequently also gives me an excuse to crawl under the car and check things visually, give suspension components a wiggle and just generally be more aware of what's going on with my car.

Well alrighty then,I dont percieve myself as being the spokesperson for ALL Americans,but I guess that maybe we as a group DO change oil more freqently than other nationalities-I really dont know for sure.I am aware of diagnostic services(one is called Blackstone)that will analyze a persons oil extracted from the engine.The service will tell you based on the tests that are performed how your engine is doing as far as wear and the state of the oil contents.I am aware of the results for smart cars(I am a smart car enthusiast)that have been posted by other smart owners that seem to point to synthetic oil needing replaced at about 7,500 miles for optimal functioning.I think that about 3000 to 5000 miles for severe use is the best approach for ME.I feel somewhat doubtful that anything over a 10,000 mile interval for oil change could be in the car owners best interest.Of course there are those people who literally NEVER change their oil(or air filter)but I'm sure that those people are much more wealthy than I am.They would HAVE to be.
Live it up,
Jeff C.

It is your choice completely of course. But remember manufactures who set the intervals usually set them a lot lower, mainly to be overprotective during the warranty period so they can't blame inadequate oil changes if the engine blows up! So an Audi that can do 30,000 miles without an oil change "could" safely do a lot more, 40,000 maybe even 50,000 miles.

And given that a large percentage of the US is highway where cars cruise for long distances at a constant speed, there's even less need to change the oil. A car that has 200,000 miles on the highway will probably have less engine wear than a car that has done 10,000 miles where I live!

DraigFlag87 said:

It is your choice completely of course. But remember manufactures who set the intervals usually set them a lot lower, mainly to be overprotective during the warranty period so they can't blame inadequate oil changes if the engine blows up! So an Audi that can do 30,000 miles without an oil change "could" safely do a lot more, 40,000 maybe even 50,000 miles.

And given that a large percentage of the US is highway where cars cruise for long distances at a constant speed, there's even less need to change the oil. A car that has 200,000 miles on the highway will probably have less engine wear than a car that has done 10,000 miles where I live!

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Or a skeptic would say that damage done to engines by degraded oil tends to happen in the longer term, outside the warranty period, and people like cars with long service intervals, so the manufacturers stretch it....

RobinPJ said:

Or a skeptic would say that damage done to engines by degraded oil tends to happen in the longer term, outside the warranty period, and people like cars with long service intervals, so the manufacturers stretch it....

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Probably that. In any case, why skimp on oil changes? It's easy enough to do. The engine turns the crank 750 time per second at idle. That needs lubrication. And that's at idle! You really want to just accept that the lubricant car run without change for tens of thousands of miles? Really?

There would be two reasons to change your oil more frequently than what is recommended by the manufacturer of your car.First,early on in the engine's life the purpose would be to remove the break in diatrus of the system.That would be the fine shavings that come about from the normal break-in of the engine.Secondly,as a result of normal functioning of the engine, which will produce a build up of carbon from gasoline combustion and deposit in the oil.I would think that the best approach is to keep the oil as clean as possible to ensure the optimal and smooth functioning of the engine.Now you have to understand that the car manufacturer is concerned ONLY with getting you through the warrenty period.ANY engine would probably function well -even if you didnt change the oil at all and just topped off the oil level-to get you through the warrenty covered period.BUT there is a hopefully LONG time after the manufacturer has any obligation for your car that YOU might want to consider.I'm saying this becouse after the warrenty period expires the manufacturer SURE doesnt care and frankly would rather convince you that you need to replace the car by buying another car from THEM.All I am saying is that it is in your best interest to prolong the service life of your car as long as you can becouse an oil change more frequently than is recommended Will do that very inexpensively.Ya catch my drift?

Yea sure, i understand all that. It's down to the individual. Most people around here don't keep cars very long, 3 to 5 years. I've bought cars in the past that have never had an oil change and never had any engine problems. Lucky? Maybe, but engines these days are pretty much bullet proof. More opinion than fact of course! Take some of the third world places for example, you nearly always see an old battered Toyota Pick up truck, probably with a few 100,000 miles and never had an oil change in it's life!

There's no right way of doing it, but there's no wrong way.