zanes said:

Odd, although from memory crimps can have rather hard plastic. Were there no instructions?

Could they be solder buckets?

Could be connectors, possibly "bullet" type?

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Hi zanes, yes female bullet type connectors, the sleeve is very hard plastic and crimped on one end, after I posted the last post I thought if there is such a thing as a heat crimper !!

Edit: no instructions.

jrkitching said:

Looks like it to me, the colour denotes the size.

Google "Insulated Male Crimp Bullet Connector" and you'll find loads of them, colour coded by size to match the repair kit. You can get them off the shelf at Maplins & most likely any car parts outlet.

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I wasn't sure of the wording for the insert part, "Bullet" it is.

Given the price of that repair kit, I'd have thought they could have included the necessary male bullet connectors.

I guess most sales are made to professional auto electricians & they just assume that they'll have loads lying about.

Do let us know how easy (or otherwise) it is to use this kit - and come back again if you've any more questions.

jrkitching said:

Given the price of that repair kit, I'd have thought they could have included the necessary male bullet connectors.

I guess most sales are made to professional auto electricians & they just assume that they'll have loads lying about.

Do let us know how easy (or otherwise) it is to use this kit - and come back again if you've any more questions.

Click to expand...

Had the loom replaced today £90 + vat from Paul at 001 Mobile in Walton upon Thames (opp old Merc showroom now VW). Loom was about £50 plus half a day of my time to get it sorted. Fiat in Croydon are quite pathetic and could not be bothered to return a call or respond to email, sadly this fault happened outside warranty otherwise grudgingly they would have obliged.

So a design issue on a car that is just 3 yrs old has cost me around £200... not good.

I think there needs to be a new thread for all owners with 500s under 3yr old to check the cables (5 minute job) and take the cars in to be repaired as the fault is likely to happen but unless Fiat fitted new flexible cables.

My cables just broke in the hatch for the 3rd time, i wonder what couses the wires to break..

cloud777 said:

My cables just broke in the hatch for the 3rd time, i wonder what couses the wires to break..

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Fiat use the wrong specification of wire for the application. It's caused by repeatedly bending wire that's not designed to be repeatedly bent.

Replacement with appropriately soft multistrand cables will fix the problem permanently.

I suspect many independent auto electricians don't use the right kind of wire when repairing these either.

it's also the design of the hatch as well, my Panda's wiring doesn't bend in the same way and I would bet that it's made from the same wire.

How are those people getting on with the tailgate wiring repair kit from Germany?


http://www.autoteilemann.de/sencom-kabelbaum-reparatursatz-heckklappe-fiat-500-503020.html


Need to do a friends one, I know it is a bit expensive but is the quality worth it? Are the wires in the replacement nice and flexible or would I be better off using silicone type wire from the R C car types?

TheCurleyOne said:

How are those people getting on with the tailgate wiring repair kit from Germany?


http://www.autoteilemann.de/sencom-kabelbaum-reparatursatz-heckklappe-fiat-500-503020.html


Need to do a friends one, I know it is a bit expensive but is the quality worth it? Are the wires in the replacement nice and flexible or would I be better off using silicone type wire from the R C car types?

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Fitted this over the weekend to my friends 500.
Old wires were in a right old mess,boot no longer opened and blown fuse for heated rear window.
Just to say, repair kit nicely made,wires really flexible so hope it will last a long time

So it's a matter of cutting the wires and joining them via the bullet connectors?

Not available from a supplier in the UK?

typecastboy said:

So it's a matter of cutting the wires and joining them via the bullet connectors?

Not available from a supplier in the UK?

Click to expand...

It comes with crimp connectors already fixed to both ends, so I just cut the original wiring to remove damaged section, stripped back insulation and crimped in repair piece.
Then pulled through into body and tailgate so new flexible part in centre of rubber sleeve.

Don't know if it is available from any where in UK,I just followed the link from earlier in this thread. If it helps it arrived very quickly. Ordered on Tuesday and arrived on Friday same week.

typecastboy said:

So it's a matter of cutting the wires and joining them via the bullet connectors?

Not available from a supplier in the UK?

Click to expand...

See the posts at the beginning of the thread

Hi All, my first post (again!) - something went wrong with my first attempt. My wife's 500 Twinair has the boot hatch wiring problem. Have purchased silicon insulated wire (but guessed at 'standard' auto wire gauges) from Andy Monty suggested URL but will need to reorder correct gauges having now seen original gauges used! Have removed hatch inner décor panel and have plenty of access to that part of wiring loom but my question please is that do you get access to the wiring loom inside the car roof? There is no slack apparent (gentle tug only) and agree wire connections need to well away from flexing section. Grateful for advice as to how to remove the roof lining, many thanks P.

Think from what other people have posted (realised there was more in this thread and just read it!) that my guess is that I don't disturb the roof lining, instead connect new wires to existing wiring loom in roof and then push them (well insulated connections and all) into available(?) cavity in the roof space. Is this correct? P

I tried to do this myself on the TA but took the easier option of using a car audio company who did it in couple of hours and also gave warranty for his work.

I had trouble finding small crimps in Maplin & Halfords, could have gone to ebay but too much hassle.

btw: you could use the existing flexible outer hose but easier to slice it lengthwise and one by one work on the wires feeding them into the new hose and then crimp / splice / solder as you wish.

I recommend the shop, he is opp the old Merc showroom (now VW, the car company with the boring car interiors) next to the petrol station in Walton upon Thames.

I have posted some pics on this job.

Been looking for the best thread to add ours with updated research, there are so many posts with good info so apologies if this is disjointed from any originals (no pun intended) but have tried to correlate some useful stuff in a single post:

Wires damaged in same place under gaiter by boot lid - 4 year old 500TA.

With the aid of information from the forum we were able to quote the bulletin and repair kit details. It is not covered under Fiat dealer during a further extended warranty after the 2+1 standard, dealer is quoting £325 +vat for the Fiat repair kit but will make one for us at £50 +vat. Labour in either case around £160 +vat. We refused the initial diagnosis cost of around £70 as you can easily see the problem when you pull the gaiter down. Everyone Ive spoke to so far in Fiat know about this issue.

You can buy a Vemo crimp replacement kit at around £33.95 + £8 post or €40 plus €12 delivery - Google for Vemo V24-83-0001, there are other makes available now also. Vemo example http://www.onlinecarparts.co.uk/vemo-875647.html
The original find mentioned above in the thread was http://www.autoteilemann.de/sencom-kabelbaum-reparatursatz-heckklappe-fiat-500-503020.html

The pictures that you guys have uploaded have been very useful thank you, I also found this which has some good pictures if you want to strip the lot back http://www.heckklappefiat500.de

I'm also looking at buying silicon wires myself and solder splicing in, currently looking at working out the gauge of each of the 14 wires, Andy M posted some good info here https://www.fiatforum.com/500/416043-dreaded-boot-wiring-issue.html?p=3999186

TrevC posted a link for individual silicon wires here https://www.fiatforum.com/500/429049-diy-fix-boot-trunk-lid-wiring-loom-500c-pictures.html?p=4102906

BGunn's bulletin details here https://www.fiatforum.com/500/319901-500c-damaged-wires-boot-lid.html?p=3187388

Just a quick update, Fiat refused to help despite having full service history with them, really explains what their level of customer commitment is - an offer of free fitting would have been gratefully accepted and would have renewed faith in Fiat. If it was true wear and tear then accepted it would fall to me but a total disregard from dealer is rubbish for this kind of issue.
Have ordered a Vemo fix kit from Autoteil Germany during a regular 10% off period for for £34.30 delivered

JohnyDeath said:

Just a quick update, Fiat refused to help despite having full service history with them, really explains what their level of customer commitment is - an offer of free fitting would have been gratefully accepted and would have renewed faith in Fiat. If it was true wear and tear then accepted it would fall to me but a total disregard from dealer is rubbish for this kind of issue.

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Personally I'd agree with you, and I've said similar before.

The 500 is a fundamentally sound car, but suffers from a frustratingly large number of niggling common faults and weaknesses. None are particularly serious in isolation, but they could prove quite costly and inconvenient to anyone not handy with a set of spanners, particularly if fixed through the franchised dealer network. Several of these have been known about for years and Fiat have been particularly slow to modify the design &/or specification where necessary.

I've also said before that I wouldn't want to own a 500 out of warranty without the skills & tools to service and maintain it myself.

Too right - I saw this on the Honest John car-by-car review for the 500 yesterday:
Problems with 35k mile 2011 (4 year old) FIAT 500 TwinAir include £792 for a rear hatchback wiring harness; £1,192 for a multi-air module (misfiring engine); £248 for a boot handle (boot won't open).
Bit worrying as mine is a 36k mile 2011 TA Lounge! Glad I'm handy with a soldering iron, I'm hoping the multi-air issues are fairly isolated.

TrevC said:

Glad I'm handy with a soldering iron, I'm hoping the multi-air issues are fairly isolated.

Click to expand...

If you do it yourself, the complete multiair unit is around £500 from S4P, so decidely annoying if the worst happens, but not a total disaster.

If this does turn out to be a common problem, no doubt there will be cheaper aftermarket and remanufactured options available in due course.

£792 for a rear hatch wiring repair is somewhere between a bad joke and a tragedy; you can fix this yourself for pennies.

Most of the other common issues can be fixed relatively cheaply, some even for nothing beyond a few bits of scrap material you might already have lying around. This forum is an excellent resource for those choosing to self maintain their cars.

There are days when I wonder if the prices quoted by franchised dealers aren't designed to push unsuspecting owners into trading in cheaply for a new replacement.

Those whose mechanical knowledge could be written on the back of a postage stamp whilst still leaving room for the address and who've set their heart on a 500 might do better to get it on a pcp and chop it in before the warranty runs out.

Completely agree.
You wonder if the dealeship that applied such ridiculous charges truly expects the owner ever to buy another Fiat, given a £2k bill on a £5k car!