Hi all.

I just recently purchased my second Barchetta after a couple of years without one and I know that the variator is showing early signs of playing up.

My car is less than three years old. Can anyone tell me if this would be covered under Fiat's 3rd year main dealer warranty?

Also, having covered a few miles in it now, I am noticing some rattling/knocking at slow speeds over uneven surfaces coming from the front end. What is this likely to be and will it be covered by the warranty?

Hope you can help.

Cheers

BB

I'm quite sure that if you have a Fiat three year warranty then the variator will be covered however, if you have worn bushes on the suspension causing the knocking then that wont be covered as it will be classed as a consumable after this length of time

BarchBite said:

Also, having covered a few miles in it now, I am noticing some rattling/knocking at slow speeds over uneven surfaces coming from the front end. What is this likely to be and will it be covered by the warranty?

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If you ever discover the cause of this, please give us your findings. A couple of us are having the same problem and no mech has been able to trace the problem in either case. My guy could find no wear in any suspension parts that may have caused the problem. I'm starting to think it may be the dreaded 'weird sound in the FIAT dasboard problem' that is always a nightmare to trace.

Your variator should def be covered though.

Jon

Forgot to mention.....welcome to the forum

As above welcome to the site, does the knocking sound also come with vibration or is it just noise?

Occasionally the brake pads can become loose and rattle this occasionally sounds like the wheel is about to fall off but produces no vibration. If its a bush you will feel it through the steering normally as well as hear it. Poor condition bushes often pass an MOT as they look ok but can be well worn.

You need to transfer ownership with Car Care Plan into your name to ensure your covered by third year warrany

You'll also need to ensure the service intervals have been adhered to.

I'm another one with knocking/rumbling/rattling from the front end (04/54, 10,000 miles), and I'd be happy to hear how people have solved this one. Someone posted on here a while back that they'd had the dampers replaced under warranty and it had transformed the car. Sounded like the diagnosis wasn't scientific though.

H

Thanks for the welcome and the info.

I'll look at getting the warranty transferred and get the car booked in for some further investigation.

I'd be surprised if it is the bushes as the car has done less than 20,000 miles, but I suppose that may not mean anything.

I'll keep you updated.

Cheers

BB

Yep - I had this exact problem on my 04 B. The garage replaced the front dampers under warranty at 22k miles (after several visits where everything was re-torqued, shocks re-tightened etc.) but now I'm up at 30k miles it's come back again!! So obviously something not right that's causing premature wear. I'm in the third year now but because the fault has re-occurred the garage have agreed to look into it as a warranty job.

AND I need the variator looking at!! Aaaaaargh!!!

The variator IS covered under the third year warranty as I have had mine done recently with just under 36K on the clock. Ensure, as has been said,all services have been carried out within time limits, otherwise it's an expensive job! They even included the cam belt too.

The cambelt is done as a matter of course whenever it is disturbed, NEVER replace a used cambelt

superspotter said:

The cambelt is done as a matter of course whenever it is disturbed, NEVER replace a used cambelt

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Arrrgh!! I just had my cambelt replaced 4 months ago and recently a suspect diesel noise is coming from the B. Does that mean I'll need to replace the belt again if the Variator is changed.

Most definitely!! False economy to not replace the belt as it has to be disturbed to do the variator anyway. It's only a matter of removing the crankshaft pulley if it has been removed from the top of the engine so is hardly going to make any difference in the labour rate. NEVER put back an old belt regardless of age One way of recognising any deterioration in a cambelt is to , once it has been removed, bend the belt backwards and look to see if you can see hairline cracks in the belt between the teeth.

Hi
I've got that knocking noise too (2005 b) and have got FIAT UK involved.

My local dealer checked the car over in November and couldn't find the problem but did hear the noise. Everything was tightened down properly and the car's only done 11300 miles.

I took the b off the road for the winter and arranged that the dealer would have another look at it when it is retaxed. I'm taxing it from this weekend so I'll see how it goes.

However it would be helpful to know whether anyone with a facelift b HASN'T got the knocking noise.

Mick

53 Reg face lifted barchetta with no knocking (yet) at 24,000 miles.

Okay, so I took my car along to my local dealer and they tell me that the variator will be covered by the warranty but it will cost me £83.50 to get the warranty transferred into my name.

This doesn't sound right. Am I being ripped off?

BB

Believe its around £27.50, why not phone car care direct to change ownership?

The b is back on the road again after the winter and has just been back at the Fiat dealer (Fiat Mansfield) to investigate the knocking noise at the front.

I picked the car up this evening and so far it does seem that the noise is quieter. There's a fair bit of road noise anyway but there does seem to be an improvement.

The dealer said they could hear the noise and tried various things before finally loosening all the bolts on the front subframe, applying WD40 and then retightening. Apparently one of the guys had come across a similar problem on another Fiat before. Some of the techs are different because Fiat Mansfield had moved buildings within the same complex and not all their techs had moved with them.

Hopefully then, this has done the job. Credit due to the guys at Fiat Mansfield if so. And they have tried all along to cure this problem.

I posted on this thread and another one about my long-running issue with knocking from the front end of my 54-plate b. After having a top mount and bearing replaced professionally and getting no joy, I decided to bite the bullet and replace the shockers myself recently. Got a pair of KYB gas shocks for less than £140 delivered and fitted them in about two hours. Fingers crossed, the knocking has finally disappeared and the car's a pleasure to drive again.

It's been suggested the crappy bearing could be the cause of the knocking, because it's been seen to fall apart when the strut is being dismantled. To my amateur eye the bearing probably doesn't contribute to the knock, rather it's such a crock of s**t that without care it gets forced apart both when the strut is being taken apart and when it's being re-assembled. Watch out for it if you're doing any front strut work!

The markings on the original shockers suggest they're gas-filled too. Don't know who the manufacturer is, though the markings are in Italian and English.

H

I solved the knocking noise, I sold the b4stard

I've got a Grande Punto Abarth now, it's like night and day.

It's now six weeks old and no disasters. That's a whole month longer than the Barchetta ever lasted without one.