I have recently been experiencing hot starting problems with my car and then the other day it packed up on me at an intersection!!!! Called out the AA and after a fairly extensive diagnosis by the patrolman he concluded that it was most probably the SPI unit that was faulty. I think that this probably confirms my own suspicions as I had a Citroen ZX with the same Bosch SPI and it did a very similar thing.

I will be ordering a replacement SPI next week and would like to ask the forum members if there are any tricks to be aware of when replacing this unit. I ask this because although the Haynes manual looks fairly straight forward it does list it as a "4 spanner" job.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.

HELP!!!!

I have just been in touch with Fiat and they tell me a new SPI unit for my car will cost £400+. I spoke to Allparts who are Bosch agents and they tell me that a part to fit a Brava is a Fiat only unit.

Can anyone tell me if they have any info on whether or not these units are available from other sources as I believe that Bosch do provide exchange units that are to original spec. I can't believe they don't do it for Fiats!!!

wouldn't it be worth trying a 2nd hand unit before paying for a new unit on an educated guess that this is the problem

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

Thanks, I am in the process of locating a secondhand unit.

A question for those a lot more knowledgable than me in these matters. If the ECU warning light does not come on (i.e. to indicate a fault) is it still possible for Fiat or some on else with the necessary diagnostic kit to determine whether there are any faults in the system (i.e. does it log faults or errors that don't cause the ECU light to illuminate)?

Thanks