HI
I have ordered the speed sensor, but how do I check the gearbox level?

George

Park on level groud. Remove the 12mm alle key/cap head screw from the front face of the gearbox. Fill with squeezy bottle of gearbox oil untill it just dribbles out. Replace screw. Job done. It's a plug and filler cap all in one.

Hi
I have changed it, still the road test to go on Boxing day.

Lifted on front left side with a Jack, the whole side came up, Chocked it. Lifted on Front Right side of car and chocked it. Lifted Left side again and repositioned the chock.

I reached up from under the passenger front wheel with a 3/4 open ended socket. The sensor was only finger tight. I changed it for the one Big Mick had sent me (Rather than tightened, drop the car, Road test only to find the sensor was dead and have to repeat the job).

NOW THE RANT:bang:
If ever I meet the designer of the sensor and its installation I will shove it where the sun does not shine on him, Break ALL of his fingers and tell him he has to remove the thing himself. Unless he was a YTS trainee at the time, then I will only break his fingers.

The hex is a non standard ISO Size- may be 23mm. :bang: The top of the component stops you getting a bi-hex ring on it. :bang: You can not easily reach the thing and when you do there is no room to swing a spanner:bang:
RANT OVER

I hope it works, THANKS to everyone who helped me and a Merry Christmas to you:worship:

I will feedback after the road test.

Thanks again
George

thats italian engineering for you lol.. hope its sorted, i'll cross my fingers for you

Hi
a road test went OK, THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP.

Since it was intermittent I will keep testing

George

Hi
I used up the fuel in the tank and done about 150-200 miles and the fault has not reappeared

Thanks everyone for your help

I now have the old sensor, short of putting it back in, how do I test it?

I have not found it in the manual yet but guess,
* 3 wires mean low voltage (5v),
* size and shape makes me think Hall effect and Pulse shaping
Am I going in the right direction or is it RTFM for me?

George

Help please!! I live in the dead end of the world! I've been to 5 different garages and no one understands the problem! Well this is exactly it. My power steering is intermittent along with my speedo, gets worse when I hit the brakes. I haven't a clue about cars and the only way I found out what I needed to fix the problem was thanks to you guys. But I can't find anywhere in the whole world that sells this part. Please help me find where I can by the speed sensor. It's come up on the snap on computer that it is this. Also my car is very sluggish and foot flat to the floor in 2nd gear and I can't get it off 20mph, I found out it was these in December thanks to this forum and really need to get it fixed. I would appreciate any little bit of help, and maybe some advice from someone who has fitted one before so I can do it myself as I can't afford to get it done at a garage. Thanks guys

craigneate said:

Help please!! I live in the dead end of the world! I've been to 5 different garages and no one understands the problem! Well this is exactly it. My power steering is intermittent along with my speedo, gets worse when I hit the brakes. I haven't a clue about cars and the only way I found out what I needed to fix the problem was thanks to you guys. But I can't find anywhere in the whole world that sells this part. Please help me find where I can by the speed sensor. It's come up on the snap on computer that it is this. Also my car is very sluggish and foot flat to the floor in 2nd gear and I can't get it off 20mph, I found out it was these in December thanks to this forum and really need to get it fixed. I would appreciate any little bit of help, and maybe some advice from someone who has fitted one before so I can do it myself as I can't afford to get it done at a garage. Thanks guys

Click to expand...

https://www.fiatforum.com/tech-talk/317669-fiat-seicento-power-assisted-steering.html

https://www.fiatforum.com/search.php?searchid=6533436

use the search

Hi,
I have the same problem as others on this thread, namely:

1) Intermittent power assisted steering failure,
2) coupled with speedo not working.

I suspect that either the speedo sensor is not working, or there is a bad earth/connection somewhere in the system. I downloaded the Seicento Technical manual from the downloads section, printed off the relevant wiring diagrams, etc, and went to try to check all the earths and connectors before ordering a new sensor.

However, the problem I have is that my car is a '99 Abarth and none of the colour codes in the wiring diagrams mach up to what I have in the car. So can anyone offer any advice on the following:

a) is the wiring different in the Abarth to other Seicento's, and if so where can I find a wiring diagram or technical manual?
b) I found the sensor, but where is the PAS ECU located?
and c) where are the locations of any relevant earth points that I should check/clean up?

I'd appreciate any advice.

Cheers,

Hi
ecu IIRC is on the passenger side either under the dash or the seat (it is a couple of years ago).

EVERY Earth! 'Cos the bad earth may not be on the circuit your fault is on. I know that does not make (mechanical) sense but you may be dealing with such a small current leak that it can be (electrically) true.

The sensor was an absolute B...ed to change, it seemed to need a ring spanner but I could not feed it along the wire, Then it seemed to be a weird size so I ended up using an imperial open ended spanner a flat at a time.

Good Luck
George

Ok, thanks.
I'll give those a go first. I understand there are two main earth points inside the engine bay (L and R) and two inside the car (L and R). Do you know where abouts these are?

Cheers,

Ok, bit of an update.

I have now cleaned up all the relevant earth points. Namely:

- 1 in engine bay between nearside headlight and engine ECU;
- 2 in engine bay behind offside headlight under expansion tank;
- 1 inside car inside the drivers side door pillar;
- 1 directly behind PAS ECU in passenger side footwell under the dash;
(NB - there wasn't an earth pint in the passenger side door pillar)

I also had a look at the speedo sensor connection (NB - this is a pig to get both hands to) and there was no obvious signs of corrosion. I also looked at and cleaned up all connectors on the PAS ECU, and inside the steering column cover. And I also checked all fuses in the fuse box (and looked for any loose wires on the back) and checked all of the Maxi fuses in the engine bay behind the battery and behind the engine ECU. All seemed fine and there were no obvious bad connections or corrosion.

Plus I also checked the alternator output and that seemed fine (around 14.5v whilst revving and around 13.8v under load - ie lights on, heater on, rear windscreen heater on).

Now when I start the car the steering warning light goes off after a few revs and the PAS is now working, but the speedo is not working. Sometimes the PAS fails to work when I start the car, but if I cut the engine and then start it again the PAS works.

Does anyone have any ideas why the PAS is working but the speedo isn't?

BTW - the colour coding on the wiring on the car (a 1999 Sei Sporting Abarth) is completely different to the two wiring diagrams in the Seicento Sporting technical manual, which makes it hard to trace problems in the wiring. The three wires coming out of the speedo sensor connector are Red/Green, Pink/Black and White/Black.

Any suggestions would be great. I'd like to try everything else first before buying a new sensor, as there are a few other things that might need doing to the car and it is getting to the stage where it might not be economical to keep it going (even though I've gown quite attached to it).

Cheers,

Wil

Its the speedo sensor, the pas takes the info of the speed your doing and adjusts the steering effort accordingly, no speed info getting received, so no warning light.
Speedo sensor is a fiat only part so will have to go to your local fiat dealer and get one ordered.
Got to mine from under the car, reaching up and over, didn't look like there was anything wrong with mine when I took it out, but all worked fine after.

Ok, thanks Neilix05. I think that is probably the case.

The thing I don't understand though is why the PAS is actually working even though the speedo is not reading anything (ie just stuck on 0). Every so often on a long trip the speedo will suddenly kick in, then when I put my foot on the brake pedal the speedo kicks out again and then the PAS fails.

This only seems to happen on longer trips though. On short trips the PAS works but the speedo just reads 0. Strange!?!

The PAS initially thinks the speed is zero and will give maximum assistance and will stay like that over assisting when travelling at speed until the speed sensor kicks in and the system tries to adjust for it. The sudden speed value will cause an error in the PAS ECU and it will disable itself with a fault light which will reset only once the ignition is switch on and off...all things being equal. Then the cycle will repeat. A diagnostic tool connected to the engine ecu should confirm that no speed sensor reading is being received proving a sensor or wiring fault

^ yea that.
Mine did the same of clicking off when I started breaking, leading me to believe that the battery that had a cell out was causing the problem.