Hey guys im in need of help with a fiat seicento sporting on a 51 plate

I got the car just before Xmas from a guy who said the car needed a new o2 sensor as the car wont go over 3000rpm well when i got it home it had been sat for a few days over Xmas before i started work on it and i found alot more faults with it but the two main ones are is this not revin over 3k rpm and now the engine has a tapping noise coming from the top of the engine, iv changed the oil and filter and changed the coolant as only water was used before, and nout has changed i pulled the o2 sensor out and the engine service light came on so i take it it cant be that can it? i found a fault code of p3000 witch is a random misfire but for the life of me cant figure out what is causing this.

As for the tapping from the engine i have no idea what is causing it as i don't want to take the head off but if i cant find away to sort it then i will have to and do a gasket change at the same time.

any help on these issues im having will be great as im at the end of my car knowledge on this.
many thanks
Adam

Tapping noise is likely to be the valve clearances.

The Haynes Cinq manual (you'll find a cheap one on eBay, no doubt) covers this well.

The misfire may be why it doesn't rev properly. I'd start with new plug leads. They don't last for ever and ones in poor condition tend to show faults in cold and damp weather. Easy job, change one lead at a time.

thanks for your response ill go get myself a cinq haynes manual and go from there on the valve clearance as i have no idea lol.

ill go on ebay now and get some new plug leads and report back when iv replaced them.

if anyone else has any ideas please feel free to comment

dos anyone know what the valve clearances should be?? iv tryed looking online but only got a few nombers that people got not what it should be, im waiting on the manual to turn up to tell me just thought it might be quicker just to ask in the mean time.

Should be:

Exhaust 0.5mm +or- 0.05mm
Inlet 0.4mm +or- 0.05mm

All measured cold, with cam at base circle for that valve.

Cheapest place for shims is usually eurocarcare.net in Derby but you'll probably only need 2 or 3 (can be shuffled around and re-used).

Iv taken the top off and seems to me that the engine flush didn't do a very good job i had to clean it out by hand
it sounds a lot better now but now im stuck with it not running over 3k rpm im waiting on some new sensors and HT leads.

wow that is dirty.

yeah the poor thing was a mess when i got it wasnt looked after very well trying to bring her back to life but if i cant sort this problem out iv got with it then i might have to dump a new engine into it or worst case break the car down for parts

It will be something simple, these cars are too simple and cheap to fix lol

ok its been a wile but due to changing jobs i had to put this problem on hold but now im back on it iv ordered a second hand cat converter with manifold and sensors that came off a working car but the old manifold is rusted solid and iv tryed everything to get the bolts off apart from cutting them off witch im happy to do but the only issue is im not sure what manifold studs im so posed to use iv read m8x25 is the ones i need but only seem to find m8x40 or m8x45 on ebay will these work or will i have to look harder for them?

Don't know about the studs.

The black goo is a result of not changing the oil. You'll need to use flushing oil several times to clear it out. Is the oil spray bar giving some oil? Necessary to lubricate the cams and cam bearings. Hopefully not bunged up.

Lack of power could be cam timing incorrect. Belt might have been replaced wrongly, or if the cam momentarily seized, belt can jump a tooth or two. Remove the cambelt covers and try to line the marks up. A new cambelt is cheap.

With air cleaner off, check the throttle body is clean. With the goo in the engine, some may have come through the breather system to clag up the intake. Carb cleaner will clear that.

Get some Plusgas and try adding some heat to the studs / nuts. As you're going to replace it, it may be easier to just cut them off and extract the old studs.
Studs are M8 x 1.25 and 37mm in length.
They are available on ebay - http://ebay.eu/1OqSVio
Or as, Fingers' has already suggested, look EuroCarCare. They have some good bits for a cento but are usually a bit more expensive - http://bit.ly/1IpYdZI

Flush it, clean it, check clearances, check timing, new plugs, new leads etc.

thank you for the info i had already flushed it once when i got it but seems to me that it didn't really do a lot if i have to flush engine multi times is there a cheap way of doing it rather than filling it up fresh oil each time? i might just leave it for now as i need to find out whats causing this random misfire fault code

Clearances, new plugs, leads and check timing.
Then do an italian tune up and flush it and refil.

£3 for engine engine flush
Takes just under 4L of 10w40 so you'd need two 5l tubs.
£14 at ASDA.
£18 at Halfords (trade card may be cheaper)
£17 on EuroCarParts (plus free delivery)

You could order it all on eurocarparts and the servicing bits as well.
2 x oil filter
1 x air filter (be silly not to)
4 x spark plugs
1 x HT Leads
2 x 5l 10w40 semi synth
1 x engine flush

Total - £68.65

Oil is cheaper than the time and effort of fitting a new engine or buying a new car.

For the past few days iv been trying to take my cat converter off as i have to cut through the bolts witch are proving to be a pain but i notice when i removed the o2 sensore that in the hole what i can only discribe as wood inside the converter that cant be normal can it? The picture isnt great but can see that somthing is there could this be the cause of my problams?

With the normal cat temperature, I'd expect any wood to become charcoal, or disappear completely. May just look like wood. Difficult to tell unless you can probe it carefully without damage, it might be correct in there. If something foreign has got in, anything that restricts the gas flow may well prevent the engine revving, although with the goo in the head, I'd still want to check the cam timing first.

It's not wood, it's probably the honeycomb of the converter. It is not unusual for it to break up and block the cat.

Regards flushing. In extreme cases I have taken the top off and the drain plug. Then used a cheap eBay pump and a parts cleaning brush and washed it out with paraffin. Deposited gunk around the inside of the engine is a worry, as it reduces the secondary cooling effect of the oil. However if that cack is in the oil ways the engine will have suffered.

Depending on how much you want to keep the car, I would drop the engine and split it. Wash everything through and reassemble.

Before all that, I would get it running properly first. You keep referring to the cat and lambda sensor, why not put a new lambda on it first, a second hand one may be no better than the one you have.

Iv got my old cat off the engine and im trying to get this bracket off that conects to the bottom of the gear box but i cant seem to get it off and plus its split half way down one side iv tryed looking on ebay and on google but i cant seem to find anything like this dos anyone know if this is really needed for the cat to hold it up?

It is there to support the weight of the catalyst and prevent it flexing. Without it, the new cat may not last very long, or you might get away with it.

It looks like Fiat Part Number 46779355, about £15 or less I think, but if it is just a right angle, make your own, or almost any universal exhaust bracket will do.

Why can't you get it off? From the pic it looks like you can get to both ends of the bolt. Use lots of Plus Gas penetrating fluid.

The screw is rusted on i slpit the only head i had that fitted it but on the other side from the pic it was a split in the metal where it was rusted and i was trying to see if i could slide it off whole and ended up splitting the whole thing so i could buy another or like you said make one