My Croma 1.8 petrol 16V just failed the NCT (our MOT).

- 2 broken rear springs.
- Warning on 2 worn rear tyres. They are only 2 years old with about 20k on them and knew they were wearing fast compared the the front.
- Rear alignment out


So from reading the forum I need to replace the 2 springs, possibly with Kilen (they are at an online motor factor for about 90euro each). There is also a brand called Nordic for 30euro each.... any experience of them?

I will then get 4 wheel alignment.

BUT, I was wondering if there is anything my local garage can do to rectify the fast wear. I saw this thread https://www.fiatforum.com/croma-ii/261452-rear-suspension-recall.html and was wondering is there some way I can pass this info to my local guy and would he be able to get the right bits and pieces easily?

I posted the tech info on the Technical Bulletin / Campaign.

My Croma wore out its original factory fit rear tyres in less than 11,500K miles.

She also passed the Technical Bulletin criteria because the wear across the tyre was even. The criteria was all about uneven wear across the tyre.

In my case (see figures below) it had excessive negative camber and excessive toe in which combined together just scrubbed the whole tyre tread surface.

When you get the 4 wheel alignment done (go for computerised 4 wheel laser align where 4 multi faceted reflectors mirror are attached to the wheels and laser beams are shone from above the car and the car is rolled forward a foot) they should have the correct data for the Croma or/if not go for Vauxhall Signum or Vectra-C settings.

I put Kilen springs all round on my Croma. No problems at all. Also Kilen springs use the same diameter wire over the full length of the spring unlike the original Fiat tapered springs which always seem to break at the thinnest part of the coil wire.

------------DATA FROM MY ALIGNMENT-----------------------------------------
FULL tank of fuel

Initial:
--------
: Left Right Total
Front Toe : +0.11 deg -0.07 deg +0.04 deg (+0.30 mm)
Front Camber : -1.16 deg -0.78 deg -0.97 deg (average)

Rear Toe : +0.37 deg +0.14 deg +0.51 deg (+3.84 mm)
Rear Camber : -2.55 deg -2.30 deg -2.43 deg (average)

Final:
------
: Left Right Total
Front Toe : +0.04 deg +0.03 deg +0.07 deg (+0.53 mm) *Note 1
Front Camber : -1.17 deg -0.83 deg -1.00 deg (average)

Rear Toe : +0.10 deg +0.08 deg +0.18 deg (+1.36 mm) *Note 2
Rear Camber : -1.66 deg -1.63 deg -1.65 deg (average) *Note 3


Note 3: -1.6 deg was the lowest balanced adjustment possible whilst
keep toe-in within limits
Note 2: Small/Medium toe suggested to compensate for negative camber
Note 1: Small toe suggested to compensate for minute uneven front tyre wear
and to provide a little better handling/stability

Note: Rob explained that his father/inlaw has a Vauxhall Signum that had
excessive inner rear tyre wear and general high overall wear.
Adjusted this car to very similar figures as have just been set and
all appears to be OK.

------------OFFICAL FIAT DATA-----------------------------------------

Fiat Croma 1.9 JTD 150 16V Tracking Data 04 Nov 2010

RIMS 17.00 Inch
Standard 0 Car and 8 litres of fuel : 6.8kg
Standard A Car and 60 litres of fuel : 51.0kg
1 L of Diesel weighs 0.85kg

Owner's Manual
Standard Wheel Toe-In deg. per wheel Total Toe-in mm Camber deg. Caster deg.
working Front -0.07 +/- 0.07 -1.00 +/- 1.00
working Rear 0.02 to 0.18 +0.3 to 2.70
+1.30 (+1.4,-1.0)
Workshop Manual
Standard Wheel Toe-In deg. per wheel Total Toe-in mm Camber deg. Caster deg.
Standard 0 Front -0.07 +/- 0.07 -1.00 +/- 1.00 -1.00 +/- 0.50 3.15 +/- 0.50
Standard 0 Rear 0.00 to 0.16 0.00 to 2.40 -1.33 +/- 0.50 n/a

Standard A Front -0.07 +/- 0.07 -1.00 +/- 1.00 -1.00 +/- 0.50 3.27 +/- 0.50
Standard A Rear 0.02 to 0.18 0.30 to 2.70 -1.50 +/- 0.50 n/a

Product Update 5138
Standard Wheel Toe-In deg. per wheel Total Toe-in mm Camber deg. Caster deg.
Standard 0 Front -0.07 +/- 0.07 -1.00 +/- 1.00 -1.00 +/- 0.50 3.15 +/- 0.50
Standard 0 Rear 0.02 +/- 0.08 0.30 +/- 1.20 -1.42 +/- 0.33 n/a

Standard A Front -0.07 +/- 0.07 -1.00 +/- 1.00 -1.00 +/- 0.50 3.27 +/- 0.50
Standard A Rear 0.07 +/- 0.08 1.10 +/- 1.20 -1.58 +/- 0.33 n/a

Protyre Data
Standard Wheel Toe-In deg. per wheel Total Toe-in mm Camber deg. Caster deg.
Standard ? Front -0.15 to 0.00 -2.26 to 0.00 -0.50 to -1.50 2.80 to 3.60
Standard ? Rear 0.00 to 0.15 0.00 to 2.26 -1.00 to -2.00 n/a

Standard A Front
Standard A Rear

Notes Rear Toe-In changes by approx +0.80 mm per 45kg
Rear Camber changes by approx -0.16 deg. per 45kg
Rear Toe-In change for full tank of fuel => 51kg => +0.91 mm
Rear Toe-In change for 70kg tow ball weight => +1.24mm
Rear Camber change for full tank of fuel => 51kg => -0.18 deg.
Rear Camber change for 70kg tow ball weight => -0.25 deg.

Hi,

Thanks. Yes I intend to use those springs if I can get them.

I don't understand the contents of the technical bulletin and what is involved in rectifying it. Can you point me to something specific?

I guess and changes will need to be done before I get the wheels aligned and I want to point my mechanic at something concrete.

Hi when we bought our Croma seven years ago it scrubbed out the rear tires in only 8000 Miles. I read this forum and then took a good look at how the rear track ect was set up, as you say the toe in is excessive and also the camber so with the aid of a laser and target plus a spirit level I have set the toe in at zero and the camber as near vertical as the adjuster will permit and all has been well for the last seven years and it handles really well .A real bonus is the rear tires will last well over 25000 miles. I think the original setting was to please motoring journalists who only judge a car by tearing around bends.

OK thanks.
I have a good local guy with 4 wheel laser alignment so I can basically tell him to modify the settings to set the toe in at zero and the camber near vertical.

El Kabong said:

OK thanks.
I have a good local guy with 4 wheel laser alignment so I can basically tell him to modify the settings to set the toe in at zero and the camber near vertical.

Click to expand...

I think your guy will struggle. Adjusting the camber affects the toe. From when I've had mine done (at least twice now due to spring work) it was not possible to set ideal/specification values. We got the best toe value possible but the camber was outside of spec.

El Kabong said:

Hi,

I don't understand the contents of the technical bulletin and what is involved in rectifying it. Can you point me to something specific?

Click to expand...

The Bulletin did the following:

1) Check the tyre wear / tread depth at the inside and outside edges. If the difference between them was less than so many mm per x miles driven then no further action required.

2) If *differential* wear measurement outside specification then reset toe and camber to bulletin data values. Also called for replacement of the cam head bolts.

3) There was NO test for overall tyre wear. In my case the wear was excessive BUT even across the tyre.

Regarding the cam head bolts. I obtained a couple of the new bolts which had a different part number to the originals. The cam head dimensions were IDENTICAL to the existing ones so can only adjust over the same range. The bolts were what I call "stretch bolts". These bolts have two deep channels cut in the sides of the threaded section so that when torqued up to the correct value the bolt is designed to stretch and put itself into and elastic tension state. Ideally these bolts should only be used a limited number of times and it appears Fiat play say by changing them.

Our Croma rear Tire ware was very even across the tread the problem for us was that it occurred at only 8000 miles.

OK I get it now. I thought there were new parts to be purchased/installed.