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Technical Engine warning light - 100HP

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Technical Engine warning light - 100HP

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Polypedates

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Sep 21, 2008
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Five minutes into my journey home tonight the engine warning light on my 16,000 miles 100HP came on and all the power evaporated as the car went into limp mode. Fortunately there was a petrol filling station 200 yards down the road so I pulled in and consulted the manual.

This proved singluarly unhelpful as pages 97-128 inclusive were absent and of course that included those pages pertinent to my predicament :bang:

The LCD display said check engine so I checked engine. I even sat around for 20 minutes so I could check the oil level even though I had checked it the previous evening as part of my regular weekend routine. Nothing obviously wrong so I limped home.

I'm guessing it is just a duff sensor so will crawl into the dealership tomorrow morning. It's still in warranty so not too worried but is this a known problem - should I be afraid?

Not going to be impressed if this is the start of a slippery slope into Fiat unreliability (n)
 
Polypedates said:
Five minutes into my journey home tonight the engine warning light on my 16,000 miles 100HP came on and all the power evaporated as the car went into limp mode. Fortunately there was a petrol filling station 200 yards down the road so I pulled in and consulted the manual.

This proved singluarly unhelpful as pages 97-128 inclusive were absent and of course that included those pages pertinent to my predicament :bang:

The LCD display said check engine so I checked engine. I even sat around for 20 minutes so I could check the oil level even though I had checked it the previous evening as part of my regular weekend routine. Nothing obviously wrong so I limped home.

I'm guessing it is just a duff sensor so will crawl into the dealership tomorrow morning. It's still in warranty so not too worried but is this a known problem - should I be afraid?

Not going to be impressed if this is the start of a slippery slope into Fiat unreliability (n)
Click to expand...

Sounds like an electronic glitch rather than any serious problem - try re-seating the two big connectors behind the cylinder head on your right as you look under the bonnet - I believe that poor connections here can cause the symptoms you describe.
 
PS - I've had a dozen or more Fiats over the past forty-plus years and have had no reliability problems, certainly no more than would be expected for any make of car.
 
Thanks for the advice :)

It's not the connectors unfortunately so looks like a <slow> trip to the dealer. I assume it is otherwise safe to drive it?
 
Well I spoke to the dealer - the car cannot be driven there and they won't collect it either - warranty or not. As a result it is costing me £150 to get it transported and there is no prospect of a replacement vehicle for 2-3 weeks so we are having to beg and borrow favours from friends and relatives to transport my wife and kids about while i use the other car :bang:

Frankly if this is how Fiat operate Im not surprised they have such a rotten reputation. I'll be complaining to the manager tomorrow if I can get him on the phone and if they don't at least refund the towing cost I'll take it up with Fiat UK.

Should have stuck with the Japanese manufacturers (n)
 
Last edited:
Polypedates said:
Well I spoke to the dealer - the car cannot be driven there and they won't collect it either - warranty or not. As a result it is costing me £150 to get it transported and there is no prospect of a replacement vehicle for 2-3 weeks so we are having to beg and borrow favours from friends and relatives to transport my wife and kids about while i use the other car :bang:

Frankly if this is how Fiat operate Im not surprised they have such a rotten reputation. I'll be complaining to the manager tomorrow if I can get him on the phone and if they don't at least refund the towing cost I'll take it up with Fiat UK.

Should have stuck with the Japanese manufacturers (n)
Click to expand...

Very surprised that the AA can't help. My wife filled her Panda MJ with petrol and the AA towed her to our local friendly garage (who did the complete drain, disposal job for 70 quid) a distance of about 10 miles for nothing. My 100HP came up with a spurious immobiliser fault and the AA turned out to our home for nothing. Replacement vehicle - if needed - should be available right away.
 
The Fiat Assist cover expired last year so they would bill me for the transport anyway and the local agent was cheaper.
 
babbo umbro said:
Replacement vehicle - if needed - should be available right away.
Click to expand...

That is what I assumed, but the supplying dealer say nothing for 2 weeks and when I tried the Basingstoke dealer they said nothing for 3 weeks. Basically all the cars are out, even the alleged "contingency" cars :mad:

I also asked about any demonstrators they had sitting around but no luck with that approach either. Basically they weren't particularly interested or indeed bothered by the predicament this has put me in.
 
technically no! its a courtesy car given out as a courtesy. There cars are generally booked out weeks in advance however a little more effort/understanding would of been appreciated from the garage.
 
T14086 said:
breakdown cover is only £39/year!
Click to expand...

Not with home start it isn't and I have breakdown cover but it doesn;t include cover for a car at home. tbh they and their agent were the only really helpful people I spoke to today. They put me onto the local agent direct as it could therefore be done cheaper than through them.

That aside a 15k mile car under warranty shouldn't need breakdown cover IMO but obviously my history with relaible Japanese marques and their helpful dealers has not prepared me for the Fiat ownership experience.
 
well do what everyone else does & tow it a mile from the house then phone them...its no point moaning about the dealer, if your car has broken down its not their fault. Most garages dont have breakdown trucks (they sub-contract) because of the expense.
 
when we got our Panda took up the offer of extending the AA cover for a further 2 years - so 3 years in total. Think it was 108 for the extra 2 years but it included everything so with that the AA would transport it to the garage. Thought it was very good value for the cover offered.
 
T14086 said:
well do what everyone else does & tow it a mile from the house then phone them...its no point moaning about the dealer, if your car has broken down its not their fault. Most garages dont have breakdown trucks (they sub-contract) because of the expense.
Click to expand...

Sometimes the cheaper breakdown cover only allows transport to the nearest garage, not necessarily the nearest Fiat dealer, and can be a waste of money.

AA were a bit pants for a clutch cable change on my Seicento. Even with the replacement part supplied he refused to do the job in a floodlit car park and would only tow a max of 10 miles - which wasn't far enough to get me home. Eventually had to tell him to hop it and drove home clutchless.
 
HP. said:
Sometimes the cheaper breakdown cover only allows transport to the nearest garage, not necessarily the nearest Fiat dealer, and can be a waste of money.
Click to expand...

Yes true, gets you off the motorway cheaply though and to somewhere safe. Obviously depends where your nearest garage/dealer is.

HP. said:
had to tell him to hop it and drove home clutchless.
Click to expand...

lol...crunchhhhhh :D
 
No real crunchies! Asked the commissionaire to open the works gates so I didn't have to take them home with me, did minimal gearchanges all the way home. Thankfully the morning run home is traffic free and decent speed.
 
Well the dealer have had the car a couple of days with no response so phoned them this afternoon. They hadn't got around to looking at it :mad: but that is ok because apparently they do enrything they can to keep their customers happy :bang:

Suffice to say I got rather irate so they promised to look at it straight away. Turned out to be the Lamda Sensor but they don't have one in stock so might get fixed tomorrow.

Here's hoping...
 
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