The local Fiat garage have had my 2008 reg Sedici 1.9 diesel in for over 2 weeks, we had a really bad storm and then it would not start as the imobiliser light was flashing, after getting it towed to the garage they have finally got back to me today and said the ECU was at fault and needed to be replaced, £1500 was the quote but I got them down to £1400( they said a new ECU was about £1000) I know they have spent quite a few hours on it finding out the problem but just let you guys on here know what to expect price wise from a main Fiat dealer if your ECU becomes knackered. I have had the car 6 years and had no problems so it is the first time paying out for anything major.
General New ECU
- Thread starter owensyd
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General New ECU
Well its been with the Fiat dealer now for just short of 5 weeks, ok that does include the xmas and new year, insurance looks like it's goes to pay out but guess what the dealer has fitted a new ECU( the part is £1117.00) was ok to start with so said I was coming to pick it up and then got a call back saying not to bother it would not start again. This is an absolute joke surely the diagnostics machine they use should point out where the problem lies, me thinks they don't know what they are doing!!!
Well its been with the Fiat dealer now for just short of 5 weeks, ok that does include the xmas and new year, insurance looks like it's goes to pay out but guess what the dealer has fitted a new ECU( the part is £1117.00) was ok to start with so said I was coming to pick it up and then got a call back saying not to bother it would not start again. This is an absolute joke surely the diagnostics machine they use should point out where the problem lies, me thinks they don't know what they are doing!!!
is the insurance paying for the 1st attempt..
or the long-term list associated getting "normal service" restored
Charlie
Got the car back Thursday exactly 5 weeks after going into the garage, said there was also a problem with the battery so put a new one on and said it was ok now. Now me thinks maybe it was the battery all a long and not the ECU but they are not going to admit that are they!!. Checked the car and it does have a new ECU and a new battery but I have still got the old keys, I thought you had to have new keys with a new ECU? I asked them and they said it didn't need new keys just needed recoding the chip on the existing keys.
Anyway went to pick it up and they had quoted £1400 and then they produced a bill for £1570!!! Told them £1400 was what I was going to pay as that was what was quoted and they back down and I paid £1400, told me they would throw in the new battery as a good will gesture!!! Still not heard from the insurance (Hastingsdirect) but they did not get the repair invoice until Monday just gone so will see what happens, spoke to someone on the phone and they said they were dealing with it, so fingers crossed.
Anyway went to pick it up and they had quoted £1400 and then they produced a bill for £1570!!! Told them £1400 was what I was going to pay as that was what was quoted and they back down and I paid £1400, told me they would throw in the new battery as a good will gesture!!! Still not heard from the insurance (Hastingsdirect) but they did not get the repair invoice until Monday just gone so will see what happens, spoke to someone on the phone and they said they were dealing with it, so fingers crossed.
Car lasted 4 days before it did the same thing again, so the new ECU and battery were not the problem after paying £1400 for new ones, it's back in the garage been there since Tuesday so will see what they say is wrong this time. They may quicker this time because I have a courtesy car!!!
it'll be a wiring issue,
the ECU only acts on feedback from sensors /devices,
no feedback = poor running
Did they give you the old ECU back? will they re-fit it and give you your £1117 back? I think not. This is typical of modern garage practice (not just Fiat or main dealers) They don't fully understand the modern systems so just change the unit indicated and the customer pays even if they are wrong. This would not be acceptable in any other business. Rant over.
I always ask for "faulty" units to be retained for my inspection and to keep if I want to. This at least gives me a unit for fault finding or to sell on ebay.
It does seem to me that the service you have had is very poor indeed. I would take it further with the garage, Fiat customer services or trading standards.
Robert G8RPI.
any updates..??
Got Car back Monday, Said they had reseated all the earthing points saying they thought that was the problem, worked ok until this morning then same thing again. going back in tomorrow morning. The interesting thing is if you disconnect the earth on the battery for approx 30 mins and then re connect it will start ok until it does again when its left standing, now that says to me it is either losing the memory information or not being able to store the data for any length of time even though it's a brand new ECU and battery.
frustrating..!!,
as Robert suggested, ask if they've still got the original parts,
I'd also have a word with trading standards.. you've paid for a service they've not provided.
out of interest.. not been to Mr.Clutch have you..??
In-Laws 4x4 did all this 3 days after a new clutch..,
had all the ECU test / replace niggles - sold car to a Bulgarian for scrap in the end..!!
as Robert suggested, ask if they've still got the original parts,
I'd also have a word with trading standards.. you've paid for a service they've not provided.
out of interest.. not been to Mr.Clutch have you..??
In-Laws 4x4 did all this 3 days after a new clutch..,
had all the ECU test / replace niggles - sold car to a Bulgarian for scrap in the end..!!
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Well the on going sag continues, got a call last Friday car was ready and they would be dropping it off at 13.30 and taking the courtsey car back, 13.40 telephone saying car would not start same problem!!! Been in touch with my insurance company who said they were going to send out a indepentant engineer to look at it. Got a phone call yesterday from the Garage saying could they have the courtsey car back straight away as my insurance company had been in touch saying they are sending someone round to pick the car up to scrap it!!! Got that sorted and stopped. After I asked the gargage are they any further on repairing it and said they had sent off off for a part, on enquiring what did they think it was now and they replied the coil antenna seemed to be faulty, on reading up on it seemed quite likey it could be that as it sends messages to the ECU and imobliser.
Now I am not saying that could be the fault but I do know my wife got a metal key fob for her 50th birthday and attached it to the keys only 3 weeks earlier and on reading up it says do not attach any metal objects to the ignition keys as it could interfere with chip/senser, possibly this has corrupted the key ignition system as the coil antenna is inside where you put the ignition key in. Time will tell. PS the garage lent me a KIA sportage top of the range 3 months old, 2000 miles on the clock courtsey car , great car.
Now I am not saying that could be the fault but I do know my wife got a metal key fob for her 50th birthday and attached it to the keys only 3 weeks earlier and on reading up it says do not attach any metal objects to the ignition keys as it could interfere with chip/senser, possibly this has corrupted the key ignition system as the coil antenna is inside where you put the ignition key in. Time will tell. PS the garage lent me a KIA sportage top of the range 3 months old, 2000 miles on the clock courtsey car , great car.
Surely the spare key has been tested.. and has the same result..
what did the insurance offer - out of interest.. did it include compensation for the "non-fixes"..??
if was a KIA sportage that had this kind of issue, and had to be scrapped:bang:
From all accounts if the coil antenna is faulty it would affect both keys, the insurance want to scrap it !!! told them to wait until we see if this is the problem, they never even sent out an engineer to look at it said not worth repairing!!! want to give me market value which is round the £2000 mark, the car is immaculate and only got just over 50,000 on the clock.
The garage said if it was scrapped I would have to take it up with the insurance company re the money I paid so going to be out of pocket all ways round.
The garage said if it was scrapped I would have to take it up with the insurance company re the money I paid so going to be out of pocket all ways round.
your choice,
you might have the option of buying back at a sensible ( scrap value) price..,
but it's still "broken.."
you might have the option of buying back at a sensible ( scrap value) price..,
but it's still "broken.."
Hold fire a minute did I read that right? You have two keys but this problem is only occurring with one of the keys intermittently and the other key is fine?
Okay sorry that was just me then. It's going to be something simple it's just tracking it down. Did the garage ever give you the fault codes?
Also worth mentioning that the Sedici is a fiat in name only. It's just a rebadged Suzuki SX4. If you have a Suzuki garage close to you it might be worth asking if they have come across this on an SX4 there may be a known issue that the Fiat dealer is unaware of.
Also seem to remember the earth for the battery is pitiful on those. Might be worth checking.
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Well the saga continues, the insurance company sent an independent engineer who has said it's no way water damage and just an electrical fault which any auto electric engineer should be able to fix, the so called Fiat dealers are now trying to get help from a local Suzuki dealer who has had experience with this problem( was me who rang them up for advice and they said tell them to get in touch) so try and get it fixed. In the meantime I am 68 years old and this has really got me down and am now under the doctor for depression and getting medication for it. The courtesy car has been taken off me 3 times and I am at present with no wheels.
