Technical Teething issue on reinstated 2010 Fiat 500 1.2

[FindAName]

Hi all

just reinstated a 2010 fiat 500 1.2 which had been sitting non running for a while (think 6-12 months).

Car has gone through its MOT with a few advisories and is now being driven my my daughter on her L plates and she is loving it.

Few niggles are now coming out the wood work (I was warned )

Clunks from front end on left hand side; on hitting potholes/bumps in the road (plenty of them out on the Fenland roads we drive) or on speed bumps. Have looked around on forums for common causes are the usual suspects. Have ordered new drop links first see if that cures it after if not I was going to look at top mounts. I haven't had a chance to put the car up on stands and check so was going more by process of elimination to begin with and drop links were £20 for the pair.

• Any thoughts on what to do after the drop links, top mounts or something else?

Air con seems to be non existent, both in terms of cold air and the light on the knob giving any indication if it is on or not. Can hear the valves shutting and compressor spinning so from that I have worked out when it is on or off. When it is on and the fan speed is turned down to 0 (from full) the is a tinny rattling type sound.
Hopefully I will get time at the weekend to check the pressure and I have a little bit of gas left to try and re pressure it to see if that helps.

• Any thoughts on the culprit of the sound?

Last thing is when we were bleeding the cooling system the top bleed screw snapped off; seen a few posts on it and some people have had success drilling it and then putting a new screw in. other than that it does seem to be a bit of a pig of a job.

• Anyone have a link or part number for that screw ?

Thanks all in advance for any assistance

Mike

 

[John202020]

Bleed screw 6mm metric fine or number plate screw, heat a flat blade screwdriver stick in allow to cool unscrew
Ac no light, no working
Probably needs recharging, have this done professionally they will also leak test the system, not sure if the light doesn't come on if low gas or it does just not work, you'll hear a definitive click if the compressor runs and the fans will run

 

[steveras57]

re-charge the air con system! if the light dont come back on probably just needs a new bulb!
rattling noise might just be the air con compresser clutch

 

[FindAName]

re-charge the air con system! if the light dont come back on probably just needs a new bulb!
rattling noise might just be the air con compresser clutch

Thanks for getting back

I was thinking the same on the noise. live with it or replace whole unit I presume ?
I will see if i have enough gas to get some pressure back in the system and see if that helps.

Mike

 

[FindAName]

Bleed screw 6mm metric fine or number plate screw, heat a flat blade screwdriver stick in allow to cool unscrew
Ac no light, no working
Probably needs recharging, have this done professionally they will also leak test the system, not sure if the light doesn't come on if low gas or it does just not work, you'll hear a definitive click if the compressor runs and the fans will run

Thanks for the trick on heating the screwdriver give that a try.

will probably go the DIY route first on the AirCon as working these problems through with my daughter so she can learn. will probably just recharge and see how it goes, if not then will get some UV dye into the system and check. I have had luck with stop leak before; 14 year old system i am presuming o rings will be fairly dry by now and a bit of internal lube may just do the trick.

System is defiantly clicking on and i think this is backed up by the rattling - possible compressor clutch.

fingers crossed re gas and everything with be working again.. can but hope lol

Thanks again

Mike

 

[John202020]

Do you have the snapped off part of the bleed screw ? There's a small O ring on it or a new one on your bolt

 

[FindAName]

Do you have the snapped off part of the bleed screw ? There's a small O ring on it or a new one on your bolt

I have got the top part of the screw with the o ring; I was hoping that I could buy a complete new screw with the head and O ring on it and just replace that. I presumed it is not a captured screw and could just be swapped out.

Mike

 

[vexorg]

Knocking could be lower arms and ball joints.

Regas the aircon, if it leaks again then get a UV light to find the leak.

 

[Baglady1990]

I have got the top part of the screw with the o ring; I was hoping that I could buy a complete new screw with the head and O ring on it and just replace that. I presumed it is not a captured screw and could just be swapped out.

Mike

Club500 italia on eBay .. they break 500s and sell the parts on!

 

[FindAName]

Club500 italia on eBay .. they break 500s and sell the parts on!

Have seen them and they looked like they had good stock; will make a list of a bunch of little things and see what they can do.

 

[FindAName]

Knocking could be lower arms and ball joints.

Droplinks fitted this morning and problem solved - still a slight noise but more 14 year old car noise not clunking metal noise.

Side note in case it helps anyone else (I didn't see this trick in any of the videos on youtube). Workarounds come back when your facing a challenge :

• Undo the top bolt on the drop link with spanner and Allen key which is fairly easy as its facing you.
• The bottom one is a pain (rust and working blind) so don't bother with the Allen key.
• Bend the link bar down and pop the ball joint (doesn't need to much force).
• Clamp mole grips onto the ball/shaft and then just use a socket on the nut letting the mole grip lock against the wishbone.
• keep an eye to make sure the shaft isnt spinning in the grips (if it is nip tighter and go again)

Hope this is of help to someone and sorry if its already in a guide on here someplace.

Mike

 

[Derbyfella]

Absolute bugger of a job, doing both of the drop links on our 12 plate 500c took so long having to order different tools because they wouldn’t come off.

 

[John202020]

Angle grinder is the best and fastest option but I don't like using it( oh and I found out the discs have an expiry date on them, never knew, turns out one was 8 years old)

 

[Bobupndown]

Re the bleed screw, I had a Td5 Landrover Discovery, these engines had a similar plastic bleed screw in the top radiator hose and were notorious for breaking. An aftermarket alloy screw is available which fixes the problem for life. Worth checking if they are the same size, I'd imagine they probably are M6 thread. Easily opened and closed when bleeding is required.

Land Rover Defender & Discovery 2 Td5 Radiator Top Hose Bleed Screw Blue | eBay

Suitable for all Td5 models. This enable you to replace those annoying plastic bleed screw that is in your top radiator hose. These are manufactured in aluminium so no more snaped bleed plug when working on your coolant system.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[vexorg]

Generally I find at least one nut will need the angle grinder if replacing drop links.