Technical The story of an 899cc seicento with knocking tappets and a few questions.

[RoafBeast]

Hi. First time around here, didn't know this bucket of a car would have so many fans. Feel free to skip the story if you aren't interested.

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Our family car for the past 17,5 years is a Seicento hobby 899cc bought in late 2000 brand new by my mom. The car was always serviced on time (5k km for oils, 10k for a more thorough checkup and service), always by a mechanic specialized in fiats who is also a very good family friend. We also have a full service history as a result of him being a proper professional.

In late 2015 the car was given to my dad (who didn't care for it much) in mint condition. Among many things he didn't care for he also ignored the oil and coolant levels. That wouldn't matter much if the engine gasket hadn't failed at the time. In the 2 years he had it we replaced the radiator, fuel pump, water pump and finally the whole engine.

In those 2 years we were all driving the car but since I knew I would end up owning it, I tried to warn him something was wrong. What was wrong at the time was a knocking sound coming from the engine. The car was taken for a scheduled service and a clutch replacement which revealed the extent of the damage.

/---------------------boring history---------------------/

The gasket was ruined, the head was cracked and the water passages (is that how you call it) were badly corroded. In general the engine was ruined and we were advised to get a replacement.


We got a used 899cc engine but it is also knocking. Starts loudly when the engine is cold and almost goes away when warmed up but it never completely goes. The mechanic explained that it's the tappets making the noise due to low oil pressure but "it isn't something to worry about" and proceeded to rev the engine hard, which stopped the noise completely for a good while.

Unlike my mother, I can't really trust this guys word after failing to notice the oil in the coolant the first time.

How dangerous for the engine are knocking tappets? Is it something I should look into fixing immediately or is it something that I can safely ignore for a couple of months until the next scheduled service?

Also is there a general thread for short questions that don't deserve their own threads? I have like 10 or 15 questions to ask and I hate spamming boards.

 

[David C]

Noisy tappets are VERY common on the 899 engine, almost a feature...!!

What I did on mine was replace the whole rocker assembly with bits from an old 900cc Fiat Panda (an early Uno would have them too).

The rockers on those are not hydraulic, they are purely mechanical with proper adjusters.
Once adjusted it was quieter than it had ever been.

 

[RoafBeast]

Yeah I did some searching about that in the forum and it's great to have it as an option.

The real question is though, is it going to damage the engine if I leave it be for now?

 

[irishcento]

a tappety 899cc engine is a happy 899cc engine

it shouldnt do any damage,they all tap when cold,and as you say when it gets warm it kind of goes away.

make sure the oil being used is a 15w 40 ,i find that the best for helping the problem.

these are my thoughts,lets see what the others think.

 

[RoafBeast]

And as luck would have it, the car is now a goner. RIP.

A woman mistook her accelerator for the brake when coming out of her garage. She then ran for it but witnesses had already noted who she was and whatnot.

 

[David C]

 

[irishcento]

aah thats a bit of a shame,a family owned car.

rip little sei

here is the big question,will you be buying another fiat.

if you do you will probably buy a newer one,seicentos from late 00 went the 1100cc engine with oil filled cam lifters,so 90% no tapping.

again sorry for your loss

 

[RoafBeast]

aah thats a bit of a shame,a family owned car.

rip little sei

here is the big question,will you be buying another fiat.
(

Well, the car is still technically my moms so it will be her choice. When asked if she would fancy the Seicento with power steering and air conditioning she said it would be a solid choice but she would prefer a safer car this time round.

In the end it will all depend on how much money we will get from the situation. If the insurance handles it we will get like 1200-1300€ (1050-1130 pounds). Which means we will most likely go for an 1100cc seicento or a sporting one but it's going to be in a rough state regardless.

If the woman that hit us pays us like she says she will (she prefers not going the insurance path as well) we will get 2000€ and at least another 300 from the car as parts. That puts us in the well maintained, full extra sporting range but it also puts us in some slightly bigger and safer cars range. Competition is rough at that price point and by the looks of it the next car will probably be something japanese, unless we can't find any.

Only time will tell.

 

[irishcento]

ah very good,at least you either get insurance or the lady pays for it.

i see your car is left hand drive,where are you from yourself?


yes 2000e will buy a good small car,im from ireland and that is good car shopping money.


sure best of luck to your mum and yourself in your car shopping

 

[RoafBeast]

I thought flags where visible. Anyway I'm from Greece but I live on an island so my choices are limited. And since small, low cc city cars in a small city are what everyone looks for nowadays, it's extra hard finding something good. The sellers know that and jack the prices up.

 

[irishcento]

ah ive just seen your flag

i hope you get your money for fiat.

and hope you may buy another little fiat.


what would me the most popular small car on the island,are fiats very popular?

could you buy on the mainland and bring it to the island?

just intrested

 

[RoafBeast]

Personally I would. In fact last month when we replaced the engine we got ours from mainland because it was cheaper. Mainland cars are cheaper or equally priced but better maintained and lack the damage caused by the sea salt in the wind and the humidity. But then you have to buy a 100€ ticket to put it in the ship (if you go buy it yourself and load it into the ship, which means you need 2 tickets which is another 100€, 200€ total and at least 2 days of your time) or more money if you want it delivered by a company and then you have to survive the stigma of having plates from anywhere else other than the city I live in (yes it's a thing and people assume you don't know how to drive on our streets) or pay for new ones (another 30 euros multiplied by the amount of times the plates have been replaced on that car).

As for small cars I meant cars that are sub 4 metres long and the most common ones are the ford fiesta gen 6 (2008-2017), the fiat punto gen 2 and then it's a mishmash of small-medium cars in general like the focus, polo, golf and just lately we've been hit by the qashqai plague. From a quick 10 minute observation of passing by cars, literally 2/3 of all ~140 cars i've seen (including jeeps, vans and pick-ups) are sub 4m hatchbacks.

For fiats, seis are still used but are a dying breed due to age, cinqs and pandas gen 1 are either sub 1k cars that are used as barely maintained work machines carrying tools and whatnot around or cost 1.5k if they are in fair condition because they are low cc which means low fuel consumption and taxes, gen 2 pandas are not all that common and gen 3 are actually more common than gen 2 on the road. I've seen 1 coupe, 1 barchetta, 2 pristine 127 midimaxi and a few multiplas.

Fiats do well in general because of the low cost, low cc and not unreliable formula.

 

[irishcento]

wow there is alot to owning a car then

all intresting stuff,shame about the ferry transportation and the buying of new plates. they are a added cost

hope you get payed for seicento and you get your replacement car soon.

regards jason from wexford ireland