Evening all,

I am a couple of weeks away from getting my 500L back from MBG having had an engine rebuild (650+FZD+123+fast cam) and body work (sills, floors, arches) and we are excited to say the least.

Whilst we previously used the car for occasional fair weather trips, varying from 5 miles to 800 (a nail biting tour of Benelux), I’m committed to using it more often throughout the year. And so to this thread’s subject...

What regulator maintenance schedules do fellow 500 drivers follow, and what are folk more prepared to respond to as required? E.g. oil, gaps, plugs, wheel bearings, shaft couplings, tappets, timing, rust proofing, polishing etc etc.

I’m sure there’s a balance to be struck reactive/ proactive, and particularly dependant upon regular/ irregular miles. It would be great to hear the variety of everyone’s methods and experiences.

sheylings said:

And so to this thread’s subject

I’m sure there’s a balance to be struck reactive/ proactive, and particularly dependant upon regular/ irregular miles. It would be great to hear the variety of everyone’s methods and experiences.

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In 30,000 miles over four and a bit years I've found that most of what keeps the car going is found by constantly checking things and very rarely adjusting or repairing.
Oil is number one on my list and is checked almost every time I set off, given that I'm usually covering at least a hundred miles. I change it up to a thousand miles earlier than the recommended intervals but have only cleaned the filter once...it was already clean! I constantly check for oil leaks and diagnose and put right ASAP.
With an electronic distributor I've found it's pointless (get it?) to check the timing and with a very late production cylinder head (652cc) the valve-clearances haven't needed adjustment in 14,000 miles although I check them whenever the oil is changed.
I regularly check tyre-pressures and grease the kingpins more frequently than recommended.
Reliability seems to be built-in and I avoid disrupting the equilibrium. The main thing is to get to know what's normal for your car in terms of rattles and shakes and booms,[emoji3] and then don't delay the investigation when something changes.
Happy motoring
[emoji3]

Peter's advice is very sound and based on great experience---he probably does more miles in his 500 than any 10 forum members put together. He mentioned the lubrication of the king pins. This is a check that is often overlooked. I have had my king-pin carrier (Mk2 126 with disc brake conversion) modified so that there are 2 grease nipples on each carrier--1 for the top king-pin bush and one for the lower king-pin bush---and I still check the lubrication of these on a very regular basis.
Like Peter, with a '650' head on the engine, I have hardly ever had to adjust the tappets, and when I cleaned out the oil-filter this winter (after about 5,000 miles of use) I found very little 'gunge 'in it---as the engine is well tuned, on the advice of Tony at MBG, I use a top grade 10/60 oil (Millars).
Just for interest, where are you in the UK? I am just outside Chester. Wherever you are, enjoy your car---the Italians built them to be used, not wrapped in cotton-wool!

the hobbler said:

I use a top grade 10/60 oil (Millars).

Wherever you are, enjoy your car---the Italians built them to be used, not wrapped in cotton-wool!

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From what I have seen of online discussions, it seems that the average Fiat 500 owner in Germany uses their car a lot more than we do over here; this yields lots of practical advice based on experience. One owner posted that he never changes the oil. Something may have been lost in translation but I assume that this is because the oil needs topping-up significantly more regularly than any modern car would need and consequently this dilutes the used oil in increments. Of course, it may just have been a German joke...they are well-known for it!

...also...cropped up today...give the suspension and front wheel-bearings a regular check-over. I was getting some odd knocking sounds and slightly dodgy handling on sharp bends. It turned out to be wheel-bearings needing nipping-up a little (new nuts) and the nut and bolt through the top bush on one of the kingpin housings needing re-tightening (new nyloc nut).