My mom has had her 2014 FIAT 500 Pop ( (NA VERSION) 1.4 16v 105cv/100HP MultiAir 4 CYL GAS N/A SOHC AISIN 6AT) for 4 years and put about 32,000 miles on it. The car has about 45,600 miles on it. Every oil change light we change the oil, but haven't followed the maintenance procedures in the owners manual. The car needed a battery in 2017 so we replaced that. We bought the car in 2016 with 12,995 miles on the clock. The car only had 2 only oil changes since we bought it, one in 2018
(about one month and 1,500 miles after the light came on), and another one about 7 weeks ago (right on time). In Dec. 2019 the car had a big misfire, jumped, and went into limp mode. With a simple restart the car ran fine but the CEL/MIL was on, and the next day when we went to have the codes read the light went off, never to be seen again. In Feb. 2020 the car started leaking oil, starting with a few drops, then more drops, and then a puddle, and then stopped. We needed a new vacuum pump, and a PCV valve o-ring, so we placed those two parts.

Yesterday the CEL/MIL was on, and the car was running OK. Today we had the OBD II system scanned, and received a P0303 code. So apparently the car was running on 3 cylinders for the last 24 hours. We had the spark plugs changed, and had ignition coil 3 swapped with ignition coil 4 (the Autozone tech did that so if the light came back and read P0304 (cyl 4 misfire) than we would just have to replace the coil). So far it's been running GREAT. Can you give us any advice on what we should do to keep our FIAT properly maintained? We only take our car to a very good local mechanic in my town. Feel free to critique our actions a little.

P.S. Sorry for the long thread.

When you say “oil change light” it reminds me of someone I went to school with who totalled his brand new Toyota celica because he thoughts the “oil light” was telling him to top the oil up, but felt it would be ok for now and as the son of a garage owner he would drop it into his dad when he had the time. Of course it was not the oil low light but the oil pressure light, basically he spent a couple of months driving around with no oil circulating around the engine, he only did very short local trips, till eventually the engine seized up and the car broke down. When recovered to the garage he had basically ruined the engine and needed
The whole engine replacing, at which point the new crate engine from toyota exceeded the value of the car.

I don’t think this is what you have done but normally the car has a little spanner(wrench) to say a service is due and not an oil can or similar to tell you to get the car serviced. I’m sure you are not but please be sure the “oil light” you talk about isn’t the oil pressure light.

AndyRKett said:

When you say “oil change light” it reminds me of someone I went to school with who totalled his brand new Toyota celica because he thoughts the “oil light” was telling him to top the oil up, but felt it would be ok for now and as the son of a garage owner he would drop it into his dad when he had the time. Of course it was not the oil low light but the oil pressure light, basically he spent a couple of months driving around with no oil circulating around the engine, he only did very short local trips, till eventually the engine seized up and the car broke down. When recovered to the garage he had basically ruined the engine and needed

The whole engine replacing, at which point the new crate engine from toyota exceeded the value of the car.



I don’t think this is what you have done but normally the car has a little spanner(wrench) to say a service is due and not an oil can or similar to tell you to get the car serviced. I’m sure you are not but please be sure the “oil light” you talk about isn’t the oil pressure light.

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It’s not, the car displays “Have engine oil changed” on the instrument cluster. I’m in the US, and there is no spanner on the display for the US cars. We don’t top off the oil, we do change it.

You need to find the full maintenance schedule for your car.
It states the mileage and or age at which to renew items such as,

Oil and oil filter(I don't like extended miles on this so do It every 10,000 miles max , even if display hasn't yet told you to do it, remember to reset display even if it hasn't come on)
Air filter,
Brake fluid(every two years),
Coolant(every five years if using long life coolant otherwise every two years)
Cabin filter,
Spark plugs(on mileage not age)
Drive belt/s


This in addition to regular checks of fluid
Levels
Tyres
Wipers
Lights
Brakes
Etc etc

jackwhoo said:

You need to find the full maintenance schedule for your car.
It states the mileage and or age at which to renew items such as,

Oil and oil filter(I don't like extended miles on this so do It every 10,000 miles max , even if display hasn't yet told you to do it, remember to reset display even if it hasn't come on)
Air filter,
Brake fluid(every two years),
Coolant(every five years if using long life coolant otherwise every two years)
Cabin filter,
Spark plugs(on mileage not age)
Drive belt/s


This in addition to regular checks of fluid
Levels
Tyres
Wipers
Lights
Brakes
Etc etc

Click to expand...

I read the schedule. In the US owners manual it says...

At every oil change interval (10,000 miles)
change oil and filter
rotate tires
inspect, clean, and tighten battery terminals
inspect brake pads, rotors, and hoses
inspect cooling system
check and adjust hand brake???
inspect exhaust system
inspect air cleaner

It also says at every 10 years or 100,000 miles to change the spark plugs. I'm not so sure about that one, the stock plugs lasted half of what they say. So I think every 5 years or 50,000 miles the plugs should be changed.

It also says check the fluids and lights every 2 months.

It seems to me that the US FIAT cars need the most attention, so I will take every mile and time interval, and cut it half. That means make the oil change interval 5,000 miles instead of 10,000. Change spark plugs every 5 years/50,000 miles. Check fluids and lights every month. That's what the owners manual should say.

You must find out what spark plugs were fitted.
There will be a range of suitable spark plugs for your moms car.
Basic spark plugs may need replacing every 20,000 miles.
Don't assume long life plugs were fitted last change.
Long life spark plugs are very expensive and basic plugs may have been fitted , especially as trying to trace a misfire.

Brake fluid should be changed every two years.
Coolant max 5 years.

Try and find a more comprehensive service schedule than the one in owners hand book, perhaps one aimed at someone interested .

jackwhoo said:

You must find out what spark plugs were fitted.

There will be a range of suitable spark plugs for your moms car.

Basic spark plugs may need replacing every 20,000 miles.

Don't assume long life plugs were fitted last change.

Long life spark plugs are very expensive and basic plugs may have been fitted , especially as trying to trace a misfire.



Brake fluid should be changed every two years.

Coolant max 5 years.



Try and find a more comprehensive service schedule than the one in owners hand book, perhaps one aimed at someone interested .

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This is the first plug change. I just looked up which spark plugs they were. The machine at autozone said they fit. The website say that it doesn’t fit any 500 with any engine. The car is still running better. Should we go back and tell them they don’t fit? Edit: They do fit, the website is wrong. The auto zone tech tried the ones that claim they fit (they were too big), and the ones that claim they don’t fit (they fit, they were identical to the ones that were one the car)

Just because a spark plug has the correct physical dimensions to screw into an engine does not mean it is the correct "fit" for that engine.
There is a lot more to a spark plug than it's screw thread size.

Change the new plugs after 30,000 miles maximum

Hi

Im not convinced you need to go 50% of those quoted intervals.. seems a pointless waste of parts and money

If you are struggling for information about servicing..

Take a uk Abarth 500 as an example

Same oil ..as same engine

Same filter life.. same plug life

Fluids 'just age'

Your gearbox is the unknown for me.. europe doesnt see much of that..

I dont recall which spec of oil your 500
is getting at the 10k changes..??

Did you find out?

varesecrazy said:

Hi

Im not convinced you need to go 50% of those quoted intervals.. seems a pointless waste of parts and money

If you are struggling for information about servicing..

Take a uk Abarth 500 as an example

Same oil ..as same engine

Same filter life.. same plug life

Fluids 'just age'

Your gearbox is the unknown for me.. europe doesnt see much of that..

I dont recall which spec of oil your 500
is getting at the 10k changes..??

Did you find out?

Click to expand...

Hi Charlie,
Pain in the bum looking up that Bosch spark plug,very little info in USA catalogues, Bosch ecat is STILL down. in UK catalogues it's listed as for lpg and change every 20,000 miles.
No way would it last 100,000miles! But it's a lottery know what the poster has found to look at or what has previously been done to car.

If car had not just had plugs changed I would have recommended a ngk long life plug that is oem fitment for this USA 500.
Cheers Jack

Aisin warner 6 speed auto transmission
Fluid change at 50,000.
Get this done at a transmission specialist who has the correct fluid and knows about the aisin warner 6 speed.
Fluid level has to be set at a particular fluid temperature that you have to read from the transmission using a scan tool.

Don’t bother with 5000 mile oil changes totally unnecessary, complete waste of money and you’ll see absolutely no benefit. 10,000 miles or once a year is fine.

Spark plugs change them when they need changing, take them out have a look and if ok put them back, if worn or dirty, bung some new ones in

I’m very much against changing things for the sake of it.

With the multiair engine there is a little oil strainer on the front of the block that needs changing, this removes debris from the oil heading to the multiair unit.

Also depending where you live if it’s dry and dusty you may need more regular air filter changes.

Don’t get hung up about the spark plugs the guy has clearly given you the right ones. You’d know in 3 seconds of trying to start the car if there was going to be a problem when the piston re-gapped the plug on its first rotation. Spark plugs ‘can’ last 100,000 miles, but you need to take them out regularly re-gap them regularly and generally look after them, also cheap spark plugs will last better like this than fancy iridium tipped things. That’s how we used to do things in the old days when spark plugs where expensive, every car had a choke and no one knew about catalytic converters.

There is very little difference in service items between now and 30+ years ago.

varesecrazy said:

hi



im not convinced you need to go 50% of those quoted intervals.. Seems a pointless waste of parts and money



if you are struggling for information about servicing..



Take a uk abarth 500 as an example



same oil ..as same engine



same filter life.. Same plug life



fluids 'just age'



your gearbox is the unknown for me.. Europe doesnt see much of that..



i dont recall which spec of oil your 500

is getting at the 10k changes..??



Did you find out?

Click to expand...

5w-30

jackwhoo said:

Just because a spark plug has the correct physical dimensions to screw into an engine does not mean it is the correct "fit" for that engine.

There is a lot more to a spark plug than it's screw thread size.



Change the new plugs after 30,000 miles maximum

Click to expand...

The car is running great right now.

AndyRKett said:

Don’t bother with 5000 mile oil changes totally unnecessary, complete waste of money and you’ll see absolutely no benefit. 10,000 miles or once a year is fine.



Spark plugs change them when they need changing, take them out have a look and if ok put them back, if worn or dirty, bung some new ones in



I’m very much against changing things for the sake of it.



With the multiair engine there is a little oil strainer on the front of the block that needs changing, this removes debris from the oil heading to the multiair unit.



Also depending where you live if it’s dry and dusty you may need more regular air filter changes.



Don’t get hung up about the spark plugs the guy has clearly given you the right ones. You’d know in 3 seconds of trying to start the car if there was going to be a problem when the piston re-gapped the plug on its first rotation. Spark plugs ‘can’ last 100,000 miles, but you need to take them out regularly re-gap them regularly and generally look after them, also cheap spark plugs will last better like this than fancy iridium tipped things. That’s how we used to do things in the old days when spark plugs where expensive, every car had a choke and no one knew about catalytic converters.



There is very little difference in service items between now and 30+ years ago.

Click to expand...

Ok, maybe I went to far on the intervals. We just can’t seem to trust this thing with what FIAT says.

Rocco Reviews said:

5w-30

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You said that before..

But no detail of the actual spec..

It should be an important thing to check

varesecrazy said:

You said that before..



But no detail of the actual spec..



It should be an important thing to check

Click to expand...

I’m not sure on the actual spec because we went to a 15 minute drive in valvoline shop, we had to stay in the car.

varesecrazy said:

https://valvoline-eu.lubricantadvisor.com/eng/Recommendation/6a8636b52439c52c0da04da77d270d09

Click to expand...

I see the site is EU, is this for the Multiair? Good to know that the Multiairless (if that’s a word) engine uses that oil (if it’s even for the Multiair).

Rocco Reviews said:

I see the site is EU, is this for the Multiair? Good to know that the Multiairless (if that’s a word) engine uses that oil (if it’s even for the Multiair).

Click to expand...

Search was for a us500

You not recognising the oils name: spec doesnt sound promising though.

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