The latest MA units are alot more resistant than the early ones. FCA have revised the MA Actuator head with better ports/seals which were the issue on early cars (Delta,Mito/Giulietta etc)
My Delta MA went and took the Turbo with it due to Oil starvation but the current revised head is much improved.

Seized Turbo's on the 1,4 Fiat/Alfa/Lancia engine are sometimes caused by a blocked filter ( Yes...it has a small filter too..!!) caused by oil contamination due to long drain intervals..

Filter #: 71769773
Seal #: 71769771 (2 X, top and bottom).

This filter has the same gauze as the MultiAir filter, but is smaller in size.

Now that is a *MUCH* better picture Peter and we can seen some form of internal mesh/filter material.

s130 said:

Now that is a *MUCH* better picture Peter and we can seen some form of internal mesh/filter material.

Click to expand...

This is NOT the MultiAir filter, but the Turbo filter.
Same mesh material inside though.

Again the MultiAir filter, mesh is clearly visable:

Peter Pick-Up said:

It's not important what the Italian-English translation makes of it.
Even original wheelcovers are "Plugs" according to ePER....
It IS the MultiAir filter, it DOES get dirty, it MAY get blocked and it SHOULD be changed regularly.
No need to dig in deeper.

Click to expand...

It is NOT JUST for the MultiAir engine. Digging deeper

Below the current list of vehicle that use this filter/plug.

NOTE!

ALFA ROMEO - X6 ALFA MITO (2008-2011)10101/16 - CRANKCASE AND CYLINDERS HEAD CC1.4+CMBBZ+KW77

is *NOT* MultiAir as it has two physical camshafts for distribution/valve drive chain. Same is true for Punto Evo and others.

So this filter has been around since pre MultiAir introduction.

What I'm concluding is that this filter was in use long before multiair but multiair system of precision valve pumps put additional requirements on oil cleanliness.

So being a filter and the more demanding requirements of the MultiAir system it only make sense to change it at higher mileages (30,000 or 50,000)


ALFA ROMEO - X6 ALFA MITO (2008-2011)10101/16 - CRANKCASE AND CYLINDERS HEAD CC1.4+CMBBZ+KW77 10101/22 - CRANKCASE AND CYLINDERS HEAD CC1.4+CMBBZ+(KW99,KW119)

ALFA ROMEO - X7 GIULIETTA (2010-2013)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+CMBBZ+KW125

ALFA ROMEO - 5Y GIULIETTA M.Y. 2013 (2013 - 2016)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+CMBBZ+(KW125,KW110)

ALFA ROMEO - 6Q GIULIETTA MCA (2016 - ...)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+CMBBZ+(KW125,KW110)

ALFA ROMEO - QZ MITO MY2011 (2011-2013)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+VLE16+CMBBZ+(KW77,KW99,KW119)

ALFA ROMEO - 10 MITO MY2013 (2013-....)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+VLE16+CMBBZ+(KW99,KW119)

FIAT - 6F 124 SPIDER (2016 - ....)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4

FIAT - 4F 500L MCA (2017-....)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+CMBBZ+KW121

FIAT - 82 500L NAFTA+SASO (2013-2017)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+VLE16+CMBBZ+A/TTRB

FIAT - 5F 500X (2015-....)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4

FIAT - 3Y NUOVA BRAVO MY 2010 (2010-2014)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+A/TTRB+KW103

FIAT - 51 NUOVA PUNTO MY2012 (2012-2013)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+VLE16+(A/TASP,A/TTRB)+CMBBZ

FIAT - 3J PUNTO EVO (2009-2011)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+VLE16+(A/TASP,A/TTRB)+CMBBZ

FIAT - 6U PUNTO MY 2013 (2013-2017)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+VLE16+(A/TASP,A/TTRB)+CMBBZ

JEEP - 5I JEEP RENEGADE EMEA-ROW (2014 - .... )10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+CMBBZ

LANCIA - TN LANCIA DELTA MY 2011 (2011-2014)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4+CMBBZ+KW103

LANCIA - TH NUOVA DELTA 844 (2008-2011)10101/25 - CRANKCASE AND CYLINDERS HEAD CC1.4+KW103

ABARTH - 6I 124 SPIDER ABARTH (2016-....)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4

ABARTH - 81 NUOVA PUNTO ABARTH MY2012 (2012-2013)10101-040 - UPPER CYLINDER HEADS CC1.4

ABARTH - 4B PUNTO EVO ABARTH (2010-2012)

NOTE!

ALFA ROMEO - X6 ALFA MITO (2008-2011)10101/16 - CRANKCASE AND CYLINDERS HEAD CC1.4+CMBBZ+KW77

As it is relatively inexpensive and seemingly easy to change, I wonder why it isn't a routine service item, say every 4 years/36,000 miles? I may get mine changed next year, when the car will have done less than 30,000 miles. Will be interesting to see what state it's in.
Is a similar device fitted to the Twinair engine? I sold my TA 500 after 45,000 trouble free miles. Oil changes on that averaged every 7000 miles.

Yes, the TwinAir has a similar filter, but it's more difficult to acces.

Interesting question about why Fiat/Alfa don't have it listed in any of their service routines. However these days the fuel filters are part of the fuel tank pickup and sender unit and these are "for life" items unless some other fuel starvation issues occur.

It could be that should this filter be clogged and oil pressure/flow rate is reduced the issue will be picked up by engine monitoring systems and reported. In the case of the MultiAir insufficient oil pressure/flow (where pressure and flow will affect the valve pump and recharge and thus lift at higher RPMs) then this will I guess almost certainly be detected by if nothing else the engine ECU demanding an air flow rate which is not satisfied. This probably leads to over fuelling which is then picked up as an over rich mixture.

Looking at MES (which does not support all the parameters that the Fiat WiiTech II does) I see the following:

Engine Oil Temperature
UniAir Oil Temperature
Engine Torque
Desired Engine Torque

plus other measurements that were the MultiAir unit to be malfunctioning or struggling then hopefully some alarm bells will ring.

As with everything in life prevention is better than a cure so changing this little sucker at 50K miles / cam belt change time (5 to 7 years time) is sensible an would add little to the overall cost of this major service. Do the turbo filter as well at the same time.

If the dibber-dobber is all metal, including the mesh. and it's easy to remove it without disturbing the cam-belt/water pump etc. then it would be a cinch to take it out once a year and rinse it off, so it's spotless, in some kerosene.

It sounds like a good barometer to change it would be the cam-belt service e.g. every four services, or 4 years, depending on you annual mileage and what your oil looks like in between.


Ralf S.

That sounds prudent, Ralf. My only concern would be the gunk on the thread would be disturbed in the removal process. Leakage issues?
My car will only be covering around 6000 miles per year, and will have annual oil changes, so I'm hoping the filter won't gunk up too badly. I'll be tempted to inspect/replace it at around 30,000 miles.

Torque specs for the MultiAir filter: 24-30 NM (preferably 27 NM)

TrevC said:

That sounds prudent, Ralf. My only concern would be the gunk on the thread would be disturbed in the removal process. Leakage issues?
My car will only be covering around 6000 miles per year, and will have annual oil changes, so I'm hoping the filter won't gunk up too badly. I'll be tempted to inspect/replace it at around 30,000 miles.

Click to expand...

The blue stuff looks like a thread lock.. so it looks like Fiat doesn't want it to come undone by itself more than to prevent any leaks... which sounds fair enough. The goo probably does both.

If you haven't got any Loctite etc. lying around, you can lightly smear some Blue Hylomar (or any other "instant gasket" type sealant) on the end threads of a used filter... That'll prevent any leaks and also prevent the filter from coming unscrewed once it's been tightened up.

Since the "Blue" is flexible, it won't stop you unscrewing the filter with a wrench, when you need to.

Just don't put too much on there, too far otherwise it might get into the motor and cause a blockage. If you're sensible you'll be able to avoid that though.


Ralf S.

Yes, the pictures of a new one on this thread give an indication of the amount to use and where to put it. I'll probably give it a go, but not for another year!

It appears they have changed the design of area on later engines that makes accessing the filter very hard seems to be some sort of additional plate covering the area that you can't remove the bottom bolt from without removing the engine mount

Peter Pick-Up said:

..... ( Euro 5: 5W40 C3, Euro 6: 0W30 C2, both synthetic), .

Click to expand...

My Fiat main dealer recently serviced by 500X with the 1.4 Multiair and put 5W30 into it according to my invoice. Should I be concerned?

honks123 said:

My Fiat main dealer recently serviced by 500X with the 1.4 Multiair and put 5W30 into it according to my invoice. Should I be concerned?

Click to expand...

If it was a FIAT main dealer, they should know what they are doing.....having said that I would speak with their Service Manager and ask why they have used that oil?

Ian

Peter Pick-Up said:

Yes, the TwinAir has a similar filter, but it's more difficult to acces.

Click to expand...

The filter at the TwinAir unit or at the turbo?
First one i have stored for the next oil change.
If there is also one for the turbo i would like to have some more informations please

regards Jo500

Jo500 said:

The filter at the TwinAir unit or at the turbo?
First one i have stored for the next oil change.
If there is also one for the turbo i would like to have some more informations please

regards Jo500

Click to expand...

I believe Peter meant the meshstrainer on the end of cylinder head