I'm wondering if anyone else has had issues with this engine.
I have a 2018 500X mirror with this engine fitted. I have had the car from new and it has only covered 14,000 miles.
Back in November 2019 whilst waiting at traffic lights multiple warning lights came on along with the check engine light, the car then went into safe mode with no throttle response. The car was recovered to my Fiat dealer where they found an issue with oil getting into the inlet manifold, a sensor was replaced and a new inlet manifold fitted under warranty.
On Wednesday this week the same thing happened, again whilst stationary at traffic lights. The car is now back in the Fiat dealership, apparently in pieces, and they have found a similar issue with oil getting getting into the inlet manifold. They have sent pictures and data from the car's computer to Fiat and are waiting for instructions.
I now have no faith in the car and assuming they manage to get it running again I'm concerned about using the car, what if the engine just dies on me on a motorway at 70 mph!

If there's oil ingress into the inlet manifold, the engine won't just die on you... unless there's so much it floods the engine. You'd need a holed piston and mashed valves (as in a cam-belt failure) to dump that much oil out. Even then it ought to still run..

The check light is a sensor telling the ECU that something very unusual has happened to it. If the oil is contaminating the MAP sensor, that would be "unusual". The engine might go into limp mode, which tends to affect how much power it makes in order to protect the engine from "some kind of failure" (as far as the ECU is concerned) so you might lose a bit of power .. but it won't die.

I can't know what your failure is but oil in the manifold is pretty normal - since the crankcase vents excess pressure from the oil-filled crankcase into the inlet to be burnt.. so the manifold itself would usually have traces of oil or mist in it as routine.

For a sensor to fail suggests serious contamination. Is your oil level at 80% of MAX or do you religiously top it up to the MAX line +/- a bit extra? Too much oil (i.e. MAX) can increase the amount vented into the manifold, and in cold weather/slow town running it will build up. Ordinarily it gets sucked into the engine and burnt through the car's emissions control systems so it's all good and Greta doesn't get upset.

If the garage has replaced the manofold it may have found a manufacturing defect... so again I can't comment. They could just be equating "oil" with some kind of leak at the manifold.. but as above, the only thing in the manifold should be air, fuel and some oil.. so I'm not sure this isn't a mis-diagnosis. If a sensor failed then the cause is nearer to that, than "just" oil in the manifold.


Ralf S.

derek60 said:

I'm wondering if anyone else has had issues with this engine.

I have a 2018 500X mirror with this engine fitted. I have had the car from new and it has only covered 14,000 miles.

Back in November 2019 whilst waiting at traffic lights multiple warning lights came on along with the check engine light, the car then went into safe mode with no throttle response. The car was recovered to my Fiat dealer where they found an issue with oil getting into the inlet manifold, a sensor was replaced and a new inlet manifold fitted under warranty.

On Wednesday this week the same thing happened, again whilst stationary at traffic lights. The car is now back in the Fiat dealership, apparently in pieces, and they have found a similar issue with oil getting getting into the inlet manifold. They have sent pictures and data from the car's computer to Fiat and are waiting for instructions.

I now have no faith in the car and assuming they manage to get it running again I'm concerned about using the car, what if the engine just dies on me on a motorway at 70 mph!

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All I can say is that I has a sensor fail in my Common Rail which made my engine make any manner of unfriendly noises. That was at 8,000 miles. I am now at 55,000 miles and have not heard a peep from the replacement sensor since. ??