Hi all,

Used to come here a bit when I had a classic Panda 750, and developed a bit of a taste for small Fiats. So when my K11 Micra failed its MoT, I started looking and lo and behold the closest small cheap car was a



Cinquecento Sporting! Currently named the Yellow Box I'm in that finding out what I missed on the test drive phase. Obvious things were the odd smells (sour milk I think), biting point 1mm above carpet, drivers seat knackered, but I've also found the windscreen washer tank was empty because it has a leak, and I think the thermostat is stuck open, as the engine seems slow to warm up.

However it is an absolute hoot to drive, I'm really enjoying it, and doubtless there will be a bunch of daft questions.

Cheers
John

:wave:

They are a hoot to drive!

Clutch biting point is easily adjusted washer fluid is common but not usually the bottle,is usually the washer pump seals or the washer pipe split where they join the pump

I'll be getting wheel arch liner off this weekend for an investigate - The bottle of water sloshed onto the windscreen is a little hairy on motorways.

Had a look at the clutch adjustment in the owners manual and what's on my car and needless to say they are entirely different. Still I think I can bodge it enough to work out if it's the clutch or not and which bits to replace.

Now if anyone has bright ideas for getting rid of interior smells....

My first cure for interior smells is a bottle of White Musk (you can buy it for oil burners) applied to a few plastic surfaces. If that doesn't work, I use a charcoal powered Censer given to me by the ex who used to wear white musk.

These, after all, were used to remove (or mask) the smell of the great medieval unwashed from places of worship, so they're effective in small cars! But best to scrub the carpets first.

Cheapest place is probably your local Somali shop.

Hi There,

If you struggle to find musk, I know milk is a particularly yukkie smell to remove so you'll probably struggle.

We used to get this quite regular when I was in the trade,(I blame McDonald's milkshakes) so in the end we used to take out the affected carpet, steam clean, wet vac and hang to dry,(use a local petrol stations jetwash if you dont have access to one). Chuck and replace any sound deadening mat with underlay as that normally disintegrates when you jetwash it

Well the smell is either going down as I use the car, or I'm getting used to it. I think I've traced it to a white stain in the boot so I'm going to pull the back seats and give everything a good wash at the weekend and see how it goes.

Got the clutch cable adjusted last Sunday. Rather than the locknuts I was expecting there was a bizarre double collet arrangement that must have seemed like a good idea at the time to someone. Why you would skimp on a £12 cable is beyond me though.

I also took a look at the windscreen washers. The windscreen pump doesn't work and dribbles water and has a questionable electrical connection and a blocked non return valve. The rear has a good electrical connection and pump but the tubing has split hence the puddle of water. So I think with a non return valve I can build something that works out of that lot.

I've also noticed a bearing rumble in the engine bay. I think it's either the alternator bearings or the cambelt tensioner. I'll pop the aux belt off and see if it runs quieter.

Mmmmmmmm Yellow Cinq!!!!!

mariocinq said:

Mmmmmmmm Yellow Cinq!!!!!

Click to expand...

Is there another type?

Not in my eyes.