Hi,
We bought a cinquecento in December which stopped running after a few days. We took it to a local garage which has a good reputation.
It has been there since!! They can’t find the root cause of the issue.
So my question is...how long do I leave it with them to continue their investigations? And what is the best option if I decide to remove it from the garage?
I live in South Wales and am at my wits end with this car. (My son’s 18th birthday present which he adores even though it doesn’t work)
I’m now in a rush as my son has his driving test next month.
Is there a mechanic/ garage that someone could recommend?
Is it worth taking it directly to Fiat?

Michelle4873 said:

Hi,
We bought a cinquecento in December which stopped running after a few days.

Is it worth taking it directly to Fiat?

Click to expand...

Hi.

They are relatively simple cars.

Did the garage give any indication what they have done ..?

Fiat dealers charge per hour what a dead cinq is worth..

Tell us more

Charlie . Abertillery

Hi Charlie,
I thought they were simple cars too. The car is actually at a garage in your home town! They’ve been excellent with my other cars but are really struggling with the cinq.
They’ve had it there three months now and have tried various things - the RAC thought the issue was a crankshaft sensor but that didn’t solve the issue. The sent the ECU for repair but that didn’t solve the issue either.
The cinq is in excellent condition otherwise, really low mileage and full service history, it drove from Cambridge with no issues at all.
I’m torn on what to do...I’d happily pay Fiat prices if I thought they’d be able to find the issue.

Would like to think that someone on here could come up with some help if you could spell out what went wrong...what are the symptoms...does the car fire but not run or does it just turn over & nothing....and also which model... I'm guessing it's 0.9 ? Would've thought most garages...main dealer or not.. should be able to solve it....what has the current garage checked so far?

Does the Cinq have the fuel cut-off switch either below the dash, or under the passenger seat?

Diagnosis should be straightforward. You need engine compression, fuel and a spark.
A compression check is easy, but any fault there is unlikely to cause sudden complete failure, unless the cambelt broke (if a 1.1).
Fuel. For a garage it shoud be easy to check fuel is being supplied, and whether injectors are opening. The fuel cut-off switch will cut the fuel pump. It is intended to stop the fuel supply in the event of a collision, but they have been known to trigger at potholes, or even bumping up a kerb, or an abrupt stop.
If there is no spark, this can be the crank sensor, coils, or plug leads, although these tend to kill one or two cylinders only.
If the immobiliser cannot read the key, it should illuminate a little car/padlock/key symbol on the dash when trying to start. Has the key been dropped or trodden on? Try the spare key.

portland_bill said:

Does the Cinq have the fuel cut-off switch either below the dash, or under the passenger seat?

Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure it was under the dash above the tunnel.

Michelle4873 said:

Hi Charlie,
I thought they were simple cars too. The car is actually at a garage in your home town! They’ve been excellent with my other cars but are really struggling with the cinq.
They’ve had it there three months now and have tried various things - the RAC thought the issue was a crankshaft sensor but that didn’t solve the issue. The sent the ECU for repair but that didn’t solve the issue either.
The cinq is in excellent condition otherwise, really low mileage and full service history, it drove from Cambridge with no issues at all.
I’m torn on what to do...I’d happily pay Fiat prices if I thought they’d be able to find the issue.

Click to expand...

Hi
my thoughts are its a dodgy electrical connection somewhere..
something a 'we will plug it in' type garage gets baffled with

Was it giving trouble before it died.. ?damp mats.. or dim lights ??

The only workshop Ive used is Aberbeeg tyres.. no problems there.. but apart from Mark the boss its all young lads..
They could be lost with this 'Classic'

Neighbours ( not car people..) use 'flyover garage' but they probably couldnt tell hood from bad..

Where is the car now ?

Well I’m now really sad to say that it’s at the Flyover ?

It was no trouble at all before it died. But it faltered in the heavy rain, then stalled and continued to do so until it wouldn’t start again. RAC guy was convinced it was the crankshaft sensor - he wiggled the wire as I tried to start it and managed to get a connection.

Michelle4873 said:

It was no trouble at all before it died. But it faltered in the heavy rain, then stalled and continued to do so until it wouldn’t start again. RAC guy was convinced it was the crankshaft sensor - he wiggled the wire as I tried to start it and managed to get a connection.

Click to expand...

RAC could be partially correct it could be a connection issue at the sensor. If the plug is damaged or corroded changing the sensor won't help.
With work reportedly done so far it is almost certainly a bad connection, short to chassis (chaffed cable) or water in a plug somewhere.

You really need an auto electrician rather than a garage.

Robert G8RPI.

I think that’s why they sent the car off and the ECU ended up with a repair it probably didn’t need :-/
Any recommendations? I think I’ll call it a day with the current place and request they tow it somewhere more suitable..

I suspect you meed somewhere where electrics dont scare them..

Was there ever a FIAT place in Abergavenny area?

Ponthir are too new.. the cinq would be better off with a traditional garage

Where are you actually based ? Im in Llan

Maybe ask at the car breakers in Pen-y-fan.. Ind.Estate

They might have a regular who does up the right type of car

Its got 'electronics'... but is too early to plug in and get a fault read.out too easily

Ive been bitten before.. had a good mechanical experience with a place.. then found they were clueless with electrics

Had to fix it myself in the end

Michelle4873 said:

I think that’s why they sent the car off and the ECU ended up with a repair it probably didn’t need :-/
Any recommendations? I think I’ll call it a day with the current place and request they tow it somewhere more suitable..

Click to expand...

Any news Michelle?

Well...yes and no
Called yesterday and the garage are of the opinion that the ECU wasn’t repaired when they sent the car away for repair back in January.
They’ve now ordered a new ECU to see if this is in fact the issue.
?*
I’m hoping it all hurries along a bit though. My son has his driving test in two weeks time and this is the car he chose for when he passes.

I’m from Cwmbran but worked in Oakdale at the time the car went into the garage hence taking the car to the garages recommended in Abertillery area. (I’ve since found a new job, worked out my notice and started a new job and the car is still in the garage ?)

I’ll check out the above in case it turns out the ECU is not issue second time around.

You dont list symptoms other than wont start from what I can see. But if garage is competent and have checked for fuel and spark. Really quick one is to pull off exhaust manifold 15 min job. I had one no way would it start and if I did have a big battery in fast enough to get it to fire it ran like a pig and died second you touched throttle. It was the catalytic converter. The just collapse and block the flow of air out of engine. Pulled mine off fired straight up

Thought I’d provide an update on this issue...
The problem was the ECU. It was sent away by the garage to be fixed and it wasn’t fixed!
Only after three months of looking for possibly faults elsewhere and exhausting all possible alternatives was the ECU fix questioned.
One new ECU later and hey presto- the car runs.
Now I just have a noisy fan belt and flat battery to sort out ?
Thank you everyone for your responses. You gave me hope when all I had was disparity!!

Glad you got to the bottom of it..
Were the garage ok in the end..?

3 months still seems daft..
and you would hope all their 'tests' were not carried out with a flat battery.

Charlie

Michelle4873 said:

Thought I’d provide an update on this issue...
The problem was the ECU. It was sent away by the garage to be fixed and it wasn’t fixed!

Thank you everyone for your responses. You gave me hope when all I had was disparity!!

Click to expand...

Hi Michelle
How is it ?
Is your son now driving ??

Charlie

He is!!
We had the car back a few days before he passed his test ?
He loves the car and is definitely working on doubling the mileage.
Thanks for your helpful comments

Well done to the pair of you