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Technical Water damage & Wiring Loom...

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Technical Water damage & Wiring Loom...

mishka83

mishka83

Little Firecracker
Joined
Mar 9, 2010
Messages
46
Points
16
Location
Lanarkshire, Scotland.
What a time i'm having!!

Took the car to the garage with the ABS light on.

They changed brake discs, pads, 2 tyres and replaced the ABS sensor (£300 in total) and the light was still on. :mad:

The electric guy checked it today and he said water has been leaking in and it's water damaged and needs a new wiring loom.

Anyone know how much this is likely to cost? I wanna get a heads up before they quote me a ridiculous price!! :cry:

I'd also like to add that it's been running very rough and jolty with dodgy acceleration when it's a wet day, could this be linked?
 
are you using parks motor group ???if your close to east kilbride ,there is a ex fiat lad with his own garage is supposed to be good ...from what i have read on here people have got away with cleaning the plugs and sealing them ,rather than changing looms ,i have found working on trucks that it is generally corrosion at plugs and a good clean sorts it ,or worse case a new plug ,,,search the good garages and you will find the lad ..he'll probably sort all your problems
 
Hi folks,

WELL...got the call after the electrician has had a look etc.

The main wiring loom is shot and the full thing needs replaced.

It costs around £600 for the part (which is made up of 9 little parts), and 6 hours labour at £300.

Think i'm gonna have to sell it on...:cry:
 
Fiat Dealer quoted me 2-2.5K to replace main body (habitat) loom, :cry:
Thank God we got it sorted without resorting to this, at least Dick Turpin wore a mask!!!:eek:
 
This really pIsses me off, now assuming the quotes here are real then I suggest you go back to the garage and get the quote in writing, photocopy it and foward it to Fiat.

£2-2.5k to fit a loom is ******, you only need to replace the main loom £280-420 depending on version) and labour time is 5-6.5 hours roughly. It is a big job and this should be remembered but no more than £750.
 
how is the loom getting wet? surely there is something that can be done to stop the water getting in there in the first place, apart from cleaning and spraying the connector block :confused:
 
Having read the horror stories on this forum I dashed out to check my connector block; no corrosion thankfully but it was wet. It seems to me that the connector block is situated in a place where water draining from the scuttle is bound to get on to it; it’s a design flaw pure and simple. Fiat should repairing the damage for free, even out of warranty, Toyota would. It is even more shocking to hear that the problem isn’t covered by the 3rd year of the warranty, if a design flaw leading to corrosion of the wiring isn’t covered then what on earth is? Vauxhall can offer a ‘lifetime’ warranty on the Corsa which presumably uses the same ABS components whilst Fiat only cover it for two years. Rant over.

How can we stop the problem? I have had two thoughts and will be trying them out at the soonest opportunity. Firstly; I wondered if there was some way to wrap the connector plug and socket in plastic, something like a sandwich bag and a liberal amount of electrical tape. My second thought was filling the socket with Dielectric grease and plugging the plug back in, one brand is called Contralube 770 and is available from Maplin for £7. I will probably try a combination of the two.

As for looms that are already damaged? You could ask an auto electrician about cutting of the old plug and splicing a new one on (if you can get hold of one that is). The problem with this would be that modern multiplexed/CAN BUS wiring looms don’t take too kindly to being cut about and you would have to make all the joints weather tight. It is possible though, I used to work for a company that had to cut and extend multiplexed wiring harnesses on a daily basis in brand new vehicles. Very rarely would there be a problem so long and all the joints were well soldered and the wire gauges chosen to match the original.

Depending on the extent of the damage; I’d take it to an auto electrician and ask him if he could replace/repair just one or two wires. It is only patching up but might be worth a go.


James
 
T14086 said:
This really pIsses me off, now assuming the quotes here are real then I suggest you go back to the garage and get the quote in writing, photocopy it and foward it to Fiat.

£2-2.5k to fit a loom is ******, you only need to replace the main loom £280-420 depending on version) and labour time is 5-6.5 hours roughly. It is a big job and this should be remembered but no more than £750.
Click to expand...

jameshobiecat said:
Having read the horror stories on this forum I dashed out to check my connector block; no corrosion thankfully but it was wet. It seems to me that the connector block is situated in a place where water draining from the scuttle is bound to get on to it; it’s a design flaw pure and simple. Fiat should repairing the damage for free, even out of warranty, Toyota would. It is even more shocking to hear that the problem isn’t covered by the 3rd year of the warranty, if a design flaw leading to corrosion of the wiring isn’t covered then what on earth is? Vauxhall can offer a ‘lifetime’ warranty on the Corsa which presumably uses the same ABS components whilst Fiat only cover it for two years. Rant over.

James
Click to expand...

I agree with the above two quotes. Firstly as T says, regarding the £2-£2.5k quote, forward a written copy of the quote to Fiat UK. If you have a scanner then scan it in and attach it to an email explaining your situation to: [email protected] - this is who i emailed regarding some snapped suspension springs on my Stilo & my problem was resolved quickly and very efficiently.

Also as James points out, if the fault has been caused by a design fault then Fiat should be repairing free of charge. At the very least i'd say a contribution to the repair bill should be made, but Fiat aren't always too hot on things like this as i've found out when fighting the corner of several GP owners whose alternators have frozen during cold weather (Sticky at top of GP section) :(

Incidently, the cause of the frozen alternators is also due to water draining into an innappropriate part of the under-bonnet area :rolleyes:

Some things for the OP to post if she can:

*What age & mileage is the car? Newer & lower the better for goodwill.
*Have you owned it from new? If not, was it bought from a Fiat dealer?
*Has it been serviced on time?
*Who has serviced it?

These are all helpful to ascertain whether you'll get help from Fiat UK or not, but i'd hope with quotes for £900 for the OP & at least £2000 elsewhere, someone at Fiat UK will do something.

Liam
 
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Sorry if my quote from a very large, national? Dealership pi**es you off, how do you think I felt when they rang me jst before Xmas to tell me the price?

Let me tell you that my Wife broke down in tears and beleive me I was not far from that myself.
I f anyone can get a cheaper quote I really envy them and wish them best of luck, A****y, near Walsall quoted me £900 plus in labour alone, based on £94 per hour and the "job will take nine or ten hours to do, all interior , dash , headlining etc has to be removed etc etc" added of course the parts cost and the likely problems/delay in actually getting hold of a loom.
2 hours diagnostics cost me £187 and then I had to wait another 2 or 3 days to get the car put back together as the "Technician doing the job is on holiday and none of the other guys want to do it in case he has any bits and pieces locked up in his toolbox"

I probably have the paperwork around somewhere, just can't find it at this precise time, but sending it to FIAT Uk will achieve what?, if people read my previous messages they will see that the Technicians in our garage at work sorted me out by cleaning out all 3 plugs and filling the worst(largest?) one with electrically conductive grease one of the guys had from his day workin go Peugeot.A "can do "attitude which I'm bound to say did'nt seem to be shared by the Technicians at the Dealership.:(

Pi**ing you off as you put it was not my intention, telling the facts as they happened to me, is and remains so, hoping that my experiences will help others out of their problems.
 
Daver said:
Sorry if my quote from a very large, national? Dealership pi**es you off, how do you think I felt when they rang me jst before Xmas to tell me the price?

Let me tell you that my Wife broke down in tears and beleive me I was not far from that myself.
I f anyone can get a cheaper quote I really envy them and wish them best of luck, A****y, near Walsall quoted me £900 plus in labour alone, based on £94 per hour and the "job will take nine or ten hours to do, all interior , dash , headlining etc has to be removed etc etc" added of course the parts cost and the likely problems/delay in actually getting hold of a loom.
2 hours diagnostics cost me £187 and then I had to wait another 2 or 3 days to get the car put back together as the "Technician doing the job is on holiday and none of the other guys want to do it in case he has any bits and pieces locked up in his toolbox"

I probably have the paperwork around somewhere, just can't find it at this precise time, but sending it to FIAT Uk will achieve what?, if people read my previous messages they will see that the Technicians in our garage at work sorted me out by cleaning out all 3 plugs and filling the worst(largest?) one with electrically conductive grease one of the guys had from his day workin go Peugeot.A "can do "attitude which I'm bound to say did'nt seem to be shared by the Technicians at the Dealership.:(

Pi**ing you off as you put it was not my intention, telling the facts as they happened to me, is and remains so, hoping that my experiences will help others out of their problems.
Click to expand...

How about chilling out before ranting for no reason.. :confused:

He was not angry at YOU it was the massive price quote and unwillingness from fiat to do anything about it that annoys everyone, not your haggling skills
 
I took out the plug in the right top hand side of under the bonnet and it looks fine.

I don't know where the other stuff and plugs are lol.

It's going into that CM garage in EK tomorrow morning so i will see what they say.

I am quite honestly almost out of cash after kwik fit!!

If the bill is massive i'll be forced to sell.
 
GymJunkie said:
How about chilling out before ranting for no reason.. :confused:

He was not angry at YOU it was the massive price quote and unwillingness from fiat to do anything about it that annoys everyone, not your haggling skills
Click to expand...
I did'nt mean to rant at anyone, but feeling that someone has even attempted to rip you off, take you for a ride etc etc is a touchy subject and even more so when informed people on the forum confirm that was the likely outcome if I had followed this particular dealers advice.

I did'nt approach FIAT because a)I did,nt actually incur that sort of bill and b) tbh felt that if I complained "officially" the dealership would have likely as not had all the answers at their fingertips to argue against me?
I'm just very grateful that other people helped me out and hopefully others in the same or similar trouble will not suffer as much financially as we nearly did .
 
Magic Johnson said:
Argh, never take your car to Kwikfit!
Click to expand...

To right they are just cow boys, a year ago i was booked in at kwikfit for a brake inspection and wile i was waiting i saw the way they treated peoples car wile moving them around they where ragging the **** out of them bumping them up the ramp at high speed and generaly treating them like ****.
After waiting for 10 mins and watching this go on I just walked out wasn't having them treat my car that way. Be warned.
 
GymJunkie said:
How about chilling out before ranting for no reason.. :confused:

He was not angry at YOU it was the massive price quote and unwillingness from fiat to do anything about it that annoys everyone, not your haggling skills
Click to expand...

Spot on.

I sometimes get the feeling that trying to help some people is just pointless - one goes off on one at the people trying to help & the other appears not to have even read my post.

Ofcourse there's a point of contacting Fiat UK. The dealer isn't going to phone them and say 'by the way we're ripping off your customers'. If customers don't bring these things to Fiat UKs attention then things will never change.

I look forward to seeing what T has to say anyway.

:bang::cry:
 
I appreciate help from anyone, but getting in between FIAT and a large dealership seemed so bloody pointless, beleive me the HUGE sigh of releif we felt when car got sorted sort of overcame any other thoughts of challenging dealers morals, business practices etc, although I totally agree that this sort of thing is a huge problem and does nobody as a Fiat customer any favours(including Fiat themselves)

Genuinely though I did'nt intend to rant at anyone but the whole episode was very upsetting and I am really glad to hear that other dealers are more straight and decent about charges etc.:worship::cry:
 
Daver said:
I did'nt mean to rant at anyone, but feeling that someone has even attempted to rip you off, take you for a ride etc etc is a touchy subject and even more so when informed people on the forum confirm that was the likely outcome if I had followed this particular dealers advice.

I did'nt approach FIAT because a)I did,nt actually incur that sort of bill and b) tbh felt that if I complained "officially" the dealership would have likely as not had all the answers at their fingertips to argue against me?
I'm just very grateful that other people helped me out and hopefully others in the same or similar trouble will not suffer as much financially as we nearly did .
Click to expand...

Daver, if everyone stood back and done nothing then how would things improve? Your not 'coming between Fiat and large dealer chain' but simply making Fiat aware of what is going on however lets not tar all dealerships with the same brush. There is also a chance Fiat might contribute to the repair, no harm in asking is there, don't ask you don't get!

In the perfect world Fiat would run their own garages (the only way their JD power survey position will improve!) but they dont and IMO large dealership chains have too much sway BUT there comes a point where you have to say enough.

FACT - phoned DET at local dealership, job time is 6.5 hours, even at £95 that's £617.50 however it would be sensible to haggle on labour price after all dealers are not exactly overflowing with work these days especially with block exemption etc Even pricing the loom nearly £400 that's £1k maximum

Perhaps you can invite the dealership in question to justify the quote here on this forum;)
 
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" I took out the plug in the right top hand side of under the bonnet and it looks fine.

I don't know where the other stuff and plugs are lol."

Am I to understand that it is not only the ABS connector that suffers from water ingress? If so could people point out all the known wiring corrosion ‘hot spots’ so that other members can avoid trouble.

Regards,

James
 
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