General Twin air long term reliability.

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General Twin air long term reliability.

macamxthe1st

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I have had a look around but I can't find much on the subject, maybe there are not many high mileage examples around yet. I was planning to change the car latter this year but I am beginning to think why bother. The car feels as good now if not better than when new, uses not a drop of oil and apart from the tailgate niggles has been very impressive. I have even overcome the issue of a rubbish main dealer by finding a very good independent. So my question is, are any "nasties" starting to emerge with the Twin airs or are the looking to be robust little devils ?. The thought of not handing over 20% in VAT for our goverment to waste is getting more appealing by the minute.

Geoff.
 
I have had a look around but I can't find much on the subject, maybe there are not many high mileage examples around yet. I was planning to change the car latter this year but I am beginning to think why bother. The car feels as good now if not better than when new, uses not a drop of oil and apart from the tailgate niggles has been very impressive. I have even overcome the issue of a rubbish main dealer by finding a very good independent. So my question is, are any "nasties" starting to emerge with the Twin airs or are the looking to be robust little devils ?. The thought of not handing over 20% in VAT for our goverment to waste is getting more appealing by the minute.

Geoff.

There must be examples on the 50 forum that have clocked up big mileages.
 
I regularly go on the 500 section, and there have been very few cases of people with major TA issues. Sure, there have been individual cases over the past few years, but it does very much seem to be down to the individual cars being lemons to begin with.

The one thing I can recall cropping up is that some TA coil packs fail, but it's not widespread.

You can never tell of course what might happen, but assuming you look after your car and maintain it properly, it should be fine!(y)
 
I regularly go on the 500 section, and there have been very few cases of people with major TA issues. Sure, there have been individual cases over the past few years, but it does very much seem to be down to the individual cars being lemons to begin with.

The one thing I can recall cropping up is that some TA coil packs fail, but it's not widespread.

You can never tell of course what might happen, but assuming you look after your car and maintain it properly, it should be fine!(y)


When choosing the engine for my Panda (petrol vs. diesel) this epic trip
was just being completed:

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/298416-london-cape-town-record-run.html

The Twinair's reliability under such arduous use gave me great
confidence (y)

And the fact that it wasn't an official Fiat-supported event further
supports the 'stock' engine's fundamental durability :cool:



Chris E.
 
Thanks for the replies some very good points. My current thinking is to stick with it.
 
Our 500 TA has clocked up only around 23,000 miles in three years.

Early in its life it got recalled to have the turbo replaced.

We hadn't experienced any problems before the recall and none since.
 
a guy had one as a learner / ADI car ( 500) that did @110K I believe,

same story as the 1.3 diesels,
the Correct grade of clean oil regularly is the Key,
the multiair unit is bIG money..,
but they are pretty robust - you see occasional failures in the Multiair GP's,

I plan to keep mine long-term also, Punto TA

Charlie
 
Ok I'm not usually one for thread necromancy but I was just gonna start a new thread and this suggested one popped up so here goes.

Lately i'm noticing more and more comments mid thread regarding the life of a twinair engine . Is there actually any real KNOWN issue now the engines old news or is it all 'the skys falling'..... I Get the whole MUST use the very specific oil. Anything else?
 
Ok I'm not usually one for thread necromancy but I was just gonna start a new thread and this suggested one popped up so here goes.

Lately i'm noticing more and more comments mid thread regarding the life of a twinair engine . Is there actually any real KNOWN issue now the engines old news or is it all 'the skys falling'..... I Get the whole MUST use the very specific oil. Anything else?

As section mod for the 500 I've perhaps kept a closer eye on these comments than many.

Certainly there's nothing to suggest the sky is falling in, but there have been some early turbo failures (IIRC there was a recall for some of the earlier 500's), and a few (but not a lot) of failures of the multiair unit. This has been a known weak point on earlier Alfas, so perhaps a little paranoia is understandable.

I'd say it's still too early to tell how all this will pan out for 2nd/3rd/4th owners; my subjective feeling is that it's probably a greater risk than the previous 1.2 engine (at least in Euro4/5 form), but not sufficient to stress about unduly.

If the worst were to happen and either the turbo or multiair units were to prove questionably reliable in the long term, there are so many of these engines out there that I'm sure there'd be modestly priced aftermarket solutions available.

So if you're looking over the life of the car, a 1.2 will likely cost you less in servicing and repairs (and almost certainly less in fuel), but IMO not enough to be a deal breaker - if you like the way the TA drives (it's not to everyone's taste and at least a few folks can't live with it), I'd say go for it.

From what I've seen posted, if I planned on keeping for the long term, I'd say versions with either auto climate control or dualogic gearboxes are a greater potential moneypit than the TA engine; I certainly wouldn't want to own a Panda/500 with either of these options once out of warranty.

The TA is a popular choice, but popularity is no guarantee of a trouble free ownership experience; BL produced 642,350 Allegros and that is frequently said to be the worst car ever sold in the UK, ever. Any new design has the potential to be a long term lemon and only time will tell for sure if the TA will have the durability of its predecessors.

But even the most successful cars and engines were at one time a completely new design and that, in itself, is no reason to suppose it won't prove reliable in the long term.
 
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My TA has 73000 miles on the clock and is still running fine - think the suspension may be on the way out - but that is probably down to all the pot holes round here
 
Mine uses a little bit of oil, and ive done 18k miles in its first year, i'm not convinced it would have made it two years till the oil was changed. With the rubbish dipstick it would be too easy for a garage to not notice a low oil level at inspection 1 if I didn't check it.
 
Mine uses a little bit of oil, and ive done 18k miles in its first year, i'm not convinced it would have made it two years till the oil was changed. With the rubbish dipstick it would be too easy for a garage to not notice a low oil level at inspection 1 if I didn't check it.

interestingly mine has not used ANY noticeable amount of oil..
I read the early stories of high oil consumption so used a break-in method to suit, then a change at '6K and another at 18K,
it's now at 22K , and 3 years old..

I've seen TA's advertised for good money at 90K here in the UK:)

it's DMF and Camchain are probably as likely to need work as the 1.3 diesels..but SHOULD be cheaper - as access is that much easier(y)

it ZERO VED is still a big PLUS , and it still returns 50MPG most days, and a GRIN where required(y)

Charlie - Punto TA - Oxford
 
Mine uses a little bit of oil, and ive done 18k miles in its first year, i'm not convinced it would have made it two years till the oil was changed. With the rubbish dipstick it would be too easy for a garage to not notice a low oil level at inspection 1 if I didn't check it.

I've been driving for 50+ years - dozens of Fiats, several Lancias and Alfas - and have never had trouble reading a dipstick before - thought it might be me. Any ideas about making it usable?
 
I've been driving for 50+ years - dozens of Fiats, several Lancias and Alfas - and have never had trouble reading a dipstick before - thought it might be me. Any ideas about making it usable?

Modern synthetics are so thin and free flowing that it's much harder than it used to be to get an accurate reading.

You can stack the cards in your favour by wiping the whole of the dipstick thoroughly before reinserting it (this stops any oil on the dipstick flowing back down), and by keeping it vertical after you withdraw it until you've read it (hold a rag underneath to catch any drips).

If you tilt the dipstick to read it, the oil can flow back and give a false reading.

You might need to repeat the exercise as necessary to clear any oil remaining on the sides of the dipstick tube.
 
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