Technical Recall 5397 - Steering Column Shaft

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Technical Recall 5397 - Steering Column Shaft

barbary_coaster

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Can anyone tell me exactly what the Fiat dealer has to do to check/fix this problem.

Reading the VOSA website, it involves checking the torque of the upper fixing bolt, but I would like to know if it's more than just using a torque wrench.

I took my car to the local Fiat dealer in Greece, he read the recall letter a couple of times then told me that it needed a special tool, and theirs was broken! With my limited understanding of Greek, he seemed to be suggesting some tool to check tracking, and not a torque wrench.

He said I should take it to another dealers 50+ miles away - is he trying to pull a fast one??
 
Can anyone tell me exactly what the Fiat dealer has to do to check/fix this problem.

Reading the VOSA website, it involves checking the torque of the upper fixing bolt, but I would like to know if it's more than just using a torque wrench.

I took my car to the local Fiat dealer in Greece, he read the recall letter a couple of times then told me that it needed a special tool, and theirs was broken! With my limited understanding of Greek, he seemed to be suggesting some tool to check tracking, and not a torque wrench.

He said I should take it to another dealers 50+ miles away - is he trying to pull a fast one??

just got mine done today, its a special digital torque wrench thats costs £600 i was told by the tech guy. it involves checking what current torque is of the bolts and must be between 11-30nm, if its outside of these, the lot has to be replaced, if like mine its in the range(mine was 13) they tighten it up to 29.
 
.. what hapens if its out and your car isn't under warranty any more? do fiat replace this with no charge to you because its a recall?
 
just got mine done today, its a special digital torque wrench thats costs £600 i was told by the tech guy. it involves checking what current torque is of the bolts and must be between 11-30nm, if its outside of these, the lot has to be replaced, if like mine its in the range(mine was 13) they tighten it up to 29.


I can understand replacing the fixing if its been over torqued but not if its been under :confused:

.. what hapens if its out and your car isn't under warranty any more? do fiat replace this with no charge to you because its a recall?

Free of charge mate (y)






How long till "T" has a hissy fit about this recall and the search button :wave: :D
 
Yes, the search function is useful :)

If you care to read my original post, you will find that the "search" function would not answer my question ;)


However, thanks Matty for your answer, it sounds like my local Fiat dealer could be unwilling to buy that wrench.
 
If you care to read my original post, you will find that the "search" function would not answer my question ;)


However, thanks Matty for your answer, it sounds like my local Fiat dealer could be unwilling to buy that wrench.

:confused: Yes it does Mr Barbary_coaster :-
https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/222347-recall-notice.html

We'll give you the benefit of the doubt as a Welcome Noob! ;) (y)

However when my recall was done my dealer told me Fiat would only "give" their dealer Network 1 wrench each...
 
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:confused: Yes it does Mr Barbary_coaster :-
https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/222347-recall-notice.html

We'll give you the benefit of the doubt as a Welcome Noob! ;) (y)

However when my recall was done my dealer told me Fiat would only "give" their dealer Network 1 wrench each...

i assumed fiat uk would "give the dealer the tool, but i was told they had to pay for it themseves(chorley fiat/kia dealer) and fiat uk just pay there labour charges(alot of ££)
 
i assumed fiat uk would "give the dealer the tool, but i was told they had to pay for it themseves(chorley fiat/kia dealer) and fiat uk just pay there labour charges(alot of ££)

It would be harsh to charge a dealership to fix a problem from Manufacture though, or maybe the Fiat contact I have was mis-informed. The dealerships would back charge Fiat anyhow... so maybe its a deal they do... no doubt some Fiat clever person will let us know.
 
It would be harsh to charge a dealership to fix a problem from Manufacture though, or maybe the Fiat contact I have was mis-informed. The dealerships would back charge Fiat anyhow... so maybe its a deal they do... no doubt some Fiat clever person will let us know.

i can guarantee the dealer aint losing out, it took them fifteen mins to fix mine, yet i caught a glance of the job card, and it said 1.5 hours!!

whats the hourly labour charge these days?£70-80/hr? jeees
 
Goes to show why servicing costs are so high! They charge Fiat for a two hour job when it only takes 15mins.
 
Just picked my recall letter up....which in a way is a relief :D

I cant see any dealer loosing out on this. According to VOSA over 55,000 cars are affected by this recall, now ask yourself how many Fiat dealers there are in the UK and do the sums. Some dealers will see hundreds of cars with this problem, the big chains thousands. Even with discounted labour rates its going to generate a lot of, probably much needed income for them and there will be more than enough in it for them to cover the cost of any special tools....which I assume the dealer will be keeping and which will in turn become an asset for them.

I am off to make some new "Fiat friends" at Forward Autos in St helens (y) shortly.
 
Sledge, I must only live round the corner from you, my local is forward autos too :wave:

Ive not heard anything my car is an 06 does it apply?
 
i assumed fiat uk would "give the dealer the tool, but i was told they had to pay for it themseves(chorley fiat/kia dealer) and fiat uk just pay there labour charges(alot of ££)

Fiat do refund dealer for wrench

It would be harsh to charge a dealership to fix a problem from Manufacture though, or maybe the Fiat contact I have was mis-informed. The dealerships would back charge Fiat anyhow... so maybe its a deal they do... no doubt some Fiat clever person will let us know.

Fiat never refunded the multipla spring compressor tool, same price as torque wrench.

i can guarantee the dealer aint losing out, it took them fifteen mins to fix mine, yet i caught a glance of the job card, and it said 1.5 hours!!

whats the hourly labour charge these days?£70-80/hr? jeees

0.5 is the allowed time, dealer lucky to get £18-20

Goes to show why servicing costs are so high! They charge Fiat for a two hour job when it only takes 15mins.

servicing costs are not high (read the servicing threads) and Fiat dictate the time allowed for recall work and pay the going rate...no more no less.
 
I was talking with our company solicitor today and just in conversation mentioned the fact my car had been recalled. He raised an interesting point regarding liability in this situation. It is his belief that as soon as you sign for the letter informing you of the exact details of the issue the responsibilty, should an accident occur as a result of the problem is totaly attributable to the owner, not the manufacturer and its for this reason they choose to use this way of notifying owners. In short its a way of shifting blame.

Its all on the basis that it could be argued the owner has made the choice to carry on using the car despite being made aware directly of the fact it could have a potentialy dangerous fault condition by the manufacturer themselves.

In the event of an accident manufacturers could defend themselves by saying....well, we told the owner via letter it ....**could**.... be dangerous and have proof of the fact they received it. We did everything we could within reason to put him in the picture but he made the choice to carry on using the car so its his fault not ours. If this was in a court attention would then turn to the owner and the following question would be asked. The manufacturer has told you it was potentialy dangerous and can prove the fact so why exactly did you carry on using it???......This is the point at which the blame shifts and you need to talk your way out of it........errrrrrr!!!.

Furthermore your insurance company are also within rights to refuse to pay out in the event of an accident if it was proven to be related to the fault for the same reasons ie: you knew the car had a possible safety related issue but chose to carry on using it, all of which can be proven.

Its in a very grey area and all scary stuff, his bottom line advice was dont use the car until its sorted and when it has been done get indisputable proof of the fact
 
I was talking with our company solicitor today and just in conversation mentioned the fact my car had been recalled. He raised an interesting point regarding liability in this situation. It is his belief that as soon as you sign for the letter informing you of the exact details of the issue the responsibilty, should an accident occur as a result of the problem is totaly attributable to the owner, not the manufacturer and its for this reason they choose to use this way of notifying owners. In short its a way of shifting blame.

Its all on the basis that it could be argued the owner has made the choice to carry on using the car despite being made aware directly of the fact it could have a potentialy dangerous fault condition by the manufacturer themselves.

In the event of an accident manufacturers could defend themselves by saying....well, we told the owner via letter it ....**could**.... be dangerous and have proof of the fact they received it. We did everything we could within reason to put him in the picture but he made the choice to carry on using the car so its his fault not ours. If this was in a court attention would then turn to the owner and the following question would be asked. The manufacturer has told you it was potentialy dangerous and can prove the fact so why exactly did you carry on using it???......This is the point at which the blame shifts and you need to talk your way out of it........errrrrrr!!!.

Furthermore your insurance company are also within rights to refuse to pay out in the event of an accident if it was proven to be related to the fault for the same reasons ie: you knew the car had a possible safety related issue but chose to carry on using it, all of which can be proven.

Its in a very grey area and all scary stuff, his bottom line advice was dont use the car until its sorted and when it has been done get indisputable proof of the fact

Thats a bit ghey, especially seeing as when i got mine booked in for this recall they cudnt fit me in for 2 weeks! thats not really fair or practical to expect a person whos too young for a courtesy car to not use their car for 2 weeks because there is a potentially dangerous fault with it, but the dealer cant fit them in! surely if it was that dangerous they would have gone slighlty out of their way to try and fit me in earlier?
 
Well.......thats fair comment, but its not all about practicality, its about responsibility. If you have just lost your steering, run into a bus stop and wiped out half a dozen pensioners/schoolkids as a result and it could be proven you knew the car had a potential steering fault. Do you think the fact you couldnt get a courtesy car and had to wait for 2 weeks for the repair would be a reasonable excuse?....I dont.
 
that is also a very fair comment, however, i am fortunate in the sense that i can walk to my place of work, however if i needed to drive to work or college, as some people will do, it isnt really a good reason or excuse to miss 2 weeks of work/education because your car has a potentially lethal defect that cant be sorted quicker?
 
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