Dear all,
For those with breather pipe problems like splits and broken pipe fixing, the repair is relatively cheap and simple (~£5 for the common split breather pipe!).

• Firstly, when I replaced my spark plugs I took off the airfilter box and the small diameter breather pipe snapped off. I was not being brutal with it either, it just fell off! I am not sure if this is a common problem but I fixed it with a brake bleed valve (i had one already but you can buy these for a few £ from any car parts shop). Measure the diameter of the threaded brake bleed valve and find a drill bit slightly smaller. Next, drill a hole where the pipe fitting snapped off and then simply screw in the brake bleed valve. I used some adhesive for measure to get a good seal. See the attached photo for the results.

• Secondly, I replaced my large diameter breather pipe. I have to say that I didn't need to replace the existing one as it seemed OK but I was concerned from other posts that it may fail at any time. All you need to do if you are slightly technically minded is; a) use some pliers to twist off the standard crimp-on clips that hold the breather pipe on and throw them away, you will need to remove the air filter box during this operation. To remove the air filter box you just need to unscrew the small allen bolt holding the inlet air pipe to the front panel and remove the two 10mm head bolts holding the air box to the rocker cover. The air filter box can now be removed but you must carefully slide the small diameter hose off the back of the air filter box first. b) go to a car parts shop and get braided rubber pipe 15.8mm internal diameter and two jubilee clips to fit round the outside diameter of the pipe, you can get these from Halfords for example, I show the Quinton Hazell pipe I used in the photo (£2.50 for a metre). c) Cut the pipe to length so that you have a nice curved radius from the rocker cover to the air filter box, don't cut it too short or too long as you will put strain on the air filter box fixing, don't worry if you get it wrong first time you will have plenty of tubing left over for a second go. d) Fit the new pipe and secure with the jubilee clips whilst replacing the air filter box. Job done.

This braided hose is tough, won't collapse under vacuum, won't split and is heat and oil resistant.

Nice to see someone thinking outside the box & just getting on and sorting out the problem rather than whining on about how FIAT should have recalled all the cars or whatever.

This fix will likely cost you less than the fuel you'd use taking it to a FIAT dealer for a warranty repair - and you'll likely only need to do it once.

It'll also make removing the airbox at service time easier than having to mess around with the OEM pipe clips.

pull off the small diameter pipe BEFORE lifting the airbox and it wont snap, the few that I have seen broken I repaired by using 1" length of break pipe (pushes straight in)

Excellent post- merchants are selling these pipes at £16/18 and even £30, that works out at £1 an inch plus. I registered specifically to thank you for the posting. This is a great help and and exposes these rip off merchants. I hope i can do something similar.

albidspark said:

Excellent post- merchants are selling these pipes at £16/18 and even £30, that works out at £1 an inch plus. I registered specifically to thank you for the posting. This is a great help and and exposes these rip off merchants. I hope i can do something similar.

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There is an updated big pipe which sorts the issue. Just buy that.....

One thing to bear in mind is that hose doesn't look to be petrol/oil resistant, so will harden and crack with age. Natural rubber+petrol/oil fumes doesn't mix, you ideally need a silicone based hose for maximum longevity - something which I believe the latest specification one is.

albidspark said:

Excellent post- merchants are selling these pipes at £16/18 and even £30, that works out at £1 an inch plus. I registered specifically to thank you for the posting. This is a great help and and exposes these rip off merchants. I hope i can do something similar.

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These rip-off merchants (whom I believe you are referring to dealerships) sell these items at the price dictated to them so blame Fiat, great demand will attract inflated prices. I renew these pipes free of charge.

T14086 said:

These rip-off merchants (whom I believe you are referring to dealerships) sell these items at the price dictated to them so blame Fiat, great demand will attract inflated prices. I renew these pipes free of charge.

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Yes the pricing is Fiat's fault. The only thing you can blame dealers for is rubbish service and messing up repairs. There again, Fiat should audit their dealers more, not wait for 1000000 complaints before removing their franchise.

ahmett said:

Fiat should audit their dealers more

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they do

T14086 said:

they do

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Well then they should audit them even more and improve customer satisfaction. I still think too many customers have bad experiences with Fiat aftersales service.

Anyway in Greece the latest dealer they gave a Fiat franchise to, I must say they are quite good, so maybe Fiat is improving in this respect.

ahmett said:

Well then they should audit them even more and improve customer satisfaction. I still think too many customers have bad experiences with Fiat aftersales service.

They (dealers) are heavily audited, you have to look at the whole picture and not just one internet forum. Large manufacturers don't tend to do as well in satisfaction surveys due to volume of sales, can't keep everyone happy.

Anyway in Greece the latest dealer they gave a Fiat franchise to, I must say they are quite good, so maybe Fiat is improving in this respect.

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What are Greek Fiat customers like out of interest?

T14086 said:

What are Greek Fiat customers like out of interest?

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Human at the top, horse at the bottom.

nottsfiat07 said:

Human at the top, horse at the bottom.

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Ahmett wishes....

lol

T14086 said:

What are Greek Fiat customers like out of interest?

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Well in the old days, they would just pay without questioning. I have friends that out of warranty pay 800 euros at a BMW dealer for their Mini Cooper services, their justification being that they will be 'cheated less, or others paying like 200 euros for a battery change at the main VW dealers!

Now that times are tougher, many people simply avoid servicing their cars altogether unless something breaks and they have no choice. MOT's are required after 4 years, and it is well known that a bribe will secure a pass under any circumstance. You can tax and insure your car without being asked for an MOT so with my mother's old car i simply skipped the MOT's. When we sold the car we had to have an mot, but the mechanic we sold it to just took it to his friend and got it MOT'd (lets say we included that factor in the sales price = ) ) Knowledgeable people generally have a friend mechanic to get things fixed and service for a much cheaper price, and there are a few women i see in the main dealer when i am there giving their car for service and paying a lot of cash without asking questions as they do not know what they are doing. Unfortunately my mom has also fallen victim to this practice as she isn't so knowledgable about cars, so i think the best option for her is leasing = )


There is also a misconception even with mechanics i know that if you have a car under warranty, it MUST be serviced under a official Fiat dealer, whereas all the warranty work i have had done, they did not once check if i had serviced the car previously at a Fiat dealer, they did not seem to care at all they just wrote the chassis number and claimed their dues from Fiat.


Out of the 4 Fiat dealers in Greece i have been to, one of them was going bankrupt (i didnt know at the time) and i think sabotaged my car on purpose, one of them pretends they are busy when they are not so they say come next week (worst customer service i have seen in my life acting like they are the only fiat dealer in the world), one of them kept on delaying the order of my spare parts under warranty until i called Fiat in Greece personally and had them delivered the next day, and finally the last one near my office, despite being expensive (thats not their fault its Fiats), they seem to be just fine. Ironically, they are the newest dealer on the block, so I believe a combination of crisis and Fiat improving on this department to have helped with the reputation of their dealers.

nottsfiat07 said:

Human at the top, horse at the bottom.

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That's just a myth.

Hey, I know this is old but just wanted to say thanks for the brake bleed nipple fix idea, worked a treat on the girlfriends 1.2!

Newbe here...
Bought my Fiat 500 1.2 pop a few months ago and have been running it with the air filters that the past owner put on themselfs (K&N types!).


Now I have bought a secondhand air filter box, but don't know where the small breather hose from the filter box goes to.

Help please...
P.S Can't post pics yet!!!

If you look at my video of plastic welding an air box, it shows you I think the first 10-15 seconds.

[ame]https://youtu.be/hC0MpmrcPf8[/ame]

typecastboy said:

If you look at my video of plastic welding an air box, it shows you I think the first 10-15 seconds.

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It's the opposite end of the small breather pipe I need to know typecastboy?