General 500L Recall: Heater Electric Wiring

[LordMetro]

I got a letter in the post advising that the layout of the wiring that leads to the heater is apparent non-comfort, and this can cause abrasion to the supplementary heater (PTC) wiring which will eventually short-circuit. Apparently, it can potentially lead to a fire risk and my Fiat 500L is due for a recall on this. From what I've read, they are just adding a sheath to this wire to prevent wiring from getting cut.

Just wanted to inform Fiat forums in case letters haven't arrived for them etc. I did have this recall warning on the myFiat dashboard (since the start of the month) but I took no notice of it until the letter on the post came today.

I have a Fiat 500l MPW 2015 (1.3 Dualogic) which VOSA is referring this campaign ref (6159) as the PANDA model. They don't seem to have put the 500L as a Fiat car model on the VOSA database

Anyhow, will take the car to the dealer when I got some free time after the festive seasons

Below is the scanned letter in text form:

Dear Customer,

On a number of Fiat 500L vehicles due to a layout non-conformity, which could cause abrasion of the supplementary heater (PTC) wiring with consequent possible electric short-circuiting, a service operation has been prepared to extend an improvement already introduced in production to the vehicles already delivered and in use.

There is a possibility of a loss of some vehicle safety systems in the event of a short-circuit occurrence and in some cases a vehicle fire. The repair operation consists of applying a cut-proof sheath on the supplementary heater wiring to protect it from abrasions. Fiat ref: 6159.

As this defect could affect vehicle safety, you are requested to make the earliest possible appointment with a Fiat Dealer to check your vehicle and carry out any necessary rectification. This work will be carried out without charge and take approximately 0.5 hours in addition to mandatory workshop procedures.

To assist you in locating your most convenient Fiat Dealer we enclose a copy of the Fiat Dealer network listing.

Alternatively go to 'www.fiat.co.uk' or telephone the Fiat Customer Service Centre on 00800 3428 0000, 09.00 to
18.00 Monday - Friday, 08.00 to 17.00 Saturday.

This notice is sent to you in accordance with the Code of Practice for Safety Defects, as agreed between the Department of Transport and the representative Trade Associations and in compliance with the U.K General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

Thank you in advance for your assistance and we apologise for any inconvenience caused by this issue.
FCA (UK)

 

[Senu]

I got one too, not sure why they've recalled it now when mines been fine all this time, I've got 2013 500l 0.9 also says it's a panda which I laughed at while being confused haha

 

[LordMetro]

Yep, it does seem pretty late to be doing this recall and I haven't heard of anybody's heater wiring getting cut nor have I heard of any 500L's going on fire

VOSA should actually put a 500L model in their database, they've referenced previous recalls of the 500L as the 500 as well.

Edit: My bad, they did eventually add a 500L to their database it seems. https://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/re...2DB4FB6683802581E7003BD6C4&freeText=Blank&tx=

Affects 500L's from 2012 to 2017:
Build Start Date : 25/08/2012
Build End Date : 15/09/2017

Booked in seems to be a quickie

 

[Tannebri]

Yep got recall this morning also referring to a Panda also the telephone numbers on the dealer list (at least round here) are wrong!!!!!!!!

Still he's booked in first week in January 2018

 

[Watchkeeper 23]

I have also had this letter, unfortunatly it arrived while I was on holiday so I did not see it for two weeks. After searching for a non premium rate number for my local dealer I was booked in for next Monday. Then I got a call backto cancel the appointment as they do not have the part required and there are none in the country. The dealer said that they may know when they are arriving in about two weeks time. In the meantime I am without a car as it is used mainly to transport disabled passengers and I do not relish the prospect of having to lift a wheelchair user out of the car if there is a fire.

 

[Powellj3]

Not using the car is probably an over reaction. You may want to call your dealer again and get them to properly quantify the risk of fire due to that issue. I would speculate that it would be a much smaller risk than the cumulative risk of all of the other threats to your car needing you to remove passengers urgently.

If any additional risk is unacceptable then again call your dealer and ask them if the risk is only present if the heater is in use? If it is then simply don't use it. Otherwise what is the risk if you pop the fuse for the heater? Surely then there is no possible risk of fire due to abrasion of that part of the loom.

You probably have a number of options short of not using the car.

 

[Telegraph]

Hi I have been to busy to fit in a visit to a Fiat dealer (we do not have one in derby!) but will when as soon as I can. As the issue is to do with a chaffing wiring harness does anyone have a photo where it is fretting so that until we can get it sorted we can check that all is well?

 

[g8rpi]

From the description this is a valid recall and needs doing, It is a time and usage (vibration) related fault so may only show up after a number of years.
On not using the car, for most this is not a problem that would stop use of the car as you could pull over and get out. For anyone with reduced mobility or who carries passengers with reduced mobility like Watchkeeper 23 it may be prudent to limit use or put additional mitigation in place like carrying a fire extinguisher and knowing how to disconnect the battery. Disconnecting the battery is the first thing to do in an electrical fire as it will just relight otherwise. Watchkeeper 23 could contact the dealer and explain the situation to see if they can give him priority.

Robert G8RPI

 

[Watchkeeper 23]

Unfortunatly my local dealer who operates all the Fiat dealerships in the county is not interested they have said that the parts are not available and they will call me when they are but it could be a month or more. I have escalated this to the Fiat helpline who have allocated it to a manager. I have no previous experience of the Fiat helpline so I don't know how usefull that will be.

 

[adamlondon]

I also got this letter.

I am not really happy about the inconvenience really, as the only time I can get it booked in is on a weekday at 17:30 and have to collect it the next day at the same time.

They told me it takes longer than 0.5 hours mentioned in the letter.

so now I have to leave work twice early to get it there plus to get home from the dealer and to get there the next day is quite annoying as it's a tricky journey.

 

[Tannebri]

Took my local dealer 45 minutes from handing over the keys to diving of the forecourt did not even get to finish me free coffee.

 

[LordMetro]

Done our fiat last week it was pretty quick, took roughly 30 minutes on a Saturday.

I did notice that the front heater grills near the stereo do produce a small insignificant amount of heat even though the heater is off on the zero position. Not so sure if this is as designed as previous work or if this change to the heater ptc has caused this? I don't know if this is bad either... I will take a look at the manual.

Could be a design with the heating system it seems as I took a look at a reddit thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/1a2nfi/heat_coming_from_vents_even_though_heater_is_off/

 

[Watchkeeper 23]

This is trundling on and on I had a text from Fiat today following a message that I left on their Facebook site asking me to call them. I phoned and when I gave them the original reference number they said that they were aware of the issue but that there is no resolution in prospect when I aske if it was likley to be resolved in days, weeks, months or years he said yes it could be a year. In the meantme I am without a useable car and feeling very frustrated. I am now considering going back to the secondhand dealer (not a Fiat agent) that I bought the car from and rejecting the car under the Consumer Protection Act.:bang:

 

[LordMetro]

This is trundling on and on I had a text from Fiat today following a message that I left on their Facebook site asking me to call them. I phoned and when I gave them the original reference number they said that they were aware of the issue but that there is no resolution in prospect when I aske if it was likley to be resolved in days, weeks, months or years he said yes it could be a year. In the meantme I am without a useable car and feeling very frustrated. I am now considering going back to the secondhand dealer (not a Fiat agent) that I bought the car from and rejecting the car under the Consumer Protection Act.:bang:

Ummm..

That sounds pretty bad We got our Fiat 500l used for a bargain two years ago and it's been pretty good, we've taken it to our local Fiat dealership and they've done things pretty well (servicing etc.). The part was available when I booked it in for a recall in December but it arrived late to their garage, the part eventually arrived last Wednesday and had it changed (took over a week and a half).

Not sure how yours is going but anything over two weeks sounds pretty excessive. I do understand they have to source replacement parts for a lot of cars, surely they would have produced enough for the UK markets.

 

[Ziggy81]

Just picked the other halfs new to her 500l mpw up at the weekend. So a massive thank you for posting this as we would never have known otherwise.

Just spoken to one of our local dealers who have said it will take a max of an hour but that will include them washing the car should I wish (it needs a full detail anyway, so will probably tell them not to worry about this bit).

So again thank you for posting this and it might be worth making it a sticky if that is possible?

Ziggy

 

[Watchkeeper 23]

I think the dealer found the part down the back of a sofa so the car is booked in for tomorow afternoon. We will see how that goes but I am not holding my breath.
If this is the quality of the dealer network and manufacturer support I will not be buying another Fiat.

 

[Watchkeeper 23]

The job has been done and the car is back on thr road, the only problem is that with the long lay up the batery is now not powerful enough to run the stop start but that will recover in a week or so of normal use,

 

[Popstar500l]

Had the recall done end of February which took an hour or so. However trying to get a receipt or similar to say the work was carried out is proving v difficult. i keep phoning the dealership and they promise to provide proof but after 3 weeks i am losing the will to live. Any suggestions as to next steps? I just want something so that the service history is complete.