I think my fiat 500 suspension arm maybe going/gone. I’ve had two incidents in the last week of awful noise like I’ve had a blow out. But maybe 3-5 drives locally no noise at all. Took it to garage today I mentioned the arm he showed me on the ramp how left passenger one was def moving more loosely than the right. He said it would be about hour and a half labour plus £50 for the part plus vat £40p/h labour. I drove it home again no noise. But I have to do a long motorway soon so I guess I do need to replace it even though the noise is intermittent. He said he wouldn’t drive it like this as “when it does go the wheel will be all over the place” any thoughts comments from anyone. Many thanks. I’ve also got a bit of a bulb thing going on but I’ve posted that separately.
General Fiat 500 Arm
- Thread starter JulieP
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General Fiat 500 Arm
Wouldn't have thought if it was the suspension that it would just go after restarting the engine.
I replaced my front arms as the ball joints are weak, you will notice the noise over bumps more notably speed bumps.
I replaced my front arms as the ball joints are weak, you will notice the noise over bumps more notably speed bumps.
Sorry but who told you the suspension arm was 'gone' as you say You mentioned it to the garage!
If you have in fact got a perished bush ( front or rear) then it is going to be 'gone' consistently and not be determined by stopping and turning off the engine for a period.
From what the garage quoted price and time wise I would not of thought that they were swapping out a lower wishbone with the amount of work in volved and prob just more like a bottom ball joint!
Paul m.
If you have in fact got a perished bush ( front or rear) then it is going to be 'gone' consistently and not be determined by stopping and turning off the engine for a period.
From what the garage quoted price and time wise I would not of thought that they were swapping out a lower wishbone with the amount of work in volved and prob just more like a bottom ball joint!
Paul m.
So I took it to local garage and he put it up on the ramp. He wobbled the drivers arm and it was kind of tight then he showed me the passenger and it was kind of loose or wobbly in comparison. I did hit a massive pot hole in the road recently. It’s just weird the noise only came twice in about 5 journeys. The sound was like if you’ve got a flat. Very very loud and like the sound of the wheel going round. I think he was saying the bush is damaged but still working. So I’m wondering if he gave me a price for the bush not the whole arm. The arm looked ok but I’ve never stood under a car and looked at one before so who knows. Think I need to clarify that he’s changing the bush not the bush and arm. I think he was saying it’s damaged and probably worse on certain types of road. I live in Shropshire hills roads are poor. The only other thing is both times I was braking but like I said on all other journeys the car seemed fine. The only other thing I’ve noticed is the car road noise seems louder than normal infact I noticed that first but I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination...he said to not drive it until fixed because if the bush went completely - not good.
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The bottom ball joint is integral with the track control arm. Replacing individual bushes would require heavy duty press tooling which is beyond the scope of most garages, so the arm is generally replaced as a complete unit.
There are some very cheap pattern parts out there (the aftermarket sell a lot of 500 track control arms), which may account for the low price. But be aware that many of them are basically rubbish and this is one component that's worth replacing with a decent brand such as Lemforder. Failure is very common on the 500, in part because the OEM arms are not of the best quality. You won't get a decent quality arm for £50+VAT. It might get you through the next MOT, but the rattling will be back within a year or two and you'll have to do it all again.
Avoid replacing with Fiat OEM parts as, apart from not being of the best quality, they are also not cheap.
Ideally replace both sides at the same time. The other side may not last long after the first one has failed, and this will keep the labour cost down since some of the work (bumper removal & tracking) would otherwise have to be duplicated.
Keep a close eye on front tyre wear once you get the car back; if it hasn't been tracked properly after replacing the arm(s); they'll wear unevenly and you'll soon be down the price of a pair of tyres - plus you'll need the tracking done again.
This is one job where taking the cheapest possible quote may not necessarily be in your best interests, particularly if you're planning on keeping the car for awhile longer. A good mechanic who will do a proper job using decent parts is both worth his wages and worth paying for.
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Right thank you. He quoted me two prices for the part. One was £42 he said a copy part. One was £52 and he said that was the genuine part. Then he said hour or so labour if it came off ok. Plus vat. What is OEM ? Should I ask for that makes Led whatsit? Incidentally I asked him about replacing the bulbs too! But I guess if their rate is £40 per hour , it’s goinf to be about half hour to replace so still similar to Halfords. But obvs this arm thing is the more pressing issue at this point as I need to drive a long distance soon.
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OEM original equipment manufacturer or genuine vs OEM equivalent the same spec made by someone else and then there's just "compatible "
""The bottom ball joint is integral with the track control arm.""
(everyday a school day, my car is a Lexus and the reason I am frequenting the FF is I have got my daughter 500! Her idea not mine!)
Some cars you can just swap out the ball joint but obviously not the 500!
The lower wishbone is installed in such a way that even if the bushes failed catastrophically then the wishbone/wheel assembly should stay attached to the vehicle.
That price does not seem too excessive after watching the process whereby the front bumper and crash bar has to be removed along with the forward subframe just to get to the front wishbone fixing! As above if doing one defective side then it makes economic sense (tracking requirement) to do both as they will prob both be the same age. If you do go ahead and give them the work then just mention the headlamp fitting when you drop the car off and ask if they could do it in with the price, knowing how little is involved in fitting these lamps they most prob will.
Paul m.
(everyday a school day, my car is a Lexus and the reason I am frequenting the FF is I have got my daughter 500! Her idea not mine!)
Some cars you can just swap out the ball joint but obviously not the 500!
The lower wishbone is installed in such a way that even if the bushes failed catastrophically then the wishbone/wheel assembly should stay attached to the vehicle.
That price does not seem too excessive after watching the process whereby the front bumper and crash bar has to be removed along with the forward subframe just to get to the front wishbone fixing! As above if doing one defective side then it makes economic sense (tracking requirement) to do both as they will prob both be the same age. If you do go ahead and give them the work then just mention the headlamp fitting when you drop the car off and ask if they could do it in with the price, knowing how little is involved in fitting these lamps they most prob will.
Paul m.
:yeahthat:
To change the arms, they will have removed most of the bits that get in the way and make bulb changing slightly awkward; changing the bulbs at the same time will add practically nothing at all to the job.
I'm actually wondering if they've priced this in; if they've not changed one on a 500 before, they may not realise quite how much dismantling is required - on most cars, you wouldn't need to take off these parts. I don't think I could change one and set the tracking afterwards in an hour (though in fairness I'm not doing this every day). Removing & refitting the bumper is really a two person job, and getting it to sit straight again afterwards can be fiddly.
Julie, make sure you've got a firm quote, and not just an estimate, or you may end up being charged more than you were expecting.
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I don’t think the other one will be defective I’m pretty sure I did this a couple of weeks ago when my car hit a ridiculous new pot hole in the road. They are everywhere here since the snow. It made a right clunk/bang so I assume this is when it happened.
No I’ve never had a car like this before my last was a Jazz which though rather uninspiring was incredible regarding reliability. Parts were expensive though. But I didn’t have to buy many.
I bought the 500 18 months ago when I fell off a ladder in my garden and smashed my elbow in tiny pieces which took a year recovery. The only way I could drive was an automatic my jazz was manual and a very very light car, hence the 500. So to be fair it has been good for that and it’s brilliant for parking. But that drive from Devon was my worst journey ever in regards to night vision. And where I live there is no such thing as a street light (up in the hills).
Well, accident ( class a pothole as 'accident') damage can happen to any car so don't despair on that one, and if the headlight situation is solved simply by changing the lamps rather than the car! Then you'll be on the road as normal again.
Paul m.
Paul m.
Yes, I hope so. I will put the outcomes up when I get sorted. Thank you for your help.
