General Hi. New Member Few Questions

[Invisible Man]

Hi,
First of all just a quick Hi. I'm Shaun and I'm a new member and also the new owner of a 2002 Fiat Sie 1.1 S.

I picked the car up yesterday for £380 as a second car for the family; my GFs just passed her test and has borrowed/ stolen my ageing Corsa C. I used to own a Fiat Cento which i inherited off my sister as my first car. I loved the car and maintained it religiously but unfortunately it sucumb to rust and was traded in for my Corsa C. While the Corsa C feels a lot more refined it just isn't as fun as the little Fiats.

Back to the Sei. I did the usual checks when i bought it. Cream in the oil filler cap, oil in the water, checked for rust and it looked clean and honest. Took it for a test drive and it selected all gears, clutch worked fine (was replaced 10k ago).

This is where i could use some advice:

Driving it home i noticed a couple of problems:
-Brake Squeal. Front LH brake squeals intermittently. I'm hoping dirt or possible new pads required?

-Gear lever feels kind of sloppy ie like there's lots of slack in it. I can select all gears fine.

-When accelerating there's a very very faint rubbing noise from the front LH. When the accelerate is released slightly the noise disappeared.....I seem to remember my Cento did the same? Maybe.

-First gear grinds ever so slightly when selecting and Reverse is sometimes hard to get.

When i got it home i noticed:
-Rocker cover gasket is leaking oil. Looks like someone has tried to seal it at some point. Looks like simply a new gasket?

I intend to change oil, Coolant and filters as a matter of course. Is there anything else i should check/ change?

It has been suggested that the HG be replaced as a matter of course before it goes and damages the head. Is this good practice or a waste of time?

Other than that the cars OK and for £380 its almost disposable.....However i would like to see how many miles i can keep her running for! 200K could be doable!

Sorry for all the questions,
Shaun.

 

[Pirus]

Hi,
First of all just a quick Hi. I'm Shaun and I'm a new member and also the new owner of a 2002 Fiat Sie 1.1 S.

Welcome to the Cento section, it's not as busy as it once was and might take a while for other members to reply. Lots of knowledgeable members and always willing to help.

-Brake Squeal. Front LH brake squeals intermittently. I'm hoping dirt or possible new pads required?

Squeal doesnt necessarily mean that it would need new brake pads. The pads vibrating in the carriers can cause squaling. Visual inspection first, check pad material level and if it is low changing them might not be a bad idea. They're cheap enough and plenty of info available on here, check the guides and faq sections.
If there's plenty of pad material left; take them off, clean and refit. Just get rid of any possible corrison and add some copper-grease to the carriers.

-Gear lever feels kind of sloppy ie like there's lots of slack in it. I can select all gears fine.
-First gear grinds ever so slightly when selecting and Reverse is sometimes hard to get.

These could potentially be related. The 'sloppy' gear change would be a hard thing to first identify as it's too subjective. If you can select all the gears i wouldnt be too worried.
Diffilculty going into first and reverse - I'd reccomend adjusting the clutch cable a couple of turns, see if it's easier to select first and reverse. Again quick search and you'll find out how.

-When accelerating there's a very very faint rubbing noise from the front LH. When the accelerate is released slightly the noise disappeared.

my guess would be that the splah shield is damaged and rubbing on the disc. Again difficult to diagnose with that description.
Potential n/s/f bearing failing? metal on metal sound or whiring sound?

-Rocker cover gasket is leaking oil. Looks like someone has tried to seal it at some point. Looks like simply a new gasket?

Leaks on pretty much every cento. Get a new gasket and easy enough to change yourself, again check the guides section. I'd recommend adding a small bead of Loctite 5980 (available from Halfords even) and then finger tighten down the bolts, allow the sealer to start to cure and then torque down to 10nm.

I intend to change oil, Coolant and filters as a matter of course. Is there anything else i should check/ change?

Visual check of brakes / discs. Take the plugs out and have a look, change if required.
Again it's up to you how much money you want to spend but if you just want a cheap run around that's mechanically sound, just cover the basics.

It has been suggested that the HG be replaced as a matter of course before it goes and damages the head. Is this good practice or a waste of time?

Mayo in the oil cap doesn't always mean HG failure. If the car has only recently done lots of short journeys, then it wont have gotten up to temperature and any moisture within the crankcase wont have evaporated fully and causes this to form.
A compression test / stiff test will let you know for if the HG is on the way out. Easy to diy if it is on the way out. If it's not its up to you if you want to change it, if you do then you know it's all sorted.

Hope some of that helps

 

[Invisible Man]

Hi,
Thanks for the quick and comprehensive reply ☺

I'll go through all of that at the weekend. Love tinkering and I'm fairly competent with a spanner..... Most of the time lol

Plan is to end up with a cheap, reliable and characterful car. Also enjoy the challenge of keeping my cars and bikes running for as many miles as possible....... hate to see a good car scraped early!
Shaun.

 

[Invisible Man]

Ps. Instead of the loctite do you think a bead of RTV would work to bolster the rocker gasket ? Have loads to hand ☺