General I think it's time to call it a day

[mpoulter]

Hey Guys

Well I bought the Urchins cinq over the New Year despite really wanting a Panda but opted for this as it sounded like a great car and being who's it was and seeing rebuild photos it seemed like a no brainer.

Since I bought it in Jan, I've had the alternator replaced as it wasnt running, the fuel pump, coolant temp sensor, head gasket, cambelt, tensioner, water pump, alternator belt, rear brakes, coolant and oil cap.

So after all this work I was looking forward to some trouble free motoring. Sadly over the last couple of days it's started making a funny noise in the passenger footwell under load which could be a noisy drive shaft or possibly the gearbox. Also my head lights are rear lights have started playing up, basically when I press the switch the lights symbol on the dash sometimes light up, which when it does the lights are fine and when it doesn't only the headlights come on. Fuses are fine.

So with its mot coming up and a knocking from the rear, spluttering on start up when cold and the problems mentioned, I think it's time to call it a day. I spent over the odds on the car and three times what it's worth getting it running I can't justify anymore.

Maybe someone can advise what it might worth as it is or maybe if I break it! I have three spare ecu's, new pads and discs still in the box and it has a cat back back janspeed oval exhaust which sounds great.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[arc]

Is this the turbo? Don't you dare break it ( )

The gearbox noise could just be low gearbox oil. The lights issue sounds like a poor earth connection. Two minor things, it sounds like you've spent a lot putting other things right - don't chuck it in over little things.

 

[fingers99]

Rear lights could be a simple earth fault. Noise in passenger footwell, GOK -- ask someone to take a peek.

Pointless breaking it -- you'll simply loose more money!

 

[Ouby]

Well at least you've done your best at keeping this car alive.
Best to let it go to someone who knows these cars inside out....
like arc maybe

 

[mpoulter]

No it's not a turbo just a sporting.

Out of desperation I tried squirting a bit of wd40 behind the light switch as I guessed it wasn't always making contact. It seems to have done the trick for now which is good enough for me.

I'm not making any final decisions until its mot in a couple of weeks time.

I will keep you updated.

 

[purf]

U need to work on cars of this age yourself or you'll go broke. Is Passenger footwall noise a banging clonking ???

 

[fingers99]

If so, it's probably just the rear gearbox mount. Likewise the knocking at the rear is probably the trailing arm bushes. Both are easy enough DIY jobs.

 

[blu73]

well at the end of the day - you should be getting close to a good reliable runner by now with all you've changed.. I know this shell is in good order as well, i would say stick with it, why buy a car and spend loads of money on it and sell at a huge loss? You may as well get some miles out of it or the whole exercise will have just been a waste of money really. Your not gonna make your money back if you break it up, another decent cinq shell with undoubtedly get scrapped, everyone loses. Whats up now sounds like just some worn rubber bushes etc so no biggy, just annoying.

If you really do want to sell, i think financially your best bet would still be to fix these bits and get 12months MOT on it and then put it up for sale anyway.

 

[mpoulter]

Yes the car despite being a bit faded is extremely sound and underneath is like new.

The sound I'm getting from the front sounds mechanical. It's not a banging or clunking but more a burring, grinding, vibrating noise. At first I though it was something vibrating in the door bin. It's more noticeable in the first couple of gears and is only there when accelerating.

Are there any members near me who wouldn't mind meeting up to give me their opinion? The two garages I've been to recently haven't filled me with confidence as they seem to be guessing.

You're all right I shouldn't get rid or break it as its had so much done to it, I'm just feeling a little burnt from having spent so much and still having issues.

Thanks

 

[blu73]

well you could start by checking the oil level in the gearbox.. even if its a driveshaft its not gonna be expensive to replace nor is it a big task to swap one, its more likely gonna be the wheel bearing than the actual driveshaft though i would have thought.

 

[slugworth1987]

you know nothing of gearbox issues!



this is an 899 box

mine now just wines and groans....

there £60 so not an expensive part!!

stutter could be MAP, coolant sensor or lambda or even a mechanic getting the vacume pipes wrong, happened to me.

bad earth on the rear seems legit

 

[hf turbo]

sounds like front gearbox mounting

 

[mpoulter]

I've located the filling hole on the front of the box so I will check the level when I'm not working and have time to jack it up. There's no obvious leaks and there's no oil on my drive so who knows until I look.

The light issues seems to be sorted for now, a bit of wd40 behind the switch on the dash has sorted that. Obviously not making contact when pressed in.

The noise is getting worse and as I said its only there when accelerating. If its the box or a drive shaft I don't feel confident fixing that myself and cant justify paying more labour costs.

If its a hanger then great I assume that will be fairly straight forward.

It's being mot'd in a couple of weeks so I will decide make a final decision based onbthe outcome. I don't mind paying for parts if I can fix them but its paying a mech labour that's the real stinger. I bought this hoping to do work myself but realised not long after getting it I was a bit optimistic.

I know my speedo cable need replacing as the speedo needle makes a right racket and jumps about, that would cause any issues on the box would it as I know its attached to the box?

Mechanic thinks its needs a new throttle body to sort the spluttering. It had a coolant temp sensor a couple of months ago.

Thanks

 

[ycming]

my speedo jumps a bit below 20mph, after that it's fine. Ya right, the speedo cable is worn, but is not a must to change it.

Won't fail MOT cause of it.

Ming

 

[arc]

Mechanic thinks its needs a new throttle body to sort the spluttering. It had a coolant temp sensor a couple of months ago.

Mechanic is an idiot and is guessing; take anything he says with a pinch of salt.

 

[slugworth1987]

Check vacuum pipes for splutter, lazy coil pack or spark? Tps maybe? Map?

 

[purf]

I guess it could be the worn Speedo cable making the noise? Easy to do anyway to eliminate the possibility

 

[mpoulter]

I've been driving it about a little and come to the conclusion it's not the gears that are the issue but most likely as you've advised could be the gearbox hangers/mounts. The gear changes are still smooth, it pulls strong and only does it getting the car up to speed.

I've also come to the conclusion despite the money I've spent on it that I'm going to replace it with a bigger car I don't mind my kids sitting in the back.

So I'm going to place it in the classifieds at some point but I'm Open to offers if anyone's interested. It's had loads done to it, has loads of spare parts, brand new mintex discs and pads in the box, two fiat technicians files , I guess what they used at the dealers instead of a Haynes manual and as you can imagine with urchin a service history that you need a week to read.


If you're interested send me a pm.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[stevenodo1]

Hang on in there.....

 

[mpoulter]

Well after throwing my toys out of my pram and having time to stew I have an update.

My lights stopped working again which I traced to the dash switch not connecting properly. I ordered a new one from Fiat and now they work great and seem brighter if that's possible?

The grinding noise has been traced to, as was suggested to the rear gearbox hanger. So I'm going to have that replaced by my local garage.

It has an mot due on thursday so I hope it gets a clean bill of health and I can keep embarrassing people in their big cars.

Thanks for all your suggestions I nearly chucked in the towel.