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Mistpjenkins
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So is it not at all possible that because it’s driving fine right now and not overheating or struggling in almost any way, that they performed an inaccurate compression test or got inaccurate results?
Technical Low compression on cylinders 1 & 2
- Thread starter Mistpjenkins
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Technical Low compression on cylinders 1 & 2
So sorry to hear of your circumstances, afraid I don't have a handy bottomless money pit to direct you to - anyway, my kids would already be in the queue ahead of you! I'll just keep my fingers crossed you might get a reply later on from someone nearer to you than I am. Good luck. Kindest regards. JockI know, it’s an absolute joke.. 4 hours labour at £126p/h. Disgusting! I just thought a fiat mechanic was my best bet. I can’t even get a bank loan, my credit is absolute shot and although I’ve been desperately trying to pay off everything and anything I can for the last year, I can’t seem to get anywhere with it, so I have literally zero borrowing options
Unless they really don't know what they are doing it's quite difficult to get a compression test wrong. If you have doubts the only thing I can recommend is for a second opinion to be obtained, but that probably means taking it to another garage and I doubt if they would do it for free.
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Hahaha thank you! I really appreciate all of your advice and help though! They’re lucky to have you close! My dad is in South Africa, this would be a much easier process if he lived here or if I was still back there
"IF" you can do it yourself a compression tester is only £15 and is a simple device to use( can be a pita to connect up ) that would give you a better understanding of the results, you do need to have some experience in home diy mechanics?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/38313434...T318XxOq1n7sBBjhAXRaRpZyIeT2|tkp:BFBM4PXP86Vg
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/38313434...T318XxOq1n7sBBjhAXRaRpZyIeT2|tkp:BFBM4PXP86Vg
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Absolutely John, but I don't thing our OP has the knowledge/skills/will to do this? Charlie made a very interesting suggestion right back near the beginning of this thread when he suggested pulling the spark plugs to see what their "business" ends looked like. I'm also wondering about the garage involved here because they straight away suggested new plugs, HT leads and coils (did they fit them Mistpjenkins?) when the problem seems, from what's been said here, to be related to poor compressions. Could be that the ignition parts weren't needed?
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Nope definitely no knowledge for that unfortunately
. Well that’s why I was skeptical too.. here’s how it went down, he was recommended by my work colleagues as he’s down the road from us, so I called him and told him what was up, he said he’d have a look at it for free bc he knows the owner of the business. I was grateful and said that any work would have to wait until the following week because I was awaiting my first salary after being unemployed for 6 months.. he said “we’ll work something out but I’ll let you know what’s wrong by lunchtime”. An hour later they call me and say that the plugs, coil pack and leads need replaced as it looks like they’ve no been changed ever.. £280 incl labour. So I said okay cool I’ll get back to you. Chatted to a colleague who knows about cars and he said it was a decent price so I called back and said if he was still happy to do the work and only take payment the next week (Friday - Tuesday) then we can go ahead.. then the receptionist got all weird and said she didn’t want think so but would ask him and let me know shortly.. and hour and a half went by, nothing, so I called again and she said he’s having tea, she’ll ask him when he’s done, won’t be long, only a few mins. I call back 2 hours later at 1pm and ask on a verdict. She said he’s not sure yet as he wouldn’t do it for anyone else. So I said it’s fine I don’t expect it but can they just let me know so I know when to come get the car. Says she’ll call me back in 5 mins.. 3:30pm still nothing so I call back again and she says they’re just running more tests on the car and she’ll let me know.. like wtf.. more than 6 hours later and you’re now doing more tests after already quoting me the issue and was ready to go ahead and fix it at 10am upon my approval?? She then calls me back literally minutes later and tells me the compression thing.. so it was very weird. And when I then asked about the original repair quote she said it would only be a temporary fix
So have they actually done any more than checking stuff? Are you in the hole for the Coils, leads and plugs or have they just given you an opinion as to what is needing done? He's said he'd "have a look at it for free" so if no remedial work has yet been done I'd be holding him to that, maybe a small charge - an hour's labour? - for the compression test would be reasonable though. Take the car home and do some serious research into finding a local workshop who is talking reasonable money. This little 1.2 FIRE engine is a pretty simple piece of kit compared to more modern stuff - like the twin air for instance - It's been around for a long time in many different Fiat models and even used in some other manufacturer's models, the Ford Ka comes to mind. What this means is many mechanics will be very familiar with this engine and competent to carry out this type of repair.
So far this thread has considered your problem with the possible faulty head gasket - unconfirmed as yet because the full extent of the problem is unlikely to be known until the head is "pulled". Can I just play the Job's comforter here and say that with this sort of expenditure being considered it could be worth having a good look at the rear axle because they are know to sometimes rust their spring pans very badly - some do, some don't. Probably tough winters with lots of road salt, like we get up here in Scotland, or a car which has lived by the sea are worst affected. If it's very rusty the pans can collapse and the axle will need to be renewed which ain't cheap if you can't do it yourself. You can have a look yourself very easily. Just look under the back of the car to where the big coil springs rest against the axle. If it's all crusty with serious rust you may have a problem and you might like to get a second opinion. Like all cars things do go wrong when they get old - There is a metal water pipe from the radiator which goes across the front of the engine which can rust out and need changing but it's no big deal and at higher mileages, especially if the car has had a hard life and maybe not been too well maintained, the gearbox can suffer a problem with bearings but I can think of other makes which develop much worse problems. So all in all I rate these wee Fiats quite highly in terms of overall reliability and cheapness of maintenance and repair. If you do get her repaired and back on the road then keep a very close eye on the radiator coolant level - As you've found out the one thing they really don't like is getting too hot! So low coolant, radiator water leaks or radiator fan that doesn't work needs to be rectified very quickly. Take a look at that rear axle spring pans though, if there's a lot of rust you might want to sit back and think very seriously about your way forward with the engine problem? - Told you I was going to be a "Job's comforter"!
Edit - On Monday I'll ask Kenny at our local wee Fiat independent what he would charge to do a head gasket on one of these and get back on here just to give you a yardstick to measure by.
So far this thread has considered your problem with the possible faulty head gasket - unconfirmed as yet because the full extent of the problem is unlikely to be known until the head is "pulled". Can I just play the Job's comforter here and say that with this sort of expenditure being considered it could be worth having a good look at the rear axle because they are know to sometimes rust their spring pans very badly - some do, some don't. Probably tough winters with lots of road salt, like we get up here in Scotland, or a car which has lived by the sea are worst affected. If it's very rusty the pans can collapse and the axle will need to be renewed which ain't cheap if you can't do it yourself. You can have a look yourself very easily. Just look under the back of the car to where the big coil springs rest against the axle. If it's all crusty with serious rust you may have a problem and you might like to get a second opinion. Like all cars things do go wrong when they get old - There is a metal water pipe from the radiator which goes across the front of the engine which can rust out and need changing but it's no big deal and at higher mileages, especially if the car has had a hard life and maybe not been too well maintained, the gearbox can suffer a problem with bearings but I can think of other makes which develop much worse problems. So all in all I rate these wee Fiats quite highly in terms of overall reliability and cheapness of maintenance and repair. If you do get her repaired and back on the road then keep a very close eye on the radiator coolant level - As you've found out the one thing they really don't like is getting too hot! So low coolant, radiator water leaks or radiator fan that doesn't work needs to be rectified very quickly. Take a look at that rear axle spring pans though, if there's a lot of rust you might want to sit back and think very seriously about your way forward with the engine problem? - Told you I was going to be a "Job's comforter"!
Edit - On Monday I'll ask Kenny at our local wee Fiat independent what he would charge to do a head gasket on one of these and get back on here just to give you a yardstick to measure by.
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https://fiat500spares.co.uk/ give these guys a call and discuss what’s happened then you can discuss options… they literally saved my car from going to the scrap yard!
Hi Chris- hope you are keeping well? I've seen these people mentioned before and I've just followed your link and had a good look round their website. They do indeed look like good people! The trouble for our friend here is that it's rather a long way away from him up there in Aberdeen? Might be very interesting to speak with them and get some advice "straight from the horses mouth".
Hi jock yes I’m keeping well I hope you & yours are too!
Yes that’s what I was thinking … they may be able to offer some advice if the op gives them all the info
I think finding another local garage and getting a second opinion is also a good shout .. and if indeed the case is low compression in 1&2 it’s looking like major surgery or a donor engine though neither is going to be a quick solution
It’s a horrible position & one I’m familiar with! In my case I believe the car was given radweld before I bought it … cause club500 told me after my swap out my original wasn’t even fit for scrap!
Just goes to show.. sometimes you just don’t know what your buying
There's always a risk buying a used car and it's not just the buying public who are at risk. I think I've mentioned before that I "crawled" out of the workshop to have a go at car sales. The potential to make money was quite good providing you got the money balance between the trade in and new sale correct. However, even as someone who is supposed to "know" about cars, I was now and again caught out by a trade in with a serious problem. sales people often work on quite low basic pay topped up with quite good bonus which is calculated on the entire deal - so basically this is what you pay for the trade in, what you sell the new car for - balanced against what it was bought in for - and any "extras" you manage to up sell on the deal. (can include finance, stuff like paint protection and underbody sealer, and direct parts like mats etc) but if you buy a "clunker" it can completely destroy the deal and, if you do it too often it can loose you your job too. I actually did quite well monetarily out of being a car salesman but I missed the workshop and the daily craic and general camaraderie too much and went back to the tools after a couple of years. It's always puzzled me how some folk talk about "investing" in a new car. NO! It's never an investment. Describing it as such is probably a contravention of the sales description act - Ha Ha! Within a couple of years or so, even if nothing goes wrong with it, it's going to hemorrhage monetary value worse than most of the stuff we all normally buy and on top of that you're going to be constantly paying out to keep it maintained and fed with fuel. Trouble is I just can't get them out of my blood so there's no hope for me - Think I'm maybe infected with Car Enthusiasmitis and I don't think there's any cure.
@Mistpjenkins
It sounded as if:
No new parts were fitted
It no longer loses any coolant
The car now starts better than it has
What have I got right??
It sounded as if:
No new parts were fitted
It no longer loses any coolant
The car now starts better than it has
What have I got right??
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Mistpjenkins
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Correct, No new parts were fitted.
It was never losing coolant, the coolant level just appeared low and the car told me to turn it off for literally around a few seconds until I topped it up.
The car has indeed been starting better almost every day since the mechanic looked at it. Except this morning it took about 5 tries but I had like 1/16th of a tank of fuel which I don’t think helped it.
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I’ve emailed them anyway, to see if I can get any advice at least
That's a "strange" statement - "It was never loosing coolant, the coolant level just appeared low and the car told me to turn it off until I topped it up" These vehicles, like most modern cars for many years now, have a sealed cooling system incorporating an expansion tank. If working correctly virtually no coolant at all should be lost. None of the "family fleet" ever need topped up with coolant and if they did I would know right away that I had a problem. For instance the Ibiza, new in 2016, has never shown the slightest drop in coolant level and our Panda has remained rock steady since she was bought about five years ago. Of course the observed level goes up a wee bit when the engine is up to working temp and drops back to baseline when cold, as you would expect. - that's why it's called an expansion tank.
Starting better but nothing by way of remedial action has taken place? However to do the compression test the plugs must have been pulled which means the HT leads will have been pulled off and then pushed back on when the procedure was completed - maybe they even gave the plugs a bit of a clean up? I think it just may be that, especially the HT connections, may have been improved simply by disturbing them and this might account for the improvement in starting?
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I mean I don’t know how it works. When I say it was never losing any coolant I mean it said the radiator was overheating so I topped it up and it never said it again. From what I’m learning about the car, I doubt any of the people before me ever even kept an eye on the coolant level. The oil level was also low, not bad, but needed more, so in 10 years surely it’s possible it needed more coolant maybe? But I really don’t know.
I mean yeah maybe that’s what happened.. again, I don’t know these things so I’m visualizing them looking in the bonnet and going “yup, coil pack, leads and plugs!” Lol.. maybe it did help. I mean after really struggling yesterday before I put fuel in, it started fine again today.
if it’s misfiring, would having low fuel would only make it even harder to start? I figured that made sense but I don’t know..
Please don't think I'm having a "go" at you, I'm not. In fact I feel very sorry for you and the predicament you find yourself in.
I said above I'd make some inquiries for you about prices so here goes. I just got off the phone to the two wee Fiat indys I know down here in Edinburgh and then I rang the main Fiat dealer. The main dealer was very cagey about giving any sort of commitment regarding price. All they would say was that sometimes diagnostics and striping down to confirm a fault can constitute a significant part of the repair cost. My favourite wee Fiat indy, Harrisons, just down the road from me said he'd really want to fully check the car over before giving any meaningful estimate but when I pushed him he thought around £600 to £800 for the whole job, including strip down and that nothing unexpected turned up during the job. Nearer the £800 if the head needs skimmed, which it's very likely it will. He said he would automatically fit a new timing belt on a job like this which, to me, makes a lot of sense. The other wee Indy, who is a fair bit further away, said he'd think about it and get back to me today with a rough estimate. I'll come back to you if it differs greatly from Kenny's figures above. In my own "humble" opinion I think this is a reasonable quote for a job done properly. I also like that he mentioned skimming the head because this is not unusual where aluminium heads are concerned.
Kenny asked me if I knew if you had breakdown insurance (AA, RAC, GREEN FLAG, etc) He said that if you have a "get you home" type breakdown cover then you could perhaps use this to get the car delivered down to him here without costing you a fortune on delivery charges?
Hello everyone,
I have quickly read through this thread.
Would it be a good idea at the very least to have the spark plugs replaced - should be very cheap at a wee back street garage. The old spark plugs have been out recently and put back, since then it has been better.
Mistpjenkins where in country are you?
Someone may suggest a wee mechanic.
Best wishes
Jack
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No no of course not! I really appreciate all of your responses! That’s so kind of you to do!
£800 really is extremely reasonable, is that definitely what it would need done though? What if he looks at it and I’ve passed on the wrong information and it needs something much more serious etc? I’m sure I do, I’m not sure how it would work through, I’ve never had to use breakdown cover..do you choose where the car is towed to?? Also how long would the job take? I would need to try and arrange an alternative for work.
