Technical Many Marea questions from a newbie!

[Ceriffwrdd]

2 days into my Marea ownership and i have a few questions.. I am a complete Marea newbie.. and aside from a Panda in the 80's.. a Fiat newbie!

Marea 2001 1.9 JTD Weekend SX

Exterior Door Handles

All my ext door handles are cracked. It's like the outer coating has become brittle and just cracked. Everything works fine, but they look horrible.
Are they Marea specific? or are there other models that will fit

Whirring / Whining sound

I have a noise that's always there.. whether on tickover or in gear or revving.. the tone changes on revving.. so i think it's aux belt related. Possibly Alternator..
If that is the case, are the alternators rebuildable? and again, are they model specific?

Driver's Seat

The lovely fella that owned the car before me was a big fella. The driver's seat has lost a lot of it's bounce and the outer seat bolster is flat..
Are the seats model specific? or will others fit?

Front Bumper

I need to replace the front bumper, i like the look of the ones with driving lamps. Would they fit straight on? are there unused plugs waiting there behind my standard bumper and the dash to plug the front driving lamps in?

Bonnet and Trim

My bonnet is dented to hell on the nose and the plastic nose trim is broken.
Is there any chance that i will come across a bonnet, ever? presumably they are model specific.. and rare.

Wheels

have 14" steel rims, they just look too small! Was thinking that 15's would look better, alloys would be nice.. but as the car is black i would rather go for black alloys.. What's the PCD ET of the wheels?

Lazy Drivers Window

driver's leccy window is so slow.. and sometimes needs a manual push to get it going.. is it breaking down? or is there a need for some grease or whatever?

C temp button on the dash

what is this button?? when i press it a message comes up in the dash that says Error C

6 CD Changer

Has anyone boxed theirs off? I have a dog.. so i need to protect the CD Changer and don't really know where to start really.

Heaters and Temp

When on tickover and stopped the heaters warm up nicely and the temp gauge rises to normal. As soon as i drive off within minutes the heaters go back to lukewarm and the temp gauge goes back to a gnats above the C. What's going on here? I'm a bit stumped! Any ideas?

Thats all for now.. (and that's quite enough!)

If anyone can shed some light on these questions i would be very grateful!

 

[Mr cool]

My door handles have the same problem on my marea what ever you do don't take the coating off . Because it affects the door locks it happened to me I now they don't look pretty . Spoils the car ?

 

[Neverth]

Basemodel handles coated with rubber die over the years, higher tier painted ones do not have this problem.

Noise: just take the belts off and try the alternator/belt tensioners, I've rebuilt my alternator and changed the tensioners (might be power steering pump, not sure about the JTD pump). Nothing there, time to change the timing belt and tensioners and waterpump.
If its not from the belt side, clutch thrust brearing.

Brava/marea seats will fit (and bravo but I doublt that you need the steat tilt), also higher models can have lower back adjust and electric height adjustment. Some alfa/coupe seats can be used with some work.

Driving lights=fog lights, the wires are there, but you'd also need the wiring/buttons on the dash.

Bonnet, any brava/bravo/marea bonnet will fit, I got marea bonnet on brava as I found one with correct color code as original was resprayed and laquer was peeling off. You can change the front badge if you do not like the one with bumper (brava mk2 bonnet trim is nicest and I have it on my marea).

Wheels, no idea about JTD.

Window: the original grease has hardened, you can try spraying PTFE spray on the sides of the window, but the main problem is the slide in the middle where the motor attachs. It has old yellow grease you might want to wash off with brake cleaner and replace with silicone grease or something. Mine was like tar when I took the doorpanel off to fix this.

Temp button is for the aircon outside temperature sensor, press button and odometer should show outside temperature. Yours is broken somewhere (sensor is underside the door mirror).

CD changer fits inside the left side cover in the boot.

Tempt: lots of air in the system or thermostat is going bad. Most likely the thermostat.

 

[varesecrazy]

Ive got 15" punto sporting alloys on mine now..did have 14" punto JTD alloys

All cheap and easy now. Especially ifvyou are refurbing to BLACK.

Do let me know if you Are interested in the wishbones..

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

Ive got 15" punto sporting alloys on mine now..did have 14" punto JTD alloys

All cheap and easy now. Especially ifvyou are refurbing to BLACK.

Do let me know if you Are interested in the wishbones..

Yes.. i am interested.. i did say in the newbie thread.. i am about to order some. If you want to flog yours just let me know ASAP.

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

Basemodel handles coated with rubber die over the years, higher tier painted ones do not have this problem.

Noise: just take the belts off and try the alternator/belt tensioners, I've rebuilt my alternator and changed the tensioners (might be power steering pump, not sure about the JTD pump). Nothing there, time to change the timing belt and tensioners and waterpump.
If its not from the belt side, clutch thrust brearing.

My other guess was the steering pump as i think there is a slight leak going on there.. I know it's not the thrust bearing, not the right kind of noise and doesn't disappear when the clutch is engaged. (thankfully!)

Brava/marea seats will fit (and bravo but I doublt that you need the steat tilt), also higher models can have lower back adjust and electric height adjustment. Some alfa/coupe seats can be used with some work.

Brill,

Driving lights=fog lights, the wires are there, but you'd also need the wiring/buttons on the dash.

Never called them fog lights on the front, always driving lamps, like trying to drive with main beam on in the fog all you end up with is a better view of the fog! hehehe!

Bonnet, any brava/bravo/marea bonnet will fit, I got marea bonnet on brava as I found one with correct color code as original was resprayed and laquer was peeling off. You can change the front badge if you do not like the one with bumper (brava mk2 bonnet trim is nicest and I have it on my marea).

That's a real relief, i was thinking i would have to try and find another Marea. Would love to see a pic of the front of your Marea. Mine is that metallic black colour so would probably need the wing tops blown in as well. so hopefully i can find one the same colour.

Window: the original grease has hardened, you can try spraying PTFE spray on the sides of the window, but the main problem is the slide in the middle where the motor attachs. It has old yellow grease you might want to wash off with brake cleaner and replace with silicone grease or something. Mine was like tar when I took the doorpanel off to fix this.

Brill, i will get my trim remover kit out and get on this today.

Temp button is for the aircon outside temperature sensor, press button and odometer should show outside temperature. Yours is broken somewhere (sensor is underside the door mirror).

That's a new place to put it! I'll investigate with my multimeter.

CD changer fits inside the left side cover in the boot.

Does it? That's just excellent!! and makes me wonder why they didn't put it in there in the first place!! Well that will certainly save having it ruined by a wet dog!

Tempt: lots of air in the system or thermostat is going bad. Most likely the thermostat.

Will order a thermostat now.

Thank you ever so much for all these answers! Great Stuff! I appreciate you taking the time to help very much.

 

[varesecrazy]

Yes.. i am interested.. i did say in the newbie thread.. i am about to order some. If you want to flog yours just let me know ASAP.

They will be in Cardiff on Saturday..

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

They will be in Cardiff on Saturday..

I just ordered a pair. it was only 44 quid for the two.. had to really. Get them on asap then.. stop me wandering. HA! hehehe

Looking for Bonnet, Door Handles etc now.

 

[varesecrazy]

I just ordered a pair. it was only 44 quid for the two.. had to really. Get them on asap then.. stop me wandering. HA! hehehe

Looking for Bonnet, Door Handles etc now.

30 quid for my spare set.. oh well

My door handles are also poor :/
My previous ELX had painted plastic so much nicer..

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

30 quid for my spare set.. oh well

My door handles are also poor :/
My previous ELX had painted plastic so much nicer..

ah... hehehe i have a lot of miles to do at the end of this week. Get them on asap.

Here's another question though.. the throttle pedal position is just too high.. can it be adjusted? To engage the clutch i need the seat where it is.. but to be comfortable with the throttle position i could do with being further back.. Pedal is level with the others.. but usually the throttle is lower than the others. Making my ankle hurt.

 

[varesecrazy]

ah... hehehe i have a lot of miles to do at the end of this week. Get them on asap.

Here's another question though.. the throttle pedal position is just too high.. can it be adjusted? To engage the clutch i need the seat where it is.. but to be comfortable with the throttle position i could do with being further back.. Pedal is level with the others.. but usually the throttle is lower than the others. Making my ankle hurt.

Not EASILY..
Now you know why I Said Cruise was a big deal for me...

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

Not EASILY..
Now you know why I Said Cruise was a big deal for me...

hmm...

i notice there's a rod out of the back that's a stopper.. i am guessing maybe get the pedal off heat the stem a bit.. change the shape and shorten the stop rod?

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

Is the front bumper the same as Bravo/a as well?

 

[varesecrazy]

Is the front bumper the same as Bravo/a as well?

Look at ePER . Great for parts info.

As I said earlier. There is a new marea bumper..with lights for 60 quid

Hows the drive now the wishbones are done..??
Mine was more bouncy than wandery..

 

[Neverth]

Marea or Bravo HGT bumper (one from car with similar side indicators, the sides are wider).

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

Look at ePER . Great for parts info.

As I said earlier. There is a new marea bumper..with lights for 60 quid

Hows the drive now the wishbones are done..??
Mine was more bouncy than wandery..

WAY better.. there was no rubber left in the one bush.. eek!

yeah.. you said there's one for 60 quid.. it's not black tho.. and i only paid 70 for the car.. so feeling reluctant.. there's also one for 15 quid.. although i need to get a drivers side headlight first now.. after inspecting the issue with light alignment i discovered that one bracket was actually snapped, currently secured with cable ties.

Fitted new washer jets and pump and put some decent wipers on so i can actually see now too! getting there slowly.

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

Look at ePER . Great for parts info.

Lordy!!! That's the least friendly user interface of any EPC i have used!

 

[Ceriffwrdd]

so, i now have a broken drivers side mirror thanks to Doris and a fallen tree... (it could have been worse)

Thinking of upgrading to electric mirrors.. i am having trouble finding a picture of where the electric mirror switch is located in a Marea.

Can anyone help?

cheers!

 

[ArthurM]

Hi, Ceriffwrdd. There's a company called tradevanaccessories.co.uk who do a stainless steel covering for door handles etc.I do not know what they are like or if they do them for your vehicle. There's also a site called wingmirrorman .co.uk who does w/m for your car. Again don't know anything about this site.

 

[varesecrazy]

so, i now have a broken drivers side mirror thanks to Doris and a fallen tree... (it could have been worse)

Thinking of upgrading to electric mirrors.. i am having trouble finding a picture of where the electric mirror switch is located in a Marea.

Can anyone help?

cheers!

hi, toggle switch down by handbrake IIRC

I used a Bravo / a Mirror when my electric one got broken..on the old ELX

Charlie