General My first Fiat and a few questions

[Madmike]

Hi all. I just got my first Fiat last night
Its a red 97 Cinq Sporting with 12,000 miles on the clock!

Spent today polishing the paintwork and getting it looking acceptable. The pink bits polished out well and its looking a nice bright red now.

A few things I noticed........

a. One of the clips on the air breather box is missing. Went on to eBay and got one within minutes, so thats sorted

b. My rocker cover gasket is leaking. Ordered one in local motor factors today and will have it tomorrow. From what I have seen, this is nothing to worry about. Seems to be common enough???


c. The back door is missing the trim over the wiper motor and lock mechanism (I assume its not meant to be open anyway!!!) Anybody got any pointers for this? I presume I can pick up in a local breakers? Will any model Cinq suit it?

d. The rear window sprayer isn't working although the front one works fine and the pump is operating when I press the switch. Would this be a blocked jet or detached pipe?

e. I seem to have a slight leak on the right hand side of the engine. Its under a bottle with blue cap. I think thats brake fluid bottle is it? What would this be? I dont know if its from the fluid bottle or if its another leak altogether. Can post a pic. Just need to get some pics transferred to pc

Any pointers would be appreciated

 

[fingers99]

I really can't remember about the trim -- I think Cinqs came without it.

The rocker cover leak is almost compulsory. Cleaning up all the mating surfaces with something like acetone and using a little sealant will help.

The other leak -- make sure the cap is on well, wipe the area clean and wash it down. Chances are that it's either a loose cap or someone has been a bit over eager with the bleeding or filling, but keep an eye on it. Of oily fluids, brake fluid has a strange, almost soapy feel.

 

[Madmike]

Cheers. Will check the other leak when doing the rocker cover tomorrow.

Hard to believe the Cinqs came finished like that!
Thats why I asked just to be sure as I thought it seemed very odd

Almost forgot. I have ANOTHER leak! LOL
Would I be right in assuming this is probably from the rocker cover also?

 

[FIREsporting]

Do the above first mate fingers knows her stuff to lets as no how you get on.

 

[Madmike]

Cool. Will try tomorrow and post back with any news

 

[FIREsporting]

It's common on the 1.1 FIRE engines rocker cover gasket do leak oil. Not big job mate maybe a DIY for you

 

[fingers99]

Do the above first mate fingers knows her stuff to lets as no how you get on.

Wot! I changed sex? That might be interesting! Must investigate later..............

The bit down below the manifold is probably just stuff leaking down from the cam cover. Give it a gentle wash with Jizer before you put the new gasket on and all will be revealed.......

 

[rallycinq]

The leak below the blue cap could be brake fluid, but that black thing is the gearbag breather. Check the gearbox oil for quantity and quality.

12K in 11 years means this car has not been getting a lot of use.

Do you have the MOTs to back up the mileage?

Cheers

PD

 

[ycming]

Was going to mention the same thing .... 12 k 11 years ..

approx 1.1 k per year, seems a bit odd!!!

Ming

 

[Madmike]

Hi. Going to do it later this afternoon. I also think a a cam belt change might be a good idea!
Yes, 12k in 11 years. There are NCT (Irish equiv of MOT-National Car Test) certs with odometer readings and 2 stamped services from the main dealer which would verify the mileage intervals. Then on the car itself, there are labels stuck on the inside of the drivers door in various states of wear which show service details through the years. It was one lady owner from new until to July this year and the car had only done 7665 miles to April when the NCT test was carried out. I bought it with approx 12,100 miles on it, so its done about 4,500 miles in the last 6 or 7 months.

All inspections on the interior etc would appear to back up the mileage figures also, but I'm open to opinions or suggestions as how to determine if the mileage is authentic

 

[rallycinq]

If you've got the service stickers, might be worth contacting the garage for the details. Belt should have been done on a time basis, at least twice.

Cheers

PD

 

[Madmike]

OK. Curiosity got the better of me

I contacted the NCT centre and basically I cannot get copies of old reports but somebody very kindly said if I gave the reg, they could check if the mileage was ever higher, so they checked it and assured me that every 2 years when a new NCT was done, the car had normally gone up by approx 1,000 miles!! (500 miles a year!) and that everything seemed 100% with the figures they had on record and the odometer was never higher on past tests etc

So, it looks like I got me a genuine low mileage car!

 

[Madmike]

If you've got the service stickers, might be worth contacting the garage for the details. Belt should have been done on a time basis, at least twice.

Cheers

PD

Good idea! Just spotted these in the dark the other night and didnt read details to see what exactly is on them, but will follow on that also

 

[ycming]

OK. Curiosity got the better of me

I contacted the NCT centre and basically I cannot get copies of old reports but somebody very kindly said if I gave the reg, they could check if the mileage was ever higher, so they checked it and assured me that every 2 years when a new NCT was done, the car had normally gone up by approx 1,000 miles!! (500 miles a year!) and that everything seemed 100% with the figures they had on record and the odometer was never higher on past tests etc

So, it looks like I got me a genuine low mileage car!

Hmm getting those reports would increase the value of ur car when you sell . 12000 miles cinq is just amazing!!!!!!! wanna sell the seats ?

Ming

 

[AppleSei]

Hmm getting those reports would increase the value of ur car when you sell

not really. its only the equivalent ringing up the MOT centre and confirming the odometer reading on MOT cert is genuine/car was MOTed there at same/similar mileage.

Plus OP cant get old reports anyway, so as a buyer i would only have sellers word really as there is no physical evidence unless i bothered to put research in myself

No value increase would occur, not to your average trader

would give it a full sevice if its on 12k.

Low mileage doesnt mean good, its probably been stood a lot of time, things still seize/rust/need changing etc

 

[Madmike]

Well I just contacted the guy who did the servicing and as AppleSei says, it could do with a good service! The guy confirmed that there was about 7000 miles on it back around March or April this year. He carried out all the servicing, and knows the owner who was an elderly lady and she only took it out now and again, but he did also confirm that the belt was never changed!

He reckons he put 2 if not 3 back boxes on it due to it not being used. They all just rotted. Also remembers putting a new battery in it at one stage but apart from that, it only ever needed oil and filter change, but due to its lack of use, I definitely think a full overhaul would be in order!

 

[Madmike]

Well the rocker cover gasket didnt arrive. He will have it tomorrow.
In the meantime, can anybody confirm about the rear door and does the Cinq definitely come like that or is there any trim available??

One other thing I have discovered..... the clutch is biting very high, but I tried stopping on level road, put car in 4th and 5th and handbrake on and eased off clutch and each time, the engine stalled, so there doesnt seem to be any slipping, but I need to adjust it I assume? If so, where do I do this? Is it on the right hand side under bonnet and there is a lock nut there that I loosen and then what appears to be a nut (about a 10mm spanner) for adjusting?

Pic of the speedo reading

 

[dpallot]

Hey mate, nice looking Cinq!

My cinq didn't have any trim/cover over the inside of the bootlid, however I only had an sx, I am pretty sure that this is also the case for the sporting, although im not entirely certain.

Hope this helps and enjoi your obscenely low mileage cinq!

 

[ycming]

not really. its only the equivalent ringing up the MOT centre and confirming the odometer reading on MOT cert is genuine/car was MOTed there at same/similar mileage.

Plus OP cant get old reports anyway, so as a buyer i would only have sellers word really as there is no physical evidence unless i bothered to put research in myself

No value increase would occur, not to your average trader

would give it a full sevice if its on 12k.

Low mileage doesnt mean good, its probably been stood a lot of time, things still seize/rust/need changing etc

I would be more willing to pay a higher price if i can see previous MOT indicating the mileage and records of being service. This to me is much more trust worthy than a word of mouth, but i guess that's my opinion that when i look for a car i look for evidence rather than word of mouth.

This only seems logical to me.

Ming

 

[Madmike]

Cool! Thanks for the reply. Looks like maybe I'm not missing a piece after all!
Will put up a few pics of her later. Didnt get any after polishing. As for the mileage, well its only just been run in!!

Just had a look at the rear sprayer and disconnected the pipe and no water reaching back there at all. Then I spotted a pipe about midway across the front of the car. This must be feeding the back sprayer. Need to find where it connects now. Also, I found a plug hanging loose on drivers side right between headlight and oil filler. Anybody know what this is for?