Technical Qubo lurker - pre-DPF 1.3 MJ 16v questions

[CaptainTuba]

Hi Qubonauts (what is the right word?)
I hope to join the clan and will look at a 2010 1.3 MJ 16v later today.
It has a full service history with the familar Qubo woes.

I have some questions:

DPF or no DPF?
Has anyone got a picture (or link) of an early Qubo DPF, so I know what I hoping not to see?

I've looked through the threads and asked a dealer if they can tell me if this car does or does not have a DPF. They assumed it would have one, but couldn't see from their records that it did. So they suggested a visual inspection to confirm it.

The dealer said that the Euro 4 DPF is installed down the back of the engine. It is a box at the beginning of the exhaust pipe and has some other tubes going into it to sense the flow rate through the DPF so it knows when it is clean or dirty. Apparently later DPFs (Euro 5 versions?) were squeezed in up front by the radiator.

Clues I have already:

• The instrument panel has no DPF light on the dash
• The car is rated as Euro 4 emissions
• EPER didn't reveal any clues that it had one, but I a newbie so I might have been looking in the wrong place for the wrong thing.
• There is NO forced DPF regeneration option.
• EuroCarParts does not show a DPF as a part for the registration plate.
• Read other threads https://www.fiatforum.com/qubo/457864-dpf-identification.html

Front suspension
Anything else to check other than steering clunk lock to lock, or springs going bong when held and someone else does the lock to lock thing?

Service history clues:
Front top mount bearings have been replaced twice. From what I can see the dealer replaced just the bearings and fixings, but not the pads.
It's had one new LHF shock (due to a leak) and one OSF spring. I presume that these failures were preamature due to the bearings failing. In its early life the tyre wear was even, then the OSF started to wear on the inner edge.

If we buy it: I'll need to protect the top mounts from further weather damage; and keep an eye on OSF inner tyre wear and get it retracked if required.

Service history
Other than disks/pads and the suspension replacements all seems OK.
Next service is 80K; The book says replace: aux-belt; all filters and fluids.
Timing chain replaced later at 100K?

Is there anything else Qubo specific to look out for?

Thanks folks. C.T.

 

[Qube O]

Hi CaptainTuba,

welcome to the wonderful world of the Qubist/Fiorinoist, (though I do like your Qubonauts), great little motors.

Mine is a 2009, thats the option year on DPFs, after that they had to be fitted by law, so if the one your viewing dosn't have one, I guess it was manufactured the year before registration. Mine hasn't one, it was a add on option at extra cost which I declined.

If its only had 2 sets of top bearings, and just 1 road spring in best part of 80 thousand miles its done very well. Mines only 45 thousand, and had 3 sets of road springs.

All in all you seem well clued up, so good luck.

Cheers Qube O.

 

[chris3234]

Don't know much about these cars don't think I've ever even seen one?

But I highly doubt the dpf on any car would be any place near the radiator simply due to the fact they are designed to get very hot when they regenerate and you wouldn't put a few hundred degree's object next to something designed for cooling

 

[CaptainTuba]

Hi folks - thanks for the support
This is what I saw:

Engine bay


Straight out of the exhaust manifold into the turbo, then the catalyst


Turbo


Catalyst with lamda sensor above


Onwards into the pipe; a braided (flexible?) connector; a silencer box; then out the back of the car.


Nothing to see here:


Just the fuel filter here:


Is the DPF hidden somewhere else, or do I conclude there ain't no DPF?.



Cheers C.T.

 

[Qube O]

Looks fairly similar to mine, just a couple of differences, probably accounted for with mine being a auto................
Cheers Qube O.

 

[CaptainTuba]

Hi Qube O - thanks for the post.
Is yours a non-DPF ?

Cheers C.T.

 

[Qube O]

Yept, when I purchased mine, the DPF was a pay extra on the accessories list, one I decided to pass on. (Good choice)..........instead I had a full leather interior/alloy wheels & spare/chrome door sill caps/ wind deflectors & a few other bits & pieces.........most of which is no longer available..........
Cheers Qube O.

 

[CaptainTuba]

I think another difference in the engine bay might be the lack of air-con.

It is a base model - the only frill that I can see is the Blue-Tooth.

On the plus side it is red - always a great colour for an Italian car.
Though it does tend to look a bit Post-Man-Pat-like. Handy if I need to supplement my income as a delivery driver.

C.T.