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Technical RECALL: Service Solution for Suspension Springs

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Technical RECALL: Service Solution for Suspension Springs

I found out that the spring bodge dont fit all shocks at my dealers last Wednesday when they fitted only one to my car :eek: I have a boge shock wich is oe compatable fitted to the off side front of my stilo and boge and bodge arnt compatable either so I only have one on the nearside front lol:rolleyes:
 
Well my NSF Spring has snapped... manifested itself as an annoying metallic rattle from under the passenger side footwell. Jacked the car up and found the broken piece lying in the recall mod / bottom strut cup. Its about 2 thirds of the bottom coil. No tyre damage and no discernable effect on ride height or handling at all :confused: The only give away was the rattle of the broken piece of spring...

Rang local Fiat Dealer whom did recall and recently carried out a Fiat Care Gold Service on the car. They have taken it up with Fiat on my behalf... so am now waiting for an answer on what happens next...

Will post it for posterity... ;)
 
If the dealer has taken this up for you then you shouldnt have any problem (y) its the poor sods that go it alone that usually have the problem .make sure you get two springs out of them while your at it ..well you dont want to go back again do you :D point that out to them :p
 
Just an update... spoke to Fiat Customer Services, explained the situation and was given a Case No., was also warned that it would be some days before I got a response and to get the car towed to my local Fiat Dealer or drive it, if I felt it was safe to do so, as soon as possible.

Deposited the car at local dealer - reason being, snapped spring = MOT failure thus car not road worthy thereby avoiding any insurance issues in the event of an accident. Advised that best engineering practice would be to replace both front springs and was quoted for this, asked them to also replace the Anti Rollbar Links for my piece of mind, as they have to disconnect the strut end to get the struts out for spring replacement anyway... expecting the bill to come to 300 quid-ish mark. It remains to be seen what Fiat will contribute. Bits due to arrive tuesday morning and car hopefully ready for tuesday evening... subjuect to no other front suspension damage being found.

With what I had planned this weekend ended up hiring from enterprise their last remaining supermini... a 1.4 Micra Auto, which I really do like :eek: Am grateful for their fast efficient service (y)
 
Fiat have always replaced both front suspension springs, at our dealership. This is standard instructions direct from Fiat. Regarding part numbers Nick, being in the trade you must have seen so called supersceeded parts come through with old part numbers taped over. We have had several cases of parts where we have been advised by technical that a visual or manufacturer check needs to be done to identify the correct part. This happens not just in Fiat but in other brands dealerships as well. Rover were particularly troublesome with this.
 
Springs not arrived today from Warrington (?) so use of and cost of Enterprise's Micra continues... :(

Fiat Dealer mentioned spring colour for differentiating between earlier and later springs, assume this is the colour of the plastic covering... :confused:
 
There are three coloured dots on the springs ..now I dont know if these are differant on each model but maybe its some kid of identification code for each type :chin: the same car without aircon uses a differant spring to a car that has aircon :confused:
 
Stilo collected today, complete with bill for 370 quid of which 271.35 was for the front springs and the rest for the replacement Anti Rollbar Links :eek:

As Stilo_ste says they are black & clean... mine on the outer of the bottom coil of each spring have 1 x green paint spot & 2 x yellow paint spots... assume these are the markings they are on about to distinguish 'new' type springs from 'old' rather than part no :confused:

Will be forwarding Fiat Dealer Invoice for repair & Enterprise Invoice for car hire to Fiat UK, Slough... and wait and see I suppose...
 
wotnowarninglight said:
Stilo collected today, complete with bill for 370 quid of which 271.35 was for the front springs and the rest for the replacement Anti Rollbar Links :eek:
Click to expand...
I paid £178.11 for 4 springs including fitting (Pi's) so that looks on the high side to me. From what I've heard of Fiat's Sympathy Policy (re early spring failure) then you shouldn't have to pay anything at all as the dealer claims it all back from Fiat UK. This doesn't apply to after market spring fitting which is why I had to pay. The anti roll-bar links would also have been excluded (being a normal wear/tear item) so your total bill should have been £98.65
... mine on the outer of the bottom coil of each spring have 1 x green paint spot & 2 x yellow paint spots... assume these are the markings they are on about to distinguish 'new' type springs from 'old' rather than part no :confused:
Click to expand...
That's identical to the severely corroded ones I've just had replaced :eek:
 
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OK guys listen up :) PNL reporting on the case against fiat by the member and my friend Bombay :)

I am pleased to announce that fiat have backed down and settled out of court ..this has also resulted in his car being bought back of him from the dealership he purchased if from :D Need less to say he is glad this has finally come to a close for him and he can rest on the fact that as fiat backed down they are automatically admitting the fault with the front springs and dampers on the stilo [flood gates should now open ]:chin:

As a consequence of this I can now release the information I was with holding about the fault on the springs ..
This is a direct quote from the chief metallurgist of the institute of spring technology that examined and analysed his broken springs he submitted ..
Quote- The major factor to the breakage of the stilo front springs and the frequency of the brakes are down to the Hardness off the springs 584/593 on the vickers scale which is extreamly high and makes the spring extreamly brittle ..the corrosion is a factor in this but we also examined a spring from a Honda that broke when corroded but this was at 150,000 miles and not the low millage of the fiats we examined ..the hardness and brittle quality was also the contributing factor of the redesigning and withdrawal of the rover 75 spring in 2004 .

So there you now have it his multiwagon is gone :( he is no longer a member of the 5dr massive attack and I am sure we will all miss him I know I will as he has shown considerable courage in pursuing this with his dealer and fiat ..good luck Trev good luck for the future and what ever it throws at you ..

Good by Bombay

:slayer: :slayer: :slayer: :slayer: :slayer: The crusader (y)
 
PNL said:
I am pleased to announce that fiat have backed down and settled out of court ..this has also resulted in his car being bought back of him from the dealership he purchased if from :D Need less to say he is glad this has finally come to a close for him and he can rest on the fact that as fiat backed down they are automatically admitting the fault with the front springs and dampers on the stilo [flood gates should now open ]:chin:
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I don't think that quite follows Phil :chin:

An "Out of Court Settlement" is simply just that. It doesn't follow that the case has been proven although it may well indicate that Fiat didn't want to risk losing it.

Interesting about the report though (y)
 
Yes in a way I suppose you are right but its still a right move in the correct direction and fiat didnt seem to want to contest the fact and have been reading this forum and this thread ..I would seem that fiat have read this thread quite well and can now see that they just maybe should have done things a little differently ..Well listen up you people in Italy sitting there in you big comfy chairs you still can make a big difference to the many owners out there that you have turned away and refused to help may be its the time to learn a little humility and offer a apology to those that have been affected by this ..and a little compensation for the aggravation they have endured because of it :)

And just a side note to let you know that my wife who has just bought a new stilo and wondering what all the fuss is about this new bravo that's just be launched ..well we went to see one this morning half expecting her to once again change her car :eek: well here's news for you she didn't like it one bit and said the stilo is twice the car so stuff that in your pipes and smoke it :D
 
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PNL said:
OK guys listen up :) PNL reporting on the case against fiat by the member and my friend Bombay :)

I am pleased to announce that fiat have backed down and settled out of court ..this has also resulted in his car being bought back of him from the dealership he purchased if from :D Need less to say he is glad this has finally come to a close for him and he can rest on the fact that as fiat backed down they are automatically admitting the fault with the front springs and dampers on the stilo [flood gates should now open ]:chin:

As a consequence of this I can now release the information I was with holding about the fault on the springs ..
This is a direct quote from the chief metallurgist of the institute of spring technology that examined and analysed his broken springs he submitted ..
Quote- The major factor to the breakage of the stilo front springs and the frequency of the brakes are down to the Hardness off the springs 584/593 on the vickers scale which is extreamly high and makes the spring extreamly brittle ..the corrosion is a factor in this but we also examined a spring from a Honda that broke when corroded but this was at 150,000 miles and not the low millage of the fiats we examined ..the hardness and brittle quality was also the contributing factor of the redesigning and withdrawal of the rover 75 spring in 2004 .

So there you now have it his multiwagon is gone :( he is no longer a member of the 5dr massive attack and I am sure we will all miss him I know I will as he has shown considerable courage in pursuing this with his dealer and fiat ..good luck Trev good luck for the future and what ever it throws at you ..

Good by Bombay

:slayer: :slayer: :slayer: :slayer: :slayer: The crusader (y)
Click to expand...

got a scan of this report or summut that others can use?
 
Sorry no I haven't he has been keeping me informed of whats been happening as this progresses ..Bombay has told me that he will still continue to read and occasionally post up so if and when he does you can ask him personally for all the relevant info or of course you have the PM facility to use (y)
 
I think this just goes to show what we already knew, Phil. That there is a serious design / materials / validation flaw in fiats thinking about these springs.

Mine were both changed under the recall, and have a blue and 2 yellow paint dots on them. (just for reference)

I never did get an answer from fiat about the stuff I requested. This is one reason why I have bought a different car, picking it up tomorrow. Then we will finally be rid of quite possibly the worst car I have ever owned.

Glad that Bombay got satisfaction in the end, just a shame he had to go almost to court to get it though.

Ciao
 
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