Technical wrong oil filter punto

[paulken]

hi please can anyone tell me how many types of oil filters there are for a punto 1.2 8v....04 plate.
my engine siezed after a huge oil filter fail and the guy at garage said at the last service they had put in wrong size of filter . Apparently there are two sizes but u can use any one as long as you put in the same size as you took out.....ie swap large for large or small for small...if the garage was at fault i need to find out for compensation....thanks

 

[DaveMcT]

Its gonna be hard to prove. Get one from Fiat.

 

[paulken]

Its gonna be hard to prove. Get one from Fiat.

cheers... i know but i want to find out if the mistake is possible....and if its through negligence.
im gonni be out of pocket at least £600 if i cant prove it
thanks for reply

 

[skaramazoo]

Indeed there are two types of oil filter equally fitting both this Punto and a Brava SX - could well be other Fiat models too. As far as I know the only difference between the two types is the outer diameter. Given the confined space where the filter is placed the type with the smaller diameter is your best bet. I don't know what exactly happened in your case but I had a similar incident a few years ago when the man at the garage failed to tighten the filter properly into position resulting in massive lub oil loss. I was lucky enough to realise what'd happened 3 miles down the road when I stopped the car and filled up with new oil before replacing with a new filter. Luckily, not much damage done.

 

[DaveMcT]

Are you sure the filter is to blame? It could be the oil pickup pipe has fractured.

 

[shaun200765]

I'm sorry your having this sort of trouble with your car mate.

I honestly thought though that a larger filter (within reason) was a good thing for better flow etc

Unless (and I dont know if this the case myself) the area on your engine/oil pump where the filter screws onto is smaller across the face than on others that have the larger type of filter as I believe there is two diameters available.

Bad though that this has happened to you

 

[dave]

ive only seen the smaller filters fitted to mk2 and bigger ones on a mk1

 

[shaun200765]

ive only seen the smaller filters fitted to mk2 and bigger ones on a mk1

My car is a Mk2 year 2000 and it has the larger 76mm filter on there but my mate's car is a bit newer (03 I think) and his has the smaller type. I honestly dont know why Fiat have done this?

 

[sixpotman]

Size in length depends on how close the end
would be to the exhaust downpipe.
My lads 1.2 uses a long filter my stilo 1.8
is a short filter. As long as the rubber ring
contacts and fits within the flat mounting surface
all way around either diameter filter could be used.
It's not the length or size that's the problem just
how tight it's screwed on.

The one thing which anyone driving the car
should check regardless of who fitted the filter
is for oil leaks as you start the car after a service.


Only takes a few seconds but a tight filter
can still leak as the engine warms up or the seal
could have been damaged.

John

 

[paulken]

Are you sure the filter is to blame? It could be the oil pickup pipe has fractured.

the mechanic who towed the car away told me that it was the wrong filter and because of a larger internal diametre seal on the filter it only had about a 1mm seal all round instead of about the usual 5mm....this caused the seal to fail....the wrong type of seal was verified by a fiat dealership who compared both filters

 

[paulken]

I'm sorry your having this sort of trouble with your car mate.

I honestly thought though that a larger filter (within reason) was a good thing for better flow etc

Unless (and I dont know if this the case myself) the area on your engine/oil pump where the filter screws onto is smaller across the face than on others that have the larger type of filter as I believe there is two diameters available.

Bad though that this has happened to you

it only had about a 1mm seal surface all round instead of about 5mm because of different sized seals

 

[paulken]

Indeed there are two types of oil filter equally fitting both this Punto and a Brava SX - could well be other Fiat models too. As far as I know the only difference between the two types is the outer diameter. Given the confined space where the filter is placed the type with the smaller diameter is your best bet. I don't know what exactly happened in your case but I had a similar incident a few years ago when the man at the garage failed to tighten the filter properly into position resulting in massive lub oil loss. I was lucky enough to realise what'd happened 3 miles down the road when I stopped the car and filled up with new oil before replacing with a new filter. Luckily, not much damage done.

unfortunatley the internal diameters are different resutling in a 1mm seal area instead of the full 5mm....the car ran for 6 weeks before the seal failed...a fiat dealership confirmed that the wrong filter had been fitted

 

[DaveMcT]

Serious bad luck. I hope you can prove the garage who fitted the wrong part were to blame as they may well try to say they fitted the right part "Never seen that dodgy one before in me life honest guv".

They really should have spotted the error when they put the filter on (leaks or no leaks). They should also carry indemnity insurance to cover technical cockups so maybe wont be too much hassle to deal with.

Have they quoted on the receipt exactly which filter part number they supplied?

 

[paulken]

Serious bad luck. I hope you can prove the garage who fitted the wrong part were to blame as they may well try to say they fitted the right part "Never seen that dodgy one before in me life honest guv".

They really should have spotted the error when they put the filter on (leaks or no leaks). They should also carry indemnity insurance to cover technical cockups so maybe wont be too much hassle to deal with.

Have they quoted on the receipt exactly which filter part number they supplied?

the garage has never admitted being at fault....i even offered to take half of what i paid for repairs but no joy.
ive got the filter that they fitted incase i have to go to court.
They have since put a claim into thier insurers but that was 3 months ago....i dont know how long these things take but 3 months seems a long time for an insurance claim...or is that normal?
the service on the car was cash in hand but the service history book was stamped so thats proof enough i think...cheers for reply

 

[DaveMcT]

The garage should fix it free of charge and claim their costs via their indemnity insurance.

Threaten them with trading standards and don't take any bull about waiting for insurance claims.

However do you trust them to fix it properly? The engine is almost certainly toast.

 

[paulken]

The garage should fix it free of charge and claim their costs via their indemnity insurance.

Threaten them with trading standards and don't take any bull about waiting for insurance claims.

However do you trust them to fix it properly? The engine is almost certainly toast.

just got cheque for £600 from garage...it took a while but i got there in the end.....thanks to all who commented on this

 

[shaun200765]

Well done mate I'd forgotten about this one

Should never have happened of course if they had done their job properly in the first place