problems with Fiat Seicento 01

sambuka41 · 02-01-2010 04:42PM #1

Hi all looking for some advice, im having loads of problems with my little Fiat Seicento ( i know fiat so what do i expect!!!) It a 01 with 26,000 miles.

Last year i had a job done on the head gasket. Recently i've noticed a rattle in the engine whenever im in heavy traffic or if im stopping and starting a lot. When this happens i notice the oil light flicker when im stopping or stopped. Is this the head gasket again???

When i had the job done on head gasket the gauge to tell how much petrol was in the car is well and truly broken!! The guy said it would cost about 150 to replace and that it didn't effect the running of the car. Since i have just kept the petrol at max. Could these things be related???

Also on xmas day i had the handbrake pulled up and it suddenly snapped to the floor, i had noticed in the last few weeks that there wasn't as much resistance when using it.

So as you can probably tell i know nothing about cars :P And im just wondering how much is all this going to cost to fix?? Surely I shouldn't be having these problems at 26,000 miles??? Thanks for any help!!!

colm_mcm · 02-01-2010 04:57PM

have you checked the oil level on the car?

Handbrake is probably a broken cable, easy enough to get done.

If you've been using the car around town every day, you'd be pulling the handbrake way more than someone who drove from Dublin to Galway every day. mileage has little to do with it.

sambuka41 · 02-01-2010 05:00PM

oh yeah prob should have said that yeah, its fine at the level its supposed to be.

im actually brutal for using the handbrake, only started in the last few months. But glad to know its not too serious.

colm_mcm · 02-01-2010 05:16PM

does the rattle come and go when you're parked? or is it there all the time? is it a metallic sound, does it increase with the engine revs or does it stay constant?

sambuka41 · 02-01-2010 05:39PM

rattle usually when im slowing down, its not all the time. Its only happens every couple of days. It feels like the whole engine is shaking!! Sometimes reving will stop it. if that makes it any clearer??

Anan1 · 02-01-2010 06:34PM

Is the rattle there when the engine is idling?

beatman91 · 02-01-2010 06:48PM

I would check the rubbers around engine mounts, fiat uses some mad compound of rubber that falls apart. Since its vibrating it might be pulling on the cable to the oil pressure sensor. Check all mounts including the rear one.

And yeah the hand brake steel cable has a rabbit of stretching and it could have snapped. But I thing there is more then one there just get in underneath and look there is a mad cable wheel setup there. Again the metal they use is not the best.

Muckie · 02-01-2010 08:42PM

Maybe pop the bonnet and have a look around the air filter housing,
make sure all the pies are connected properly, also i'd see
about getting a fuel guage fitted(replacement from a scrapyard maybe).
Your mechanic gave you a price of 1500 for fitting one did he, thats mental. If so try another mechanic.

problems with Fiat Seicento 01

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