Fiat Bravo - gone!

[Dj_efk]

I think I’ve got a Haynes manual for this in excellent condition going spare, send 6 of the Queen’s finest and I’ll post it to you if you want it?

 

PM me if so 

[SmokinWaffle]

Been sitting for about 6 hours, stone cold engine, started it and...

 

Huzzah! Looks to be *fingers crossed* fixed for now! Crazy to think the previous chap has run it for months, maybe even years by the way he was talking with it over fuelling and stalling because of some dirty connectors. Wonder what damage that did? If any.... Might pop some injector cleaner in it just in case it's bunged anything up. 

For clarity, starting it from cold would require throttle to start it, then the revs would right away drop and hit the stop on the rev counter, it would judder then stall. If you held it at 1500 for about a minute or two - it would then allow it to idle around 3-500 RPM and only sometimes stall. In this state, small manouvers were an arse. I tried to reverse out of asda car park today and it stalled 5 times, it was hassle. 

I do wonder what that squeal is when I start it and it does it a little when revved from cold too. Hmm. Sounds alternator belty. 

But I'm a very happy chappie.

[stephen01]

that sounds sweet 

[SmokinWaffle]

Just now, stephen01 said:

that sounds sweet 

caroliiiiiiiiiiiiine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUM BUM BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

I really need to take that CD out...

[stephen01]

I honestly thought that *joke was going to fall flat on it's arse! 

 

[Sham]

I really miss my Marea weekend. Great driving, lovely handling heap of shite. Dashboard view puts me back in the drivers seat.

[Dj_efk]

Nice work!

[SmokinWaffle]

Did some driving for work and also collected some ladders, glad I haven't put the seat back in yet:

Weird that only the left rear seat folds down. I'm sure the other one can but it's affixed to some kind of weird rail.

Performed faultlessly and seems to just be getting better. Put a whole tank of decent fuel in and 3/4ish a bottle of Redex I got for £4 for good measure.

Also found this site which is a hive of info - is it worth resetting the ECU to relearn the various things you think?

I figure after being run with the dirty connectors, injector light and god knows what else for a very long time it might be worth while but don't want to cause issues...

Edit: sod it, I'm gonna do it. No replies in 4 minutes is clearly a sign that it's a good idea. Even if it all goes tits up - I have the red key so no drama (famous last words...)

[SmokinWaffle]

ECU reset thing done, still seems happy. Will drive normally next time I use it instead of ragging the tits off of it while it learns.

Oil filter looks pretty old too so I'll get one on order for a quick service.

[SmokinWaffle]

Okay - going to order some bits for this I think. Oil filter, air filter, pollen filter and fuel filter - I have some spare 10w40 SS which seems to do the job. 

Anyone know where I can get a timing belt kit for this? Seems it's not super expensive or that difficult to do - but being a weird car only real place I can find is eBay and unsure of what brands I should really look for. Want to do all tensioners/related things like that at the same time just in case. Suppose I should do the water pump at the same time...

Passenger seat is dry and back in too:

[Bitzer]

3 hours ago, SmokinWaffle said:

is it worth resetting the ECU to relearn the various things you think?

It will not hurt, BUT, IIRC, there is an extra step not described in the process. If memory serves right:

Once the engine reaches the operating temperature (needle in the middle of the dial), rev up to the limiter and keep it running at the extreme rpms for circa 5 seconds, let the revs fall back to idle, repeat at least three times.

The goal of the procedure is to calibrate a phonic wheel. (Do not ask what the bloody "phonic wheel" is - my best bet is that it means a toothed wheel with a notch informing a crankshaft sensor about the position of crankshaft, i. e. basically TDC, but I would not bet my life on it.)

[Burnside]

Wish I could have found this for £200! My sister had a 99T Bravo 1.6 100 HLX. I really rated it, only problem we had was the injectors falling in 6 years. Otherwise was a brilliant car that provided many smiles.

Can't remember the last time I saw one on the road. I did offer ours on here about 7/8 yrs ago and didn't get much interest, funny how times change. 

With your cambelt. If you search eBay you might get lucky and pick up a genuine old stock Fiat cambelt kit, but touch wood a Gates Kits has always been ok on our Fiats. 

Btw if you get any more problems with water in the footwells.  It's worth taking the scuttle panel off and checking for leaves etc. As we had that happen to our's. 

 

[Bitzer]

Re cambelt, I am usually buying Gates or INA. SNR (French shite), Meyle or TRW was no bother as well.

Avoid German-sounding uebershite like Kraft, Denckermann, Maxgear etc. Usually Chinesium "EUropeanized" in Poland by using a handful of Ukrainian babushkas working for a pittance who put the shit to the "fancy" cardboard boxes.

[Jds1]

Try https://www.shop4parts.co.uk/ for the cambelt, they sell genuine fiat parts at a fraction of the price. If it's not on the website give them a call.

[Mrcento]

Shop4parts are excellent.

Also worth trying Eurocarcare (A.K.A big Mick) for parts https://www.eurocarcare.net/

[stephen01]

Fiat Boo was my first real forum that I was a member of, used to go to meetings and everything, I’m pretty sure I still have my members card somewhere!
 

The place was a beehive of activity about 15 years ago! Used to be a single page, like the old autoshite layout. good times
 

 

[spartacus]

Local friendly motor-factors for a cam belt surely? If you don't use one yet now is the time to start, once you've found a good one you'll never look back!

There's something about Fiats, I think it's the way they all seem to have been designed with being constantly thrashed and driven on the door handles in mind.

 

[Sham]

1 hour ago, spartacus said:

Local friendly motor-factors for a cam belt surely? If you don't use one yet now is the time to start, once you've found a good one you'll never look back!

There's something about Fiats, I think it's the way they all seem to have been designed with being constantly thrashed and driven on the door handles in mind.

 

Even the diesels.

They seem to have the same, slightly manic, character as the Italians themselves.

 

Awesome cars, I've had a few over the years and loved them all - despite occasional reasons not to.

[SRi05]

My old man had a brand new P reg Brava back in the day. A base spec one in appliance white, before it was cool. Couldn't tell you the last time I seen one or a Bravo, still good looking cars to me. Multiple randoms when the time comes for nostalgia purposes 

[Ian_Fearn]

Another vote for Shop4auto parts. Big Mick at ECC is also very good.

I email them my chassis number and they tell me the exact parts I need within a few working hours of sending the email.

[SmokinWaffle]

Thanks for the kind comments all. Nice to see that this brings back memories for people! 

Was going to go for mann filters as I always try to. Tempted by fiat ones with all these links but meh! 

Talked to a chap who breaks them as I want a new headliner ideally as this one is mouldy, or ill clean it good. He said the 1.4 12v is pretty rare due to it not being a their best engine as a lot of you have pointed out with cheese cam shafts ect. Fingers crossed this one isn't too awful! 

Next up is to find a replacement fob / shell for the key as it looks like this 

Reckon I could transfer the internals into this: 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184645482037

Or shall I try and find one the same for ease.... 

I assume I can just shuck it open and take the shell off. 

 

More annoying as I can't keychain it. 

Ecu reset has improved throttle response too which is nicer

@Bitzer did some research and it seems you're probably right, very common of fiats of that era. I assume the timing is okay by the way it's running, but I'll do this when the belt is done for sure! Thank you

[stilo_active]

Zenith Blue 1. 4 SX. Exactly the spec and colour that my Dad had back in 1998. That looks fabulous ❤️

[SmokinWaffle]

Took it out today to collect some cat things. Started first time with no issues, as it should an idled and drove very well indeed - even after sitting overnight in the snow, with a 2" deep layer on it. I think I can call the weird running issue fixed for now? Famous last words. Service next.

HRW works a charm as does the heater.

I do like how it looks with a light dusting. The rear quarter view is awesome, I feel like it's a very love or hate look.

Oh, the wipers stopped working though. Who knows why. Maybe they'll work tomorrow.

Anyone have any idea how to make the indicators self cancel? I assume they once did but now don't for some reason. Remove and clean, then replace if not?

Also forgot to check the tyre pressures when I got it. Turns out they were all around 10 - 15 PSI. Oops. Drives nicer now they're at 30!

[puntopaul]

I can't remember off hand from the Bravo 105 JTD I had, but I'm pretty sure the indicators are meant to self cancel. They do on mk1 Puntos, and the Unos, so possibly just a clean up might do it. But probably easier to buy a new replacement stalk, as I imagine another used one might have the same issue.

I'd recommend to clean the breather hose out as a matter of course, the 1.4 was a bit of bugger for those clogging up! If you get stuck finding parts, I'd look on the Fiat Forum.

Use the access to the Fiat ePer parts system, type in your chassis number. An away you go, I often find new old stock parts easier on eBay etc.. Just by using the original fiat part numbers, you may find the cambelt kit etc... that way as well. 

Love the car, its great to see these older Fiat's being saved. 

 

[Bitzer]

33 minutes ago, puntopaul said:

Fiat ePer parts system

Yup. Unfortunately, it does not always show all modifications.

I dunno about Fiat, but 7zap.com works a treat for my Fordshite.

Re Fiats, I fully agree they are great and very underestimated cars. I had many of them - several Unos, one Tipo, several Mk1/Mk2 Puntos. Unfortunately, it seems the manufacturer went off-course about the time it became clear that Stilo would not be succesful. The joke at the time was that Stilo was too German-looking for Italians and too Italian for Germans.

[vulgalour]

Maybe a blown fuse for the wipers?  Or, if you're getting problems on the indicator stalk it could be dirty/duff contacts on the wiper stalk too.  The design of these really has aged quite well, probably because the rear end treatment is rather more generic and conservative than the Brava.

[SmokinWaffle]

Okay - because I hate myself I decided to have a go at this today. I am now a human popsicle. Send help.

Still, got the scuttle bit off (I assume breaking the plastic connectors on the back as I later found out - but I can't find any evidence of them anywhere in the scuttle area itself so maybe they weren't there...)

ANYWAY - the cover for the wiper motor is brittle as anything and basically just a solid bit of plastic at this point:

 

Took it off and the wiper motor seemed in reasonable shape:

Unplugged it, gave it a good blow plugged it back in and it all seemed to work. Weird. I asume a bit of water ingress or something due to the snow melting onto it an it having holes in the cover.

So I did what any responsible person would do, dried it off and taped the life out of it:

Electrical tape wouldn't stick - I figure the motors don't get that hot and worst case just a bit of warm glue goop. Who cares, it should keep it a bit drier. Also put a bit of tape on the connector to shield it.

Thought I was home free until I went to put the scuttle back on....jesus christ almighty what a pig of a job. Two of the plastic bits I screw into on the car broke, the clips that hold the two pieces together on the back were nowhere to be seen (still unsure if that was me) and when it was in position the middle flapped about in this sort of shape /\

So, naturally, I drilled some holes and cable tied it::

It's not totally flat against the window but nearly - pulled it a bit tight but I'm too cold to care at this point - this has taken a couple hours of messing around total! Does it matter? Someone say it doesn't matter. I'm gonna say it doesn't matter. I figure it'll drain out of the scuttle anyway so who cares. Or it'll land on top of the wiper motor and totally shag it. Shall I gorilla tape there to be sure?

I'm not too sad about the plastic breaking in places as it would have happened regardless of the weather/how little force at some point - as it looks like it's not been removed potentially.

I also fixed the rubber seal on the left hand side of the car bottom of the windowscreen that had slowly worked it's way off, cleaned that and put it back on the bottom of the window. And there were some bits of trim that weren't clipped in beneath it so I fixed that too.

I lost one of my most useful torx bits as for some reason 2 of the screws were torx which I'm a bit peeved about, it's a really nice set too...

Finished article:

Looks the same as when I started pretty much. Hooray.

If it doesn't work tomorrow, I'm going to be a little irritated but for now it's fixed!

[Sham]

Had a similar issue on my Marea years ago. Iirc I had to clean up the contacts to sort it out - but ended up replacing the motor with a used one from eBay.

About a week later, the rear went the same way... 🙄

[SmokinWaffle]

31 minutes ago, Sham said:

Had a similar issue on my Marea years ago. Iirc I had to clean up the contacts to sort it out - but ended up replacing the motor with a used one from eBay.

About a week later, the rear went the same way... 🙄

Interesting. I would have cleaned it up - but honestly it all looked really clean. I'm hoping it was just a weird bit of water or dodgy plug slipping out or something, time will tell...

Found one on eBay that's breaking so I've asked him if he's got a few bits - going to ring me back tomorrow.

[SmokinWaffle]

17 hours ago, SmokinWaffle said:

 

It's not totally flat against the window but nearly - pulled it a bit tight but I'm too cold to care at this point - this has taken a couple hours of messing around total! Does it matter? Someone say it doesn't matter. I'm gonna say it doesn't matter. I figure it'll drain out of the scuttle anyway so who cares. Or it'll land on top of the wiper motor and totally shag it. Shall I gorilla tape there to be sure?

 

 

Any opinions on this? Like I said - I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter. Only a bit itchy as it's snowing outside at the moment...