My Current Smoker.

[Guest]

Bought this on a whim back in April.

 

 

Sure enough, it had an attack of heritage witin 3 miles. Either that or I was conned by the previous seller.

[ProgRocker]

That is sweet!

[George-Roper]

Thank you for the very informative write up on how you bought and the problems you had occur afterwards and how you overcame them. Very interesting

[Guest]

I'm sorry Freedie, but as I was creating this lovely thread, a wanker from this very forum started braeing on my mobile. And my missus took the laptop from me.

 

Right, I bought it only to find it had a MONUMENTAL oil leak. I never knew this when I bought it as the vendor kept parking it on grass. Then went I took it home, at a time stipulated by the vendor, I ditched it at home and dashed out for the day. Only when I came back home did I see a sight worthy of BP's North America operations. Much cursing and worrying and deGunking later, I fitted a new rocker gasket. The annoying thing was, in the advert, the vendor specificially stipulated it did not suffer from the usual oil leaks. I must have smelled like a Kipper.

[Guest]

Are there several pages missing from this argument?

 

Whatever happened, it seems a shame. The car in the photo looks great.

[Guest]

No argument. Car fixed ans sat in my house as we speak. Those pictures were took at the end of July. It goes great now its fixed.

[fiatdaft]

A rocker cover gasket on a 13 year old car is hardly the end of the world,nice choice though.

[Guest]

Aye, but having had no experience of these cars and given the volume of oil leaking, we were convinced it was something much more serious. So, we cut off the drive belt and started the investigations. We had a bill for a genuine gasket having recently been fitted by a specialist, so I was sent off in a tangent looking elsewhere. Eventually, we concluded it was the Rocker gasket and that the 5-pot was notorious for it. Refitting a new drivebelt was far from straight forward too. I can see why the timing belt change cost so much.

[CreepingJesus]

Looks nice tho'; I take it it's pretty sound otherwise?

I love the sound of a 5-cyl, and wouldn't mind trundling about in one of these, but I can imagine the space constraints of putting 5 into where 4 normally sits. And the knock-on effects on servicing.

Just out of interest, as an open question, which Fiat platform are these built on? Tipo? Marea?

[Guest]

I'm told they are built on the Tipo platform, like most of the FIAT/Alfa/Lancia range. The working restrictions on the 5 pot are a bit of a nightmare. Certainly we had to cut down allen keys to fit the drive belt. The FIAT garage who has carried out virtually all of the routine servicing apparently refused to do the belts, but arranged for another FIAT dealer to do the work. Virtually £1,100 pounds later the job was done. According to the book, its engine out, but some workshops now 'tilt' the engine to do it.

 

Its now sound. Nice, stylish original metal key as well as the blue FIAT item. Lots of history, very clean. It just needs the air-con doing.

[Captain Mainwaring]

Thank you for the very informative write up on how you bought and the problems you had occur afterwards and how you overcame them. Very interesting

 

Miserable sod.

[stuboy]

liked the turbo ones