The aluminum head DOHC was pretty advanced for its time, but those same
features could cause trouble once it got into the hands of "deferred
maintenance" owners. The timing belts required regular replacement and as the
motor was an interference fit, valves would go crashing into pistons when the
belt broke. Valve adjustment was by using disc shaped shims that required the
garage to have a whole set of them, which most independents didn't. And the
spark plugs were easily cross-threaded in the aluminum head. The biggest
issue with the cars was rust, though with the 124 Spiders actually having a
govt. mandated buy-back due to chassis rust.
--- On Fri, 5/8/09, David Ambrose <stargazer1@cox.net> wrote:
>
My first ever bought-new car was a 131 Mirafiore. It ran just great until the
front suspension bushings wore out and the cam belt stripped at 145K The cam
belt was my fault. I left it on for almost twice the recommended service
interval. We gave it to my brother in law who fixed the engine and dropped it
into a 124. Prior to that point, we didn't have to do anything other than
regular maintenance.
Fiat's had the same problem as the British cars of the time. The fscking
dealers were incompetent. I took mine back to the dealer for its 1000 mile
check. Took it to a different dealer for a tune-up and they found the #3
spark
plug cross-threaded. Neither dealer would fix it under warranty. After that,
I
did my own work as the warranty wasn't worth anything anyway.
Fiat makes a nice car. I just hope they put more emphasis on their dealer
network this time.
Cheers,
Dave Ambrose
You are subscribed as healeyrick@yahoo.com
http://www.team.net/archive
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/spridgets
_______________________________________________
Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
http://www.team.net/archive
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/spridgets
|