General 1.4 MultiAir longevity

[brooking147]

Currently considering a change of car with an option on a 2010 Punto Evo Sporting 1.4 MultiAir with approx 100k miles on the clock. I am wondering if anyone has experience or opinion on the longevity of this engine beyond 100k miles? The car has mainly been Fiat dealer maintained. I would be changing from my Panda 1.1 ECO which is now at 170k miles but obviously with the much more basic FIRE engine which I have maintained myself over the last 100k and five years of ownership.

Do i take the plunge or stick to what I know?

 

[GrandePunto PL]

It's a gamble. "It" happens (Multi or Uni-Air unit fault, wear). It needs more care than basic FIRE family (old simple engines), correct type of oil etc.
Try YouTube for more info (unit swap, diagnosis etc.), there are videos.

 

[fiatmultiair]

I had a 1.1 Fiat Seicento and moved to a 1.4 Turbo MultiAir Evo Sporting, here are my thoughts,
Parts can be expensive.
If it has been in Switzerland, it's rusty or not yet visibly rust - Avoid if so.
My car had the original MultiAir unit from 2009 December and has passed 200k KM, that's about 124K Miles.
The car runs fine, avg consumption for me driving in terrible conditions where it's stop and go for about half a year now due to road works on every road around me, the avg consumption is about 8 liters per 100KM, when it's not a stop and go environment it's more 6.5 Liters per 100KM. Oh and I put premium fuel from time to time to it and it runs better for me I noticed.

Besides that, everything is sweet, love the design, parts can be found, MultiAir thingy can be bought refurbished if it fails on you, but I don't recommend doing that. If you do your oil changes and MultiAir filter changes or cleans you will be good, just don't drive it like a race car.
Also, if I may ask, what price are they going for with that kind of mileage there? Here it's about 4 to 6K euros...


also, just ask the owner if the MultiAir brick has been changed and if so when

 

[PuntoHowTo]

How long do you intend to keep the car.

Multiair unit at 100k miles is getting towards the normal point where they break down and replacements are very very expensive.

You could find with a well looked after Fiat dealer serviced car that it is good for many many more miles but it’s not a gamble I would take. As suggested you may be better off with a more conventional engine such as the t-jet or standard 1.4 without the multiair set up.

 

[brooking147]

How long do you intend to keep the car.

Multiair unit at 100k miles is getting towards the normal point where they break down and replacements are very very expensive.

You could find with a well looked after Fiat dealer serviced car that it is good for many many more miles but it’s not a gamble I would take. As suggested you may be better off with a more conventional engine such as the t-jet or standard 1.4 without the multiair set up.

Thank you. I will check because I think the Multiair unit has previously been replaced and I believe that the car has been dealer serviced. I am fortunate to have known the previous owner who has had the car for many years, if not from new, and know they typically let the dealer do all the servicing etc.

If the history is as I suspect and the MA unit has already been replaced do you think the gamble is less? Are there any other major components to be wary of ?

 

[brooking147]

I had a 1.1 Fiat Seicento and moved to a 1.4 Turbo MultiAir Evo Sporting, here are my thoughts,
Parts can be expensive.
If it has been in Switzerland, it's rusty or not yet visibly rust - Avoid if so.
My car had the original MultiAir unit from 2009 December and has passed 200k KM, that's about 124K Miles.
The car runs fine, avg consumption for me driving in terrible conditions where it's stop and go for about half a year now due to road works on every road around me, the avg consumption is about 8 liters per 100KM, when it's not a stop and go environment it's more 6.5 Liters per 100KM. Oh and I put premium fuel from time to time to it and it runs better for me I noticed.

Besides that, everything is sweet, love the design, parts can be found, MultiAir thingy can be bought refurbished if it fails on you, but I don't recommend doing that. If you do your oil changes and MultiAir filter changes or cleans you will be good, just don't drive it like a race car.
Also, if I may ask, what price are they going for with that kind of mileage there? Here it's about 4 to 6K euros...


also, just ask the owner if the MultiAir brick has been changed and if so when

Thanks for the reply. Lots to think about there. For a 2010 car the price is around £2000,

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Thank you. I will check because I think the Multiair unit has previously been replaced and I believe that the car has been dealer serviced. I am fortunate to have known the previous owner who has had the car for many years, if not from new, and know they typically let the dealer do all the servicing etc.

If the history is as I suspect and the MA unit has already been replaced do you think the gamble is less? Are there any other major components to be wary of ?

If the MA unit has been replaced and not long ago then I’d probably take a gamble for £2k the rest of the car is pretty solid and not too much else goes wrong with them

At 100k you might want to budget for things like breaks, and you could need a clutch in the not too distant future so I would set aside some money for that as well

 

[fiatmultiair]

Thanks for the reply. Lots to think about there. For a 2010 car the price is around £2000,

That's cheap, bread is more expensive where I live.

 

[thenerko]

So many times discussed, it is gamble. Very dependant of maintenance. As fiatmultiair said, I have also seen multiple cars from Switzerland with MultiAir engines had oil interval of 30k kilometers, you can clearly see oil sludge under oil cap. This blocks multiair unit oil passages, since unit works with oil pressure.

One thing that is coming to my mind. If 1.4 Fire engines are same platform, same engine block, in case someone have problem with multiair block, will engine head (with ecu) from t-jet be compatible with MA engine
Would like if someone can prove my opinion.

 

[fiatmultiair]

So many times discussed, it is gamble. Very dependant of maintenance. As fiatmultiair said, I have also seen multiple cars from Switzerland with MultiAir engines had oil interval of 30k kilometers, you can clearly see oil sludge under oil cap. This blocks multiair unit oil passages, since unit works with oil pressure.

One thing that is coming to my mind. If 1.4 Fire engines are same platform, same engine block, in case someone have problem with multiair block, will engine head (with ecu) from t-jet be compatible with MA engine
Would like if someone can prove my opinion.

People in Italy do some experiments deleting the MultiAir unit and running the engine like a t-jet one with the delete kit addons. You can also swap the engine for the T-Jet one and be good.