Technical Fiat 500 Twinair engine replacement

[Boson5]

Please can you tell me if an engine with an electric turbo can be fitted into my 2011 Fiat 500 which had a mechanical one. I purchased one such engine, but the wiring loom was on the other side and I wonder if the ECU will accept the newer engine? The supplier is arguing the toss!


PS
I posted this in the 500L forum before, but my car is a two door.

I have been carless for six months now because my garage says you cannot put an electric turbo engine, as supplied by the reseller, into my car which originally had a mechanical one. I need to recover the £1450 I paid for a replacement engine.

 

[jackwhoo]

You have to trust what your garage tells you.
Plus
I agree with your garage you must get an identical engine to the one fitted at the factory.

 

[jrkitching]

Hello and welcome to the forum

I posted this in the 500L forum before, but my car is a two door.

No problem; you're in the right place now.

I'd go with what your garage is telling you.

Personally I wouldn't try to install the engine that you've purchased, and I wouldn't expect it to work satisfactorily, or even at all, if you did.

I suspect the issue will be convincing the engine supplier to refund your money.

I'd also rethink the whole plan. Spending £1450 + installation to replace an engine on a 13yr old 500 doesn't make sense to me. I'd scrap the car and put the money toward buying something else.

 

[Boson5]

You have to trust what your garage tells you.
Plus
I agree with your garage you must get an identical engine to the one fitted at the factory.

Thank you for confirming what I thought, but if you can point to a specific technical detail it would be very nice. The supplier is saying that he has supplied "hundreds" of engines with electric turbos and people have put them into older cars which originally had mechanical ones, without any problem!

 

[jackwhoo]

Tell them your garage refuse to fit it because it's incorrect

 

[jrkitching]

I think your least worst option now is to sell both the car and the used engine separately, in their current condition, for the best price you can get, and put this whole sorry story behind you.

That way you can move on with your life and not spend any more time on what realistically is a scrap car.

Any other option is going to mean spending more money now, with absolutely no guarantee that it's ever going to work properly again.

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but you need to be realistic. Paying someone else to fit an unknown used engine recovered from a wreck into a 13 yr old 500 isn't a plan that's likely to end well for you.

 

[Boson5]

Tell them your garage refuse to fit it because it's incorrect

Yes, the first engine, with an electric turbo, was sent straight back and I asked for a correct replacement. Engine Component Ltd in Oldham sent back the same engine, stripped of all peripherals. They then bought another engine themselves from MK Autos on eBay and it arrived from a different location. It too had the electric turbo and was returned by the garage without even being unloaded from the carrier. We still have the carcass engine and have reached the end of the road after six months of arguing. I am making a Small Claim and need confirmation that my garage have done the right thing.

 

[jackwhoo]

You are not going to get a binding legal confirmation on here.

You need legal advice.

If you paid for engine on credit card , credit card company may be able to help you if you didn't get what you paid for.

Possibly similar if you paid on debit card but you need to find out now before any time limit expires.

 

[Boson5]

You are not going to get a binding legal confirmation on here.

You need legal advice.

If you paid for engine on credit card , credit card company may be able to help you if you didn't get what you paid for.

Possibly similar if you paid on debit card but you need to find out now before any time limit expires.

Thanks, I paid by bank transfer, which has not got Clause 75 (Credit Cards) or Chargeback (Debit Cards) protection. Also the respondent is in the UK and, for legal purposes, Scotland is devolved. It seems there is an obscure legal provision to let Scottish people who are a "consumer" rather than a "business", claim in a Scottish court against an English respondent. I came to this forum to try to get third party opinion and know it will only be that. It's why I am looking for some hard technical reason, like say, the ECU would be incompatible, if that is correct?

 

[jrkitching]

You need legal advice.

That, although in this case my own experience with the Court system leads me to recommend that you don't try to go this route. It will cost you more money, a lot more time and effort, and realistically I'd expect it'll take a couple of years before you could get this brought before a Court. You'll almost certainly need expert witness testimony that the engine isn't fit for the purpose it was sold, and even if you win, you still have to get paid. If the supplier of the engine ceases trading before then, you'll get nothing and will have spent quite a bit more money on Court costs, witness statements and possibly legal fees. By the time this is all over, the car will be scrap anyway and I'd expect the garage that has it just now is also going to want storage costs, which you're unlikely to be able to recover.

The crossover between legal systems just makes it even less worth trying.

I can only repeat my advice to cut your losses, extract what value you can from the car and engine and move on with your life.

 

[jackwhoo]

The situation you are in could hardly be more complex.
You are not going to get an opinion regarding what you have been sent and compatibility with your car.
We don't know what you have been sent.

If your garage who knows what you have been sent , knows the complete story says they can't do the job no one can say anymore. If they don't want to talk to the engine supplier you can't blame them. Your garage is the only one who could give you anything in writing regarding non compatibility.

It has been a costly lesson for you regarding purchase protection /bank transfers .

I agree with JR put it all behind you and move on.

 

[Boson5]

That, although in this case my own experience with the Court system leads me to recommend that you don't try to go this route. It will cost you more money, a lot more time and effort, and realistically I'd expect it'll take a couple of years before you could get this brought before a Court. You'll almost certainly need expert witness testimony that the engine isn't fit for the purpose it was sold, and even if you win, you still have to get paid. If the supplier of the engine ceases trading before then, you'll get nothing and will have spent quite a bit more money on Court costs, witness statements and possibly legal fees. By the time this is all over, the car will be scrap anyway and I'd expect the garage that has it just now is also going to want storage costs, which you're unlikely to be able to recover.

The crossover between legal systems just makes it even less worth trying.

I can only repeat my advice to cut your losses, extract what value you can from the car and engine and move on with your life.

Thank you for stating the case. I wish I had the capital to buy another vehicle. I'll go and lick my wounds.

 

[Boson5]

The situation you are in could hardly be more complex.
You are not going to get an opinion regarding what you have been sent and compatibility with your car.
We don't know what you have been sent.

If your garage who knows what you have been sent , knows the complete story says they can't do the job no one can say anymore. If they don't want to talk to the engine supplier you can't blame them. Your garage is the only one who could give you anything in writing regarding non compatibility.

It has been a costly lesson for you regarding purchase protection /bank transfers .

I agree with JR put it all behind you and move on.

One question then. Does an electric turbo use the ECU? Because if so, the ECU on my older car will not be compatible.

 

[jackwhoo]

One question then. Does an electric turbo use the ECU? Because if so, the ECU on my older car will not be compatible.

Unfortunately you are going around in circles . any such answers must come from your garage who have seen and examined what you have been sent .



For instance there is no such thing as an electric turbo , My guess is you have been told something about how the turbo is controlled.