500 Fresh (used) 500 owner, fresh problems.

[Doktorgompen]

Hello! I got my long sought after gorgeous blue Fiat 500 a couple of months ago. It's a 2011 Twinair, low mileage, pretty good condition. I haven't really taken any glory pictures yet, but here's one from the ferry trip on the way to its new home. Nevermind the bird-bomb on the side of the door, it was included in the purchase, and washed off as soon as I got home. Picked it up in the south-east of Norway, and drove it to med middle of the country (almost 500 km away).

I was led to believe that the dreaded boot wire harness failure had not been an issue. I anticipated it becoming a problem at some point - and it didn't take long. After only about 5 weeks, the boot latch would no longer disengage. After trying to diagnose it to see if it might be some other problem, I concluded it had to be the wire harness. So I got to work changing it. After receiving a wire harness repair kit from Febi Bilstein that is. And sure enough, one of the previous owners had already been in there and done som least-effort repairs with only insulation tape. The purple wire that goes to the boot latch was completely broken in two. There were also some other wires with a bunch of broken insulation. After about two hours of fiddling, I had the new wires all crimped on. Initial tests were good. There was some leaking from the washer fluid hose joins, but all the electrics were working, including the boot latch both on the button and on the key button.

I proceeded to get all the wires and the new concertina hose into place. Then, disaster. The boot hatch was no longer working, but I could still open it with the key button. Ok, there must be two separate issues at play here. After hours of faffing, I discovered that the socket for the plug that goes to the licence plate lights and the boot button has some sort of integrity issue. I got it all to work by getting some tension on it in a specific direction. For now I have it sorted with some silver tape, but I should probably try make a more robust solution in time. Suggestions are very welcome.

Cheers,
Doktorgompen

 

[John202020]

Perhaps remove the silver handle assembly dismantle and clean especially the pin that holds the moving part of the release switch/handle as it rusts and restricts movement( should be about 6mm movement not hardly any) of the handle, also push the connector on/off a few times to clean the contacts? Check the socket to (I think can't remember pcb) for corrosion of the joint, it's a simple issue just working out what it is?

 

[spidermania]

Suggestions are very welcome.

Ingenuity is the mother of invention.
Keep up the good work.

 

[Doktorgompen]

Perhaps remove the silver handle assembly dismantle and clean especially the pin that holds the moving part of the release switch/handle as it rusts and restricts movement( should be about 6mm movement not hardly any) of the handle, also push the connector on/off a few times to clean the contacts? Check the socket to (I think can't remember pcb) for corrosion of the joint, it's a simple issue just working out what it is?

Good suggestion. I already took off the chrome handle assembly when diagnosing. I had figured it was the switch on the button, although I could hear it engage. Also cleaned the socket and plug thoroughly. The disvovery that it was actually the socket was a fluke after I had given up for the day, and had resigned myself to either open the handle assembly, or order a new bar. So it might be as you say, the joint at the socket is bad. Silver tape seems to be holding for now, so I'll have another look when it inevitably fails somewhere down the road.