Technical Lots of Warning lights!

[Poppa]

Ok so heres the story, I jump in the 08 500 pop with 30k on the clock, get 1/2 a mile up the road & have 4 warning lights appear. Air bag, pass airbag seat belt & orange warning triangle with a digital display message reading auto fuel cut of unavailable. I call my local fiat dealer who very kindly squeeze me in withing a couple of hours. They plug it into the diagnostics & suggest its a weak battery.
A quick change over deems it not the battery, possibly airbag sensor.
So as their head diagnostic man is'nt there I ask if its safe to drive (as no courtesy cars available) I'm told it should be ok. So off i go with it booked in for thursday.......Following day (sunday) all the above is still there & up pops the orange engine light & check engine warning & car looses power, wont go over 60MPH
So we get a piggy back on the back of a recovery truck straight to the showroom forecourt (great advertising with all the potential new customers there)
Main man has had a look today & they're telling me its the airbag control unit sending out mixed messages (a bit like me) :devil:
total cost of repair £399.61!!!!!!
Have Phoned fiat uk & they've given me a case number which i've passed onto the dealers, Fingers crossed they will make some kind of good will gesture.

Anyone else had anything like this?

 

[jrkitching]

Ok so heres the story, I jump in the 08 500 pop with 30k on the clock, get 1/2 a mile up the road & have 4 warning lights appear. Air bag, pass airbag seat belt & orange warning triangle with a digital display message reading auto fuel cut of unavailable. I call my local fiat dealer who very kindly squeeze me in withing a couple of hours. They plug it into the diagnostics & suggest its a weak battery.
A quick change over deems it not the battery, possibly airbag sensor.
So as their head diagnostic man is'nt there I ask if its safe to drive (as no courtesy cars available) I'm told it should be ok. So off i go with it booked in for thursday.......Following day (sunday) all the above is still there & up pops the orange engine light & check engine warning & car looses power, wont go over 60MPH
So we get a piggy back on the back of a recovery truck straight to the showroom forecourt (great advertising with all the potential new customers there)
Main man has had a look today & they're telling me its the airbag control unit sending out mixed messages (a bit like me) :devil:
total cost of repair £399.61!!!!!!
Have Phoned fiat uk & they've given me a case number which i've passed onto the dealers, Fingers crossed they will make some kind of good will gesture.

Anyone else had anything like this?

Have you had the car from new?

 

[Poppa]

no, bought it at a year old

 

[306maxi]

Have Phoned fiat uk & they've given me a case number which i've passed onto the dealers, Fingers crossed they will make some kind of good will gesture.

Probably not, but for some random reason, the next person who has this issue will probably have it paid for in full leaving you thinking "Why me?!?!?!?!"

 

[Poppa]

I can only hope, or go cry on their doorstep, as they are very close neighbours

 

[jrkitching]

Commiserations to the OP - this is exactly the kind of fault I dread - I'd imagine it would be challenging to diagnose without access to proprietary diagnostic equipment, almost impossible to repair the affected parts, and even more impossible to source aftermarket replacements, leaving little choice but paying whatever FIAT choose to charge at the time.

I'd be interested to know what parts were actually replaced.

 

[RobinPJ]

Commiserations to the OP - this is exactly the kind of fault I dread - I'd imagine it would be challenging to diagnose without access to proprietary diagnostic equipment, almost impossible to repair the affected parts, and even more impossible to source aftermarket replacements, leaving little choice but paying whatever FIAT choose to charge at the time.

I'd be interested to know what parts were actually replaced.

Would a mobile auto electician be an alternative? I'm guessing not as most of the cost is probably in the parts which as you say will have to come off Fiat's pricey shelf.

 

[Poppa]

They've told me they've ordered an airbag control unit... nothing else.
I would have seem my mechanic brother who has all the snap on diagnostic gadgetry, but like you say its a case of Fiat having you by the short & curleys with something like this.

 

[Super Uwe]

Hello Poppa,

Is it possible that this is the part you need replacing?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-500-AIRBAG-ECU-SRS-CONTROL-MODULE-BOX-UNIT-/390304128837

Quoted as £50 on here although I can't be 100% sure it's the same thing.

Anyway hope it helps!

 

[jrkitching]

If it's a simple fault, like a dry soldered joint on a circuit board, a competent mechanic might just be able to fix it on the spot. Failing that, there are specialist companies out there who can repair & reprogram the airbag control unit - but your car would be off the road whilst this was being done.

Main dealers generally won't try to repair anything at the component level, preferring to charge you hundreds of pounds for a replacement.

 

[Poppa]

Hello Poppa,

Is it possible that this is the part you need replacing?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-500-AIRBAG-ECU-SRS-CONTROL-MODULE-BOX-UNIT-/390304128837

Quoted as £50 on here although I can't be 100% sure it's the same thing.

Anyway hope it helps!

Thanks, I've just been having a browse & even if it were available, from what i've just been reading it seems fiat only can reprogamme the unit anyway (unless it's an old post i've read)

 

[Super Uwe]

Thanks, I've just been having a browse & even if it were available, from what i've just been reading it seems fiat only can reprogamme the unit anyway (unless it's an old post i've read)

Yeah that's fair enough, I can imagine that would be the case.

Only other advice maybe would be to get your dealer to give a breakdown of the price quoted for replacing it. I have no idea how much labour would be required to do it, but if the bulk of the £399.61 is made up of the part itself and it is indeed that part, you may be able to save a bit of money by getting it yourself (that ebay trader is actually a Fiat dealer themselves).

Anyway hope it all gets sorted in the end, you might hit the jackpot with Fiat CS!

 

[306maxi]

It's this very sort of issue that makes me want to buy a BNW 1.2 500 when they get well under £1000 and just rip every single little bit off it and weigh the shell in. That way if something like this goes pop then I've got a replacement ready to go on at a minutes notice. I reckon a 500 in bits would easily fit in a loft and the gearbox and engine would sit in a corner of a garage :chin:

 

[RUI]

It's this very sort of issue that makes me want to buy a BNW 1.2 500 when they get well under £1000 and just rip every single little bit off it and weigh the shell in. That way if something like this goes pop then I've got a replacement ready to go on at a minutes notice. I reckon a 500 in bits would easily fit in a loft and the gearbox and engine would sit in a corner of a garage :chin:

Sounds like my garage right now...I have got loads of bits

 

[306maxi]

Sounds like my garage right now...I have got loads of bits

Sounds like my kind of garage. At the moment we have 3 sets of wheels down the side of the house

We're going house hunting soon, there's a house not too far from us which has an inspection pit, a ****ing inspection pit!!!!!!!! How fantastic would that be? Wife can come home from work, complain about a noise and I can take it over the pit and suck through clenched teeth and shake my head

 

[bgunn]

Four post lift would be better

 

[306maxi]

Four post lift would be better

Can't have everything!

 

[Poppa]

Fingers crossed
fiat uk c/s are talking to dealershihp as I type

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Failing that, there are specialist companies out there who can repair & reprogram the airbag control unit - but your car would be off the road whilst this was being done.

Why

Car will still run. Will just show warning lights still.

It's this very sort of issue that makes me want to buy a BNW 1.2 500 when they get well under £1000 and just rip every single little bit off it and weigh the shell in. That way if something like this goes pop then I've got a replacement ready to go on at a minutes notice. I reckon a 500 in bits would easily fit in a loft and the gearbox and engine would sit in a corner of a garage :chin:

Sound like my place with mk2 Pandas. Lol.

 

[jrkitching]

Why
Car will still run. Will just show warning lights still.

Yep, it should run OK without the airbag unit, and given that until fairly recently most cars didn't have airbags, I suppose you could risk it. But running without the primary airbag is a BIG risk.

And if the worst should happen... ...well, the least of your problems might be that your insurers would dispute any personal injury claims after you'd deliberately disconnected the airbag ECU....

Sorry if this comes across a little strong, but a couple of years back, Ladykitching almost lost her life after another vehicle came straight across the carriageway and hit her car head-on. Without the airbag & belt pretensioners, the consequences of that accident would have been disastrous.