Technical What a nightmare >.<

[Fishguy]

Hi there every one I'm at my absolute whits end. I brought a seicento 2001 sporting I little while ago after about two months the heater matrix started leaking fluid so naturally I took it to a garage and they had it replaced very quickly. The car ran fine for a little while and then the heater matrix blew again so I got it fixed again, the heater matrix blew three more times after that. I Took it to the garage quite peed of and asked them what the hell was going wrong so they had a look and reported that the head gasket had blown an was forcing air into the cooling system and over pressurising it causing the weakest part (the heater matrix) to blow all the time. I got the head gasket and all the accompanying bits and bobs fixed also they reported that the cooling fan wasn't engaging correctly which had caused the overheat and in turn the head gasket and the heater matrix to go. now in starting to get really annoyed. They told me that they had wired the fan on permanently to stop it over heating. I got the car back and noticed now after the work that they had done the rev counter now doesn't work so once again back to the garage they had the car for a day replaced the rev counter and told me that the ecu is all to blame and they would get me a quote. Couple days later I noticed more coolant and a small oil leak. Guess what i took it back to them and asked them why this is still happening, turned out it was a bit of surplus oil from the head gasket Job and there was no leak BUT the heater matrix had blown again they then told me that the heater matrix they has got wasn't a very good model and that they would get me one from another supplier. hurray the heater matrix is fixed! But the ecu is still broken and the rev counter isnt working and the fan is still on permanently, I asked them for a quote on getting the ecu fixed. Three weeks later they now tell me they cannot find a place to get it fixed. And that's the end one severely pissed of seicento owner and I just don't know what to do now :/.

 

[Fishguy]

Thanks for taking the time to read this just needed to vent my frustration.

 

[SeanW]

Sounds like a dodgy garage :-/

 

[fingers99]

Get another garage. Or (shock, horror) DIY.

To put a fan on permanently is an amateurish bodge. While the ECU is responsible for switching the fan the actual culprit is generally the relay or a plain old wiring fault.

Could be any number of reasons why the rev counter isn't working. I wonder if they buggered about with the main ECU connector.

It's actually quite rare for the heater matrix to blow due to the HG going -- I've never heard that one before. The pressure cap should be the weak link.

Just about everything you need to know is in the Seicento Technical Manual, free from the Downloads section.

Incidentally, you don't tell us what year your car is -- I'm assuming MPI from the front bumper, but there were two different ECUs fitted.

 

[blu73]

Please don't take it to the same garage again, clearly have no idea. Confuses me how many garages can't seem to do simple fault finding - a cento is just about the most simple car any garage will ever get to work on so if they can't manage that steer well clear!!

You really should get your hands dirty and try some of this stuff yourself, you must have spent a fortune already! Download the tech manual on here

 

[fingers99]

But if in doubt, ask.

I'd also contact trading standards. Round here, someone would have visited them with a baseball bat, a long time ago.

 

[woj]

fingers99: a blown hg caused the heater matrix to go at least twice on a family Uno we used to have. I am guessing this can happen when the exp. tank cap is foobared.

To the op: the ECU is very unlikely to be at fault, unless it is the dreaded mixro ECU, but even if then the coil driver usually fails there. The problem with the rad fan on MPI Seis is known to happen, with indeed unclear cause sometimes. Honeymonster here was diagnosing one not so long ago, he will be certainly of more assistance.

 

[Fishguy]

It's an mpi sei and just to let you guys know this is my first car so I'm not so much a mechanic

 

[fingers99]

Yes, but can't make out from your avatar what year it is-- ah, now I see, 2001. Will have the micro ECU.

You really don't have to be much of a mechanic to work on Centos (and, then, we all started off knowing bugger all except where the nipple was).

 

[ycming]

where you at ?

Ming

 

[rallycinq]

First car or not, we all had to start somewhere, and I didn't have the benefit of an internet, just the manual.

Download it and browse, but whatever you do, don't return the car to that garage, and go ask for all your money back, they have failed. If they don't give you your money back, time to trot along to trading standards.

As Ming says, where in the world are you?

Cheers

D

 

[blu73]

and cento is about the best place to start learning.. just contemplate how much money you are going to save over the years even if you just learn the basics and can do simple fault finding and servicing on your car.

 

[scottishseicento]

He's in dartford northwest kent, if i read correctly from one of his old threads back in april.

 

[Fishguy]

Yeah northwest kent, Dartford to be specific

 

[seicentodriver]

Hi all, i have a similar cooling problem so i thought i'd continue this thread instead of starting a new one. Can anyone give me some advice please? I have a 2001 Seic 1.1 Sporting Michael Schumacher. A couple of weeks ago whilst stuck in traffic on the dreaded M25 on a sunny day the water temperature light came on. I got going again and it soon went off. I noticed that the cooling fan wasn't coming on which was unusual because it normally comes on quite regularly even on cold days when sitting in traffic but only for a few seconds at a time. So far i have tested the fan straight to the battery and it works ok, i changed the thermostat and temperature sender. I refilled with coolant, bled it and took it for a test run in traffic and on the motorway for about 20 minutes. Everything seemed fine, no warning light, but no sign of the fan. Back home i idled the car for about 5 minutes, bled the water again and no light. As soon as i turned the heating off the warning light came on but still no fan. Not sure what to do next... here's some background info... it's done 87k, had a new head gasket at 61k, ECU re-programmed last year, it had a slight coolant leak, but not inside the car, i used radweld and everything seemed fine until now. One other slight quirk is that before this happened i noticed i had a headlight out but after a few minutes it came back on again and has worked fine ever since, not sure if that's connected. All fuses, including the big ones behind the battery. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what i do next please? :bang:

 

[fingers99]

Never, ever, use radweld. Never.

First test, undo the sensor at the temperature sensor. The fan should come on regardless of the engine temperature.

If it doesn't you have a wiring fault.

Get back with the results. In the meantime, download the Seicento Technical Manual from the Downloads section, get hold of a cheap multimeter.

 

[rallycinq]

Fan fuse?

The one behind the battery, check them all, the lid fits both ways.

Cheers

D

 

[seicentodriver]

By temp sensor you mean the temp sender, the one that goes into the engine block next to the thermostat? I replaced that yesterday. OK i've unplugged it (green plug) and started the engine and the fan still doesn't come on, the engine management light on the dashboard has come on but hopefully that will go off again now it's re-connected. I bought a technical manual off ebay as the ones from here keep asking me to insert a disc, which i don't have.

Consider myself told off about radweld! :worship: The water leak only ever happened when i was driving the car and was about 250ml every 500 miles, always the same amount so i assumed that it was a slight drip from somewhere, never any gunk in the filler cap, the last owner had the water pump changed just before he sold it to me.
What do you want me to do with the multimeter?

Fuses all checked and OK

Thanks for taking the time to reply

 

[seicentodriver]

Any ideas where to buy and how much multimeters cost? Are the AC/DC ones suitable for cars? sorry for all the questions, electrics is not my strong point

 

[blu73]

mine neither, its just black magic electric lol....

something like this will be fine, you don't have to spend alot
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-L..._Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item53f1c8bba5