Fiat 500 1.2 chucking out oil - Options?
Discussion
My stepdaughter bought a '59 Fiat 500 for her first car. After seeing lots of scruffy examples for £1700-2000 from kerbside traders, we bought a clean 125k miles for £1350 privately. It hadn't been used for a year through the pandemic but it started fine and ticked over nicely. A new cambelt was budgeted and fitted, luckily just in time as the old one was in very poor condition. New plugs, leads & filters were also fitted.
About a month later, we noticed blue smoke on start up and driving the car.
Then it had it's MOT which it passed first time but on the way back, she noticed it was down on power and not running right. I was called and thought it was misfiring. The garage had it back and No.2 cylinder had fouled it's plug so running on three. No problem, he said, it's been running here for a while during the test, it happens. Cleaned it for her and it was ok.
Did the same the next day when she drove it.
Now, the entire back of the car is covered in black oil droplets.
Is it the piston rings? Or the valve seals?
We have looked on eBay and a 30k mile engine is c.£200 plus £400 to fit it. She wants to keep the car.
What's the best option for her? Fit a low mile engine or fix the valve seals if it's that? I presume cylinder wear means a replacement engine, costwise.
She's an apprentice on £10k pa, and loves the car.
About a month later, we noticed blue smoke on start up and driving the car.
Then it had it's MOT which it passed first time but on the way back, she noticed it was down on power and not running right. I was called and thought it was misfiring. The garage had it back and No.2 cylinder had fouled it's plug so running on three. No problem, he said, it's been running here for a while during the test, it happens. Cleaned it for her and it was ok.
Did the same the next day when she drove it.
Now, the entire back of the car is covered in black oil droplets.
Is it the piston rings? Or the valve seals?
We have looked on eBay and a 30k mile engine is c.£200 plus £400 to fit it. She wants to keep the car.
What's the best option for her? Fit a low mile engine or fix the valve seals if it's that? I presume cylinder wear means a replacement engine, costwise.
She's an apprentice on £10k pa, and loves the car.
Wouldn’t bother with a replacement engine on that value of car. You will exceed the cost of the car with all the bits you’ll want to replace such as new cambelt again, service it again, engine mounts probably etc etc etc. Put it down to bad luck punt it on for scrap and start again. Unless of course it’s a easy fix but how do you find that out without splashing out at a garage.
Italian tune up?
My brother in laws car went into limp mode last year. Petrol Toyota Corolla that he was barely driving more than 3 miles during lockdown once every couple of weeks. He thought leaving it to idle for a few minutes once a week was good for it. Garage told him to drive down the motorway for a good 5 miles keeping the revs above 5k RPM and do half a dozen hard acceleration 2nd gear from around 2krpm to the red line.
It worked for his car.
My brother in laws car went into limp mode last year. Petrol Toyota Corolla that he was barely driving more than 3 miles during lockdown once every couple of weeks. He thought leaving it to idle for a few minutes once a week was good for it. Garage told him to drive down the motorway for a good 5 miles keeping the revs above 5k RPM and do half a dozen hard acceleration 2nd gear from around 2krpm to the red line.
It worked for his car.
Fastchas said:
A garage has taken a quick look, thinks it might be the catalytic converter. I thought it was oil on the rear end but when you drag your finger on it, it’s dry not wet like oil might be. Carbon deposits? Strangely it looks like oil droplets.
They will take a better look tomorrow.
Just be wary that the issue isn't the catalytic converter but that doesn't mean that the issue hasn't killed the cat.They will take a better look tomorrow.
What I am saying is, that unless you get the actual issue sorted, it could then junk another cat.
Fastchas said:
The garage had it back and No.2 cylinder had fouled it's plug so running on three. No problem, he said, it's been running here for a while during the test, it happens. Cleaned it for her and it was ok.
If it's a 1959 car...maybe it happens, but I guess that isn't what was meant ? 59 plate ?No, modern cars do not foul plugs like that. If they do, something is badly wrong. And you should not try and clean plugs these days, replace them with the correct type. If they're precious metal type plugs, any abrasive attempt at cleaning can damage them.
But if a lot of unburnt fuel has got into the cat, it can have damaged it.
Garage had the car on Wednesday. Didn't have time to check it. She called them late yesterday after they promised to call her. Said they can't anything wrong with the car, they've checked it all over. Charged her dad £40.
I think it could be just short journeys she's doing. She drives about a mile each morning to the train station and nips here & there on weekends. Maybe it needs a blast like the poster above said.
I think it could be just short journeys she's doing. She drives about a mile each morning to the train station and nips here & there on weekends. Maybe it needs a blast like the poster above said.
steveo3002 said:
a decent run with a few revs wouldnt hurt ....is it oil on the bumper or sooty water ?
I thought it was oil, but when you run your finger through it it's dry so must be sooty water. BUt we've had no rain recently and even in that hot spell the entire back end of the car was splattered in it. I'll take some photos later when I'm home.steveo3002 said:
with short runs the exhaust system will fill with condensation and never burn off ....a long run gets the exhaust and oil hot enough to burn it all off
This sounds like it could be the problem, thanks. As she is a newly-passed driver she isn't going to drive it at 8/10ths either.Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff