Calling all Brava owners.

In message , gazzafield writes

A little graphic of an engine? Ours came on during an MOT test and the mechanic said it was due to overheating. It went out by itself after a few short trips. It also came on with a misfire, and went out again when I replaced the plugs, and then came on again when I failed to put the plug cap on properly. It seems to be a general "heads up" that there's something wrong, and the dealer will tell you what the fault is, for a price.

Execrable heap, anyway.

Never had any major problems with my Bravo, it handles all the abuse I give it (and believe me, I abuse it) and aside from consumable items (and an ABS light which is down to a dodgy sensor) it's been a cracking motor, just like the Tipo I had for 10 years previous. Mind you, it only takes one bad car to condemn an entire manufacturer for someone.

Hellraiser..............>

I'm fairly sure it's a basic graphic of an engine. I've had a car that had a very similar one that was for the EMU. Is that what it is Hellraiser, as you appear to still have your Bravo from your post.

If it's a graphic of an engine it's the ECU reporting a fault - this can be something as trivial as a dodgy coil pack, plug lead, idle control valve, earth connection or a knackered injector - pretty much anything. If it came on once and has now gone out I shouldn't worry too much, when was it last serviced?

Hellraiser............>

No idea. Had the car now for a couple of months and only done a couple of thousand miles in that time. I've bought oil, filter, air filter, plugs and have leads on order from the dealer. I will also be dumping the coolant to give it a change.

I take it it's a 1.6? Had the cambelt done?

Hellraiser............>

Yes it's the 1.6, what made you ask that? The cambelt was done as soon as I got it. It has 72k miles on it now and it used to be a motability car.

"gazzafield" wrote in message news:E-udnRNtbttbX7 snipped-for-privacy@pipex.net...

Shot in the dark mate, 1.6 is most popular engine as it is quite nippy and pretty much bomb-proof although I understand the cambelt can be a bit of a pain to do - I take it they replaced tensioners etc as well as the belt? Give it a service, if it's a motability car it has most likely spent its life pottering around town - once it's serviced, whack some injector cleaner in a full tank of fuel and give it an "Italian service", i.e. rag the arse off it on a stretch of motorway to clean out the crud. You might want to ensure all the connectors are firmly attached as well, I can provide you with the entire Fiat genuine Bravo/Brava service manual if required as I have it as PDFs, there might be some more info in there.

Hellraiser..............>

Which is exactly the reason I wasn't doing that myself.

- I take it they replaced tensioners etc as well as the belt?

No, just the belt. Can't complain, it's all I asked them to do.

That would be absolutely brilliant Hellraiser. If you could send it to gazzafield at dsl dot pipex dot com I would be much obliged. :-)

As it's 120MB I don't think you would be too happy :) Drop me your postal address to hellraiser1 at blueyonder dot co dot uk and I'll burn it onto CD for you. And I'd seriously consider getting the tensioners done, they have a nasty habit of going....

Cheers

Hellraiser.............>

Hellraiser, you have mail! :-)

"gazzafield" wrote in message news:O8udnfRlLNdCUr snipped-for-privacy@pipex.net...

I actually had a manual until yesterday, I'd have sent you it. I guess PDF format would be easier to search for what you require, ah well.

I took it back to halfors, as it was in mint condition, and swapped it for vouchers. I was honest with the girl, and she said fair enough, here's vouchers. Woo.

It's not the Haynes manual, it's the official Fiat service guide which runs to a few thousand pages over 4 volumes....

Hellraiser...........>

In message , Hellraiser writes

Slitty little windows, like a wartime gun emplacement, tiny mirrors and fat pillars, lights linked to the key but the washers not linked to the wipers, stupid triangular sun visors that snap to only two positions (useless and effin useless) and can only be pulled down left-handed, stupidly strong door check mechanism that snaps to two positions (too narrow and "sorry mate, it should polish out"), the driving position varies between indicating with your knees or staring through the spokes of the steering wheel.........

I abuse mine daily too, but the damn thing won't break :-)

Better still, she's bought herself a new motor (a Kia Crateo or summint) and the fiat's been promoted to "my" car, nooooooooo!

LOL, the point about the washers is definitely valid, but 6'4" and wide with it and I have no probs with the driving position :) Who needs sun visors anyway, I always wear shades!

Hellraiser............>

Why do you want them linked?

If you turn on the washers, the wipers don't move, so the water sprays on the windscreen then just dribbles off - you have to manually hit the wipers.

Hellraiser................>

In message , Duncan Wood writes

Washing the windscreen is a two-step operation which requires hands on throughout, rather than fire-and-forget if they were linked.

It sounds a trivial criticism, but mix a windy wet day, a passing artic and muddy spray, you want the controls to do what you _expect_ them to do.

Every other vehicle I've driven since my Morris Oxford had hand pumped washers has linked the two.

Personally I hat it, it just leads to smeared wind screens. & once the blades moving which is operated by the same finger as the washer you can let go, at most a 1/3 of a second extra,