Maintenance to be done every 3,000 Miles (5,000km).
Do all the more frequent tasks and in addition:
- Check the car underneath. look at the rubber dirt excluders on the steering ball joints. Check the flexible hydraulic pipes for the brakes ( one at each front wheel, one just inside each rear suspension forward pivot), for rubbing or leaks.
- Check under the car for oil leaks (or new oil leaks if minor seepage already occurs).
- Lubricate the grease nippled on the king pins. Jack up the car to get the weight off the front suspension. Clean the nipples ( one each side ). Pump in grease till it extrudes clean at the ends of the king pin. Wipe off excess grease ( a little left around helps keep out wet ).
- Check the fan belt tension. It should be possible to press it down 1/2 inch ( 1cm ) using one finger and hard pressure. To tighten, undo the three nuts clamping the two parts of the dynamo pulley, and move a spacer from between the two halves to the outside. Do not over-tighten or the dynamo bearings will be overloaded. Excessive slackness wears the belt by slipping. New belts stretch, and require checking two or three times in their first few hundred miles.
- Gearbox and differential.Check oil level which must reach the bottom face of the plug fitted on the right side of gearbox. If necessary, add FIAT W 90 (SAE 90 EP) oil.
- Steering box.Check oil level which must reach the bottom face of the plug fitted on box left side. If necessary, add FIAT W 90
- Air cleaner.Clean cartridge accurately by shaking off the dust and blowing with a low-pressure air blast. Replace cartridge, if clogged.
When dusty conditions prevail, clean and replace cartridge more often.
- Generator and fan drive belt.Check and, if necessary, adjust belt tension; correct sag under a pressure of 22 lbs (10 kg): about 3/8” (1 cm).
- Ignition distributor.Check breaker point gap which must be .0185” to .0209” (0,47 to 0,53 mm).
- Spark plugs.Clean spark plugs and check if electrode gap is .0 197” to .0236” (0,5 to 0,6 mm).
- Brake fluid reservoir.Check level and, if required, top up to the strainer. Use exclusively the special FIAT blue brake fluid (or equivalent non-mineral HI) fluid).
- Tires.To equalize tire wear, rotate tires in criss-cross fashion.
- Battery.Check terminals and clamps for tightness and cleanliness,
Maintenance to be done Monthly or every 1,500 Miles (2,500km) if sooner.
Do all the weekly/300 miles tasks and in addition:
- Check the battery. Top up electrolyte to just above the plate separators with distilled water. Remove any corrosion and smear battery posts and terminal fittings with Vaseline. If corrosion recurs take the terminals off and try to be more thorough.
- Inject some FIAT Jota 1 grease in stearing knuckle lubricator facing the rear of the car.
- Top off the windscreen washer reservoir with a mixture of water and detergent.
Note: When or if the engine is new, replace the running-in oil after the first 900-1,200 miles (1,500-2,000km) with regular grade oil. After 1,800-2,400 miles (3,000-4,000km), renew oil.
Maintenance To be done weekly, before any long journey or every 300 Miles (500km) if sooner.
- Check tire pressures.
- Check oil level in in engine sump. Check oil level which should range between Min and Max marks on dip stick. This check is to be carried out after running the engine for about one minute. If necessary, add some oil of a grade suitable to temperature (see page) up to the Max mark.
- Check the level of brake hydraulic fluid in the reservoir under the front bonnet.
- Check that all lights are working. A convenient way to do the brake lights is to reverse near something shinny.
Routine Maintenance Introduction:
In the posts that follow I have described in detail the routine servicing that should be done on your car.
- This work has two important functions. First is that of doing adjustments and lubrication to ensure the least wear and most efficient function. But the second gain from maintenance, could almost be more important. By looking your car over, on top and underneath, you have the opportunity to check that all is in order.
- Every component should be looked at, your gaze working systematically over the whole car. Dirt cracking near a nut or a flange can indicate something loose. Leaks will show. Electric cables rubbing, rust appearing though the paint underneath, will also be found before they bring on a failure on the road, or a more expensive repair if not tackled quickly. Even a little FIAT 500 is lethal if unsafe.
- The tasks to be done on the car in general those recommended by the maker. We have also put in some additional ones. For someone getting his servicing done at a garage it may be more cost effective to accept component replacement after a somewhat short life in order to avoid maintenance costs. For the home mechanic this is not so. The manufacturers must detail the work to be done as a careful balance of such factors. Leaving it too long gives risk of defects occurring between service checks. Making intervals too frequent tempts owners into disrespect of their advice, to leave work undone disastrously long.
- Always road test after a repair, and inspect the work after it, and check nuts etc.. for tightness. check again after about 150miles
On July 4, 2007 Fiat officialy launched the New fiat 500
The new 500 is a cute, playful compact small 3-door car with soft rounded styling.. It is 355cm long, 163cm wide, 149cm high, and has a wheelbase of 230 cm.
The Exterior:
The front combines the family feeling of the most recent Fiat models, with the distinctive elements of the first 500. For instance, you’ll notice features like the round upper headlights above and main beam lights below, as well as the familiar whiskers and logo.
On the side, the mid-line slopes slightly at the front giving the car an impression of sturdiness.
While the rear features a distinctive chrome handle reminiscent of the number plate light holder found on the original model, and similar in shape to that of a bicycle saddle.
The 500 is available with four different trim levels: Naked, Pop, Lounge, and Sport. Customers can choose also between 15 interior trims, 9 wheel options, 19 decals, and 12 body colours. There are over 500,000 different personalized combinations of the 500 that can be made by adding all kinds of [More]
The generator and centrifugal fan are V-belt-driven through pulleys: the centrifugal oil filter cover/pulley on crankshaft transmits the drive to the pulley on generator.
Belt tension is correct when, under a hand pressure of about 22 lbs (10 kg), the belt sags l3/32″(1 cm)
(fig. to the right:
A= Normal give-in B= Nuts securing the pulley halves with spacer rings.)
A slackened belt slips and will not drive the generator and centrifugal fan at the required speed.
Under these conditions the belt will wear rapidly. Conversely, a too-tight belt induces an abnormal
strain on generator bearings.
To permit the adjustment of belt tension, the pulley on generator is demountable in two halves between which spacer rings are squeezed. Tension is increased or reduced by reducing or increasing the number of spacer rings, respectively.
Place the spacer rings removed from between the pulley halves on pulley outer face so that rings may be reinserted when fitting a new belt.
Lets learn a bit more about the Fiat 500 clucth.
The clutch is a single disc design and incorporates a driven plate ( which carries the friction materials on each side) and a pressure plate and cover assembly. On early cars the pressure plate is tensioned by coil springs and the pressure is taken off by a central release ring linked to three release lever which pivot on the cover.
The clutch operating lever pivots in the forward end of the gearbox casing and thrust bearing on the inner end bears on to the release ring when the arm is operated. The operating arm is moved by a cable from the [More]
HERE YOU WILL LEARN WHERE AND HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR FIAT 500 MODEL, ENGINE, CHASSIS, COLOR & PARTS ORDERING NUMBER.
Numerous models of the FIAT 500 have been produced over more than a decade. There are, therefore, many different models which have been developed considerably from the first.
Below is you Fiat 500 Identification plate, to understand how it reads i have broken it down for you. [More]
Oh and what i for got to let you know, The new Picture Upload I’ve installed in the PhotoGallery. Cforms 9.0 had a nice feature that included a upload link so I went ahead and set that up for you all to start sending me your personal Fiat 500 pictures to feature in our Foto Albums.
Alright well it’s been about a week now that i have started building this site. Ebay affiliate program hasn’t accepted me yet which is a bit frustrating. I emailed them and they responded saying it could take another 2 week before they got around to reviewing it. That would make it 3 weeks that i am left out of any commissions.;(
BUT the good news is I logged into my Google AdSense today and to my surprise there was a nice large sum of .46 cents sitting in my account from only 1 click. WOW not a whole lot but hey it’s my first few Penny’s I’ve made for my hard work on this site with many more to look forward to in the future. It was encouraging to see what just 1 click could do. So it is true ”If you build it they will come” Now I know my Moto Build,Build,Build!!!
