Fiat Palio S10 Engine Breakdown

Dear Fiat Lovers,

I own a Fiat Palio S10 (1.6 cc) and am the second Owner and stay in Kharghar,Navi Mumbai

The Vehicle Details are as follows:

1. Vehicle Registration No.: MH03-S xxxx
2. Engine/Chassis No. 05xxxx/xxxxxx
3. Cubic Capacity: 1596
4. Year of Mfg.: 2002
5. Distance covered so far: 75663 Km

I made a Mumbai-Rajasthan trip during September 2009 with my family and covered a distance of 3600 km. on my Fiat Palio S10. My Car didn't complain of any problem.

I have spent Rs. 80,000 during August 2009-September 2010 for servicing through Wasan Motors,Deonar to maintain my Car in good condition.

On 16.10.2010 (Saturday), I was traveling with my family from Kharghar to Pune on the Pune Express Highway. While I crossed the Lonavla/Khandala Ghat area,I heard a squeaking sound under the hood and suddenly the engine stopped running.

The vehicle speedometer at that moment was showing between 110-120 Km/hr.

The brake and the accelerator has already stopped working.

I got slight panic but somehow I could stop the car by changing the gears and applying hand-break to park it aside the lanes.

I tried several times to start the engine but there was no response from the Engine.

The battery was OK as the light signals was displaying correctly.

The Express Highway patrolling vehicle came and they offered their help.

They arranged for a mechanic and towing vehicle on the basis of my confirmation.

The mechanic checked the vehicle but couldn’t able to trace out the problem.

I decided and asked him to tow the vehicle to any Fiat Authorized Servicing centre in Pune.

I contacted the Fiat Helpline and was helped out with the contact Nos. of B.U. Bhandari and Pandit Automobiles Service Centre.

The service centre of B.U. Bhandari was closed on 16.10.2010 and they advised to drop the vehicle at their service centre and confirmed that the vehicle can only be checked on 18.10.2010.

I having no other option delivered the vehicle on 16.10.2010 afternoon to Pandit Automobiles Service Centre (Ashok Automotive Sales & Services Pvt. Ltd.) at Plot No. 139, Bhosari, Pune-411026 Akurdi Chowk, Pune, Tel No. 020-27112002/3/4

On 18.10.2010, I was informed by the above Servicing Centre that two Valves, four Pistons, and Head of the Engine has got damaged fully and needs to be replaced.

The above incident has shocked me like anything as I had immense belief and faith on Fiat vehicles and Engines like many others in India.

At the time of the incident, my wife, son and mother-in-law was along with me and we are really lucky that nothing fatal happened.

I have informed and mailed to Mr. Mangesh Kodalkar,Customer Care of Fiat,Ranjangaon the full details of the incident and attached the scan copy of all Invoices of Servicing done through Wasan Motors,Deonar.

He has subsequently informed to Tata Motors Officials who came to inspect the Vehicle at Pandit Automobiles,Pune.

The root cause for the damage is not yet known.

I have spoken twice with Mr. Mangesh Kodalkar and he is currently working on best ways out to make the vehicle road worthy at minimum expenditure.

The final countdown is yet to come. Any advise is welcome.

Regards

 

@arnab, what all did you get done from wasan motors? did they open your engine for any reason? you said you have spent about Rs.80,000. what for? please explain about the previous service done on your car. if anything costs you higher than 35-40k u can change to new engine itself it may cost you about 45k

 

Dear Fiat Lovers,

Thanks for your replies.

I would like to tell you that I bought the vehicle on June 2009 from the First Owner. The Odometer was showing around 65,000 Km.

Here is the List of Servicing done:

1) 16th July 2009- General Servicing,Oil Change,standard Checks through Fortune Cars Pvt. Ltd.,Navi Mumbai- Rs. 2185/-

2) 28th August 2009 -Timing Belt,Alternator Belt,trans Belt,Wheel Cylinder Replacement through Wasan Motors,Deonar-Rs. 21,163/-

3) 12th September 2009- Front Shock absorber,Strut ,Arms,Replacement through Wasan Motors,Deonar-Rs. 20,449/-

4) 14th September 2009- Replaced the front Old Tyres with Two new Bridgetone Tyres.

During end of September 2009,I travelled to Rajasthan for 13 Days. Kharghar->Udaipur->Chittorgarh->Ajmer->Jaipur->Bikaner->Jaisalmer->Jodhpur->Mount-Abu->Kharghar. I covered a distance of 3600 Km. and there was no complain from the vehicle.


5) 6th December 2009- General Servicing,Oil Change,standard Checks through Wasan Motors,Deonar- Rs. 4175/-

6) 11th February 2010- Front Glass Polishing,Ornament Gasket,Calliper Pins through Wasan Motors,Deonar- Rs. 2702/-

7) 3rd June 2010- Alternator and Belt replacement,axle Boot through Wasan Motors,Deonar- Rs. 13,759/-

8) 8th September 2010- General Servicing,Coolant Change,topu-ups,Bulb Replacement,standard Checks through Wasan Motors,Deonar- Rs. 5196/-

So, the fact is that I have tried to maintain my Car through Fiat Authorised Servicing Centres.

It's strange that after a month the Valves in the Engine got broken.

Mr. Mangesh told me that Pandit Automobiles, Pune has confirmed that the Timing Belt is intact and the exact reason for the Vlaves getting broken is still unknown.

 

@arnab nice report, you paid so much for wasan motors. the amount i spend for 4 years, you spent on 1 year. even for the cars which used for sports doesnt require so much of replacements and frequent services. if the only 2 valves was broken, how did the all the 4 pistons gone? you better change the engine itself and change your mechanic also.

 

Looks like you previous owner had abused the car a lot. My previous car was a Siena1.6 ELX, I used it for 2.5 years. My only issue was with the lower arm which had to be replaced every 10k km for which I myself is to be blamed, I took my car straight on top of a footpath. I sold it when the odo showed 70k km, so 65k km is no time to spend so much to maintain a S10 unless it was used carelessly.

 

Thanks all Fiat Lovers for your reply.

What is the cost of Engine replacement? Do Fiat provide new spare Engine?

 

few weeks back i came across similar case like you, when i was searching for a used 1.6 sport/S10 6months back, there was a car in Mahindra 1st Choice, a well know used car showroom. that is Black palio stile 1.6 sport, i didnt buy it because my priority was canary yellow S10/formula red 1.6 sport. i ended up buying a well maintained red 1.6 sport. to my surprise few weeks back i happened to see the same car at my service center with the opened engine, i enquired about it, i saw the engine first and second cylinder's both inlet and exhaust valves were broken to half, due to this engine head and 2 pistons were badly damaged, not only these things but many things were damaged in the engine, and he had to spend about 50-60k to fix it all. even after fixing those all it may not meet the stock performance. so my mechanic suggested him to replace the engine so that the engine costs around 40-45k and 7-8k labor. that is what the information i got. if you want me to enquire about the new engine with my mechanic, i'll ask. i'll be taking my car to him on sunday for check up. he is very well known FIAT mechanic in Bangalore, most of the Palio owners go to him. Venkatesh (Gowri Automobiles) 09379192193 / 09900779333 you can also contact him directly on the above given numbers.

 

Thanks Kartik for your reply.

I have spoken with Venkatesh (Gowri Automobiles) at 09900779333. He seems to be an expert.