Abarth 500 not going past 12psi even at full throttle

[turbodharma]

If anyone has any more input on the fuel smell coming into the cabin, it's also appreciated.. It's only really noticeable when I start the fans when I am stopped/idle at a red light stop sign etc or when I start the car and let it warm up for a minute and start fans before I drive..I've been told that its normal after turbo replacement/spark plug replacement and it goes away eventually?

Ok Pare, here's the reason you smell fuel/exhaust fumes in the cabin (based on personal experience). When the catalytic converter was removed to replace your turbo, the exhaust gasket between the cat and the downpipe was re-used, not replaced. I experienced the same odors when I removed my cat to test fit a different cat without replacing the gasket with a new one. The odor only permeates into the cabin when you're at idle at a signal light or when idling while parked. Replace this gasket and make sure cat flange is flush to the gasket and downpipe flange and tighten it down good.

Replace the gasket with this one from RockAuto.com for less than 1/2 the price of what the dealer charges:

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/fiat,2013,500,1.4l+l4+turbocharged+sohc,1505377,exhaust+&+emission,pipe+flange+gasket+/+seal,5836

I am 99.9% certain this is the cause of the fuel smell/exhaust fumes.

Good luck.

Thank you!

[ewflyer]

When I replaced my Abarth's exhaust system (with a stainless steel "from-the-cat-back" version) I accidentally created an exhaust leak where the Cat and Exhaust flanges mate.

The problem resulted from the fact that the flange on the new exhaust was slightly larger (around its perimeter) than the original Fiat exhaust flange had been. I didn't notice that this flange size difference existed, so I simply installed the new gasket in between the Cat and Exhaust flanges and tightened everything up to proper torque.

The problem with the new exhaust flange having a slightly wider outside profile was that the bottom end of the Cat has a mounting bracket with a pair of bolts that also mount through the Cat flange. The nuts Fiat used on these bracket bolts are the type that have a wider-than-the-nut flange around their bottom. My new exhaust's larger-than-original flange was wide enough at one end that when I mated up the two flanges the exhaust sat down on the edge of one of the nut flanges.

The day I put on the new exhaust I drove the car for about 45 minutes, some of that driving was in stop-and-go traffic. Just like you've described I was suddenly getting a lot of exhaust/fuel smell while stopped or moving slowly. The next morning I got back under the car and (with the car running) was able to discover what I'd done (exhaust gasses were blowing right out of one side of the Cat and Exhaust joint). So I disassembled the joint, grabbed my Dremel tool and cut off just enough of the bracket nut edge and remounted the exhaust. Now the two flanges mated up perfectly and this fixed everything. No problems since.

[Saponetta]

Well, if them u sent is accurate that might explain the smell too. Were the old plugs wet? Whole thing is amazing. I've seen plugs do some crazy stuff and cause all kinds of issues. Guess I shouldnt be suprised. That poor guy you had looking at it. Trying to think in my.mind how I would play this out, and I generally throw plugs in cars as a general rule. They are critical on turbo engines amd the old porsches we generally mess with. Dont see many problems with plugs on mini or vw. I think they jist have a better com question chamber than fiat motor. The fact that abarth dont like timing just reinforces that to me. But here on forums, I'm not billlng people and trying to actually save them money. This would have been an embarrassing situation if it happened at work. The whole turbo replacment mess is a shame. But if it makes you feel any better, at $1800, your not even in the top 20 automotive horror stories I witnessed.

Anyways, glad u figured it all out. I'd wait aday or so and see if smell persists before exploring further. Sometimes running hot air theu the hvac for the first time in a season can make a mechanical smell.

[turbodharma]

Thank you...My brother in law said the same thing..Wait three days, and if it's not going away at all then start looking at it. I think Andre's response makes a whole lot of sense if that's the case..

[BigDaddySRT]

The main outside air intake into the cabin is located on the passenger side, hidden within the windshield wiper cowl.

If you are getting exhaust fumes into your car you are allowing carbon monoxide into the cabin and very well might result in death.

[turbodharma]

yea i definitely understand its not safe to just let it continue.. that's why if it doesn't go away in another day or two i am planning on going to the guy who installed the turbo on saturday and ask him if he can replace the gaskets on the downpipe/cat. im hoping andre is right about that and it will solve the problem. maybe it's not aligned properly, and simply re doing it will help, but i plan on using new gaskets and getting him to do that as soon as they arrive. first im going to talk to him on saturday. ive been told it takes about 1 hour of labor and at this point that's not the end of the world. might cost me 100 dollars total to redo it...unless he considers it as part of he original job. then its just like 20 bucks for the new gaskets..hoping that might be the case..

appreciate the input.

[turbodharma]

Just an update: got a shop to hook up a smoker to my car and the smoke was coming out of the turbo to downpipe..meaning, either my vband clamp and/or circular gasket inside downpipe is no good anymore because I watched my mechanic tighten it down as much as he can safely do so.

Once this is resolved, the car should no longer have any exhaust smells coming into the cabin.

Thanks again, everyone.

[Saponetta]

Glad you got it all figured out. And very sorry you spent so much chasing the problem. Still shocked plugs hurt performance that much with no other issues. I wonder if car had the wrong plug installed or a massive gap? Hard to blame the techs on this one, but really on a turbo car it's always a good idea to throw in new plugs when you have an issue that cant ve clearly linked to a component

[turbodharma]

Yea, but why would they just assume it was my turbo? It clearly wasn't. I trusted their input and bought a turbo+labor which added to $1800 bucks...Now I am going to spend $80 total for labor and parts for the new vclamp+gasket install...I 100% blame the techs. Not sure if you read that review I posted on this thread, but they told me they couldnt warranty the turbo because someone messed with the wastegate by "adding an extra pound," but then when I picked my car up the guy at the service dept told me THEY are the ones that did that. I asked again to make sure and he repeated that yes they are the ones that adjusted my wastegate. Called the owner and asked why was my warranty void if they are the ones that did that? He said he will call me after confirming, and then even the owner admitted that they did in fact do it themselves. So, why was the warranty void? Fullerton Fiat in Somerville, NJ is horrible. They also drove my car 110 miles and had zero explanation as to why they drove it so much. Cherry on top--they stole 15 dollars from my glove compartment and the owner blamed me for leaving money in my car. Who the fk blames the customer when your employee stole money from them? I get it--I shouldn't leave money in the car, but I did that before when I drove a 2002 BMW and that never happened. I'm moreso angry about their bullsht diagnosis, lies about who adjusted the wastegate and then forgetting they told me that lie, excuses thereafter, and the fact that they drove my car for 110 MILES.

Anyway, I'm over it...Just explaining why I am so pissed at their service department, and now the owner. That dealership is the worst experience I have ever had by far at any service center or mechanic.

I'm just glad all my issues will be resolved with this now...And just for the peace of mind, next month I'm going to see if a different dealer can reflash my car so I know it's 100% the correct stock mapping. Then I will consider getting either a Chipbox, OFT, or Tork tune in the spring.

[map]

I'm sorry to hear about all the issues. I've had dealers not check service records properly, even though I have the car serviced at the same location. I know the adjustment occurred w/ the former owner, but I keep significant service print outs, and make notes on the copy of what they say was actually done. Sometimes the glove box is filled w/ nothing but old service stuff.

Once they found they had made the adjustment, did they offer to warranty the turbo, or had you already had it swapped by the other shop? Did you, or the mech who replace it, inspect the old turbo to see if it was damaged? I thought that shop said they didn't think it was the turbo??? Me, I'd be POed at the installer for not catching the vclamp problem.

All in all, yeah, I'd be PO'ed.

[turbodharma]

Fullerton Fiat service center told me they still won't warranty the turbo even after the service tech admitted to the owner they are the ones that messed with it. It's ridiculous..

Why would you mess with my wastegate, then tell me it was the previous owner on a phone call, and then when I pick up my car admit to doing it yourselves? My only guess is that they didn't feel like putting in the time to figure out my problem. It also tells me they didn't even care to go through the proper path to figuring out what was wrong (which makes sense if my theory about not wanting to figure it out at all is the case).

I tried telling the owner, Dean Tucillo, about how this makes no sense, how they drove my car 110 miles which makes no sense, and that they stole money; and he got all defensive instead of trying to take responsibility for what was going on. I mean, the employee I dealt with, Brian, clearly lied at multiple points in my case. That's when I realized it's not even worth arguing, though.

Anyway, I trusted that they at least made a proper diagnosis and bought the turbo and asked MY mechanic to install it. Which is not his fault at all. How's he going to know that it wasn't the turbo when he was only going off of my frantic call to replace it for me as soon as possible. Once he test drove it he let me know it doesn't seem it was the turbo at all. Well, after replacing the spark plugs under my brother in laws recommendation at that point, it was like a bunch of life came back to the car. It is what it is at this point. Even corporate refused to get involved saying it's always between the dealer and customer. All I can add is that this dealer needs to lose his Fiat licence asap, but I'm sure that won't ever happen either.

Only thing now is that I should've been more prepared and bought a vclamp and gasket for the turbo replacement. Since I stuck with the originals there is that leak coming from between the turbo and downpipe. Again, definitely not the mechanics fault. He did the install proper but I should've used a brand new clamp and gasket as well. Hoping this Saturday he is able to undo the old vclamp, slide the new gasket in the right spot, and put on new vclamp.. :P

[Saponetta]

It sounds like you have a pretty good case with fiat for the warranty denial. Have you talked to fiat directly? As far as the dealer experience, that's shame. Seems like their are a lot of bad fiat dealers around. The one we have here, is owned by an absolute toilet dealer group. Anyways, at least the car is running normal now. I still think that mechanic you originally had looking at the car is some blame for the turbo replacment. He should have inspected turbocharger and advised you his opinion so you could make a decision. He obviously was more worried about the labor and had no qualms performing unnecessary work on your car. A quick search would have showed that fiat dealers diagnose all kinds of under boost situations incorrectly as a turbo replacment.

[turbodharma]

i tried telling fiat corporate what was going on and they just told me, "i'm really sorry to hear this, but anything to do with the dealer is between the dealer and customer." imo, that's fkin ridiculous. how can corporate not hold this dealership to any account at all? not that i'm asking at this point--again just my opinion, but there is no good reason. even the OWNER admitted they screwed me over and isn't willing to do sht about it.

as far as the mechanic working on my car now, he is definitely not to blame in my opinion. he asked me if i want to wait before replacing the turbo and i told him no please do it asap. the guy he works with even mentioned that it might not even be the turbo, but i trusted that a freakin' dealership that works on the cars every other day would know what they are talking about. i didnt realize i should even have to search and see if they make mistakes or all out lie like this. ive gone to dealer service centers before and this is a first for me. i just never thought they would've lied about whatever they were doing or didn't do. lesson learned.. anyway, yea, he did a great job and has been very accommodating..i don't blame him at all for this mess. it's 100% the fault of Fullerton Fiat.

just looking forward to getting this all completely resolved on saturday now. then, next month my last step will be to get a reflash from a dealer just to make 100% sure that my mapping is correct. i may consider a tune in the future, but i don't want my parts getting worn out way faster or something...im very hesitant to mess with tunes at this point. idk..

but i do feel pretty confident about getting the atp high flow catted downpipe..fairly certain i will go for that in 2-3 months (well, hopefully). after that, perhaps save up some money for some kw coilovers and bring the back down to the same level as the front. i like the front stock height but i want the back to be level as many others seem to do. anyway, now im ranting.

[Saponetta]

Catted downpipes still cause check engine lights s oak sometimes. Just amd fyi. No clue about atp downpour and they do good work. I have bought quite a few turbos from them. But I'd research if the results people have with atp if you dont want to risk a potential cat code.