Buyers guide to a Fiat Uno turbo i.e.
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Lets start the ball rolling by looking back at the history the Turbo model and what variations have been sold.
- 1985 The Uno Turbo is launched, this the original version had a 1300 cc engine and 105 bhp
- 1988 The Uno Turbo receives a mild facelift, consisting of different interior trim material (far more durable), Leather covered steering wheel, electric windows Colour coded door mirrors, a better gearbox derived from the Tipo, and the engine can run on unleaded 95 octane petrol, engine performance unchanged.
- 1989 The MkII Uno is launched, improvements slightly better aerodynamics, The engine is now 1400cc with a power hike to 118bhp, the gearbox gets a much needed longer final drive and of course with this model the car gets again a new interior and central locking.
- 1992 the car receives a mild facelift consisting of colour coding the odd plastic trims and the engine gets a Cat, power drops to 114bhp.
Ok from a buyers point of view which model is the best the one to buy, unless you are offered an early MkI Uno (built before 1988) at price you can’t refuse they are best avoided, the main reason for this is the Strada derived gearbox, its weak and unreliable, and also the interior Trim, the seats covers fall apart and look like spaghetti.
So what should you look out for when going to buy an Uno Turbo:
- Engine:
Not a great deal goes wrong with them if they are in standard trim and serviced regularly, but never the less they can be prone to oil leaks from the cam carrier gasket, and the exhaust manifold gaskets can leak, or the exhaust manifold can crack on the higher mileage models, of course you should check that the Turbo boosts up correctly and that there is no smoke from the exhaust. Don’t forget to ask when the cambelt was last changed, recommended interval is every 36,000 miles.
Some thing else that is weak point is the plastic header tank, it seems prone to cracking and leads to overheating, sometimes when it splits it sprays the water towards the coil and the ignition module causing an intermittent misfire. On the Mk 1 you should also check the rubber hoses on the injectors as rubber perishes with age and a fuel leak could be disastrous with a hot turbo under the inlet manifold
- Gearbox:
The early Uno with their Strada derived gearboxes suffer from worn synchros especially 3rd Gear, and when you modify the engine a lot, they fail because they can’t take the Torque produced by the engine, The latter Unos with the Tipo derived Gearbox are a lot stronger and with a different synchro design, On the MKII Uno 1400cc, this the same gearbox but with a slightly longer final drive.
Clutches tend operate smoothly and if they don’t check the cable which is known to break from time to time, its also likely that if the clutch is worn it won’t take engine boost upgrades and start slipping.
- Suspension:
The most likely problem you will encounter with the front suspension is either worn or leaking dampers, or the balljoints on the lower arms worn, The wear on the balljoints is accelerated with a lowered suspension, in any case you should change the lower arms every 50,000 miles aprox, also you should check the antiroll bar bushes and the metal brackets which locate the antirollbar to the front subframe, as they sometimes crack, again this problem is exaggerated on the cars that are lowered.
- Brakes:
The Uno is fitted with discs all round, the car should pull up straight under braking, and they generally work reasonably well, With the UK versions with right hand drive it doesn’t help that there is a cross linkage with induces extra play and flex in the linkage, Disc judder is not a problem with this car so there shouldn’t be any vibrations under heavy braking from speed. Don’t forget to check the Handbrake, it operates the rear calipers by cable, but sometimes the linkage inside the caliper breaks and handbrake only works on one side, you can check this by moving the car backwards slowly and apply the handbrake, if the rear of the car doesn’t rise evenly one rear brake isn’t working properly. Some cars had the antiskid option fitted, its a crude form of "ABS" and only operates on the front wheels, I unfortunately doesn’t work very well and most owners I ever met disconnected it, avoid if you can as it just adds weight and clutter the engine bay with lots of pipes.
- Bodywork:
Here I am afraid its Italian heritage rears its ugly head, The uno can suffer from rust although not as bad as other models, The most common areas are around the sill and under the door rubbers, on the rear panel behind the bumper, and bottom of the doors, also around the sunroof frame. If you have the choice between to Unos once with a sunroof and one without I would recommend you buy the one without the sunroof, especially if you are tall and around the six foot mark or taller as the headroom is reduced in these models.
- Electrics:
Engine electrics are quite good, but the other electrical accessories can suffer poor earth’s and contacts, check that everything works as it should do.
- Interior:
On the early models the seat trim material is not very durable and falls apart, that problem was solved with the face lift in 1988, apart from the seats that develop play with years of use and loose support on the cushion you should not find many problems, again the sunroof is also prone to rattles. The only other gripe you can come across is someone butchering the door trim panels and rear parcel shelf when fitting a Hi-fi system, if this hasn’t been properly, it could be the cause of numerous rattles if the trims haven’t been refitted correctly.
The truth is that most of the Unos by now are getting quite old and unless they have been looked after well, this will show, The fact that they are cheap means that some people neglect proper maintenance as they either cant afford to take to a dealer or reputable garage or cant be bothered.