Q&A

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This section will contain Questions and Answers about the car, and hopefully solutions to any problems asked! Please e-mail croma-mail@bigfoot.com with any problems or solutions.

Q. Why is the footwell so crammed for such a big car?

A. Good question! Even though you would expect a fair amount of room, it is difficult to take your foot off the clutch pedal and onto the rest area without fouling the pedal itself. Possible workarounds are wearing smaller shoes, or buying an automatic, though neither is a true solution.

Q. Why don't the doors open properly?

A. This is almost certainly due to wear in the handle mechanism. The only real solution is to buy new ones, but if you can't afford that, try taking out the large Phillips screw on the side of the door, pulling the handle slightly out, and liberally covering everything with WD40. It doesn't last long though.

Q. Why doesn't the central locking/ electric windows/ sunroof/ various lights work properly?

A. It's a big Italian car, what do you expect? In fairness, most problems are easily sorted with a bit of detective work and a few electrical tools, if you trace the problem to a defective motor/ solenoid though, try and find a scrap one first, they won't be cheap from Fiat.

Q. How does the automatic choke work?

A. I generally find that 2 big stamps on the throttle pedal before turning the key helps.

Q. I am the owner of a 1990 Croma 2.0 ie which needs some maintainance work. Is any repair-manuals for this car available ? Terje Bratheim, Norway.

A. Sadly there is no English language DIY manual for the Croma - not as far as I know anyway. There may well be an Italian version though, but obviously
you have to speak the language! There may also be an official FIAT repair procedure (which the dealers use) but this is probably only available on CD-Rom now and they won't sell it to you anyway!

The only other suggestion I have is that seeing as much of the Croma engine
and mechanicals are like other cars in the FIAT range (eg. Lancia Thema) you may be able to get some limited information from these, but it will be
patchy at best.

Q. From Philip Christian

Doing a little research into direct injection diesel engines (now usually
marketed as "TDI"). The Croma was one of the first passenger cars to be
marketed with such an engine, one of the pioneers. I'm not sure, but it may
even have been the first. Others include the Rover Montego Turbo Diesel and the Audi 100. Do you have any details of the Croma DI diesel? such as:-

What month year it went into volume production?
What countries it was marketed in?
Power / Torque / Performance?
Whether it was any good!?
Any magazine reviews (English or not)?

Can anyone help Philip? Please copy croma-mail@bigfoot.com with your replies and we'll put them on the site.

A. From Rene Lenstra

Dear Philip,

The Direct injection diesel went into the Croma around 89, still in the
first series. A collegue of mine had one. I got my first in 1991 in the new
model range. It was really fun driving that car, it was a business edition
so everything was on board for a really low price. It had 94 BHP, a torque
of 200Nm/2200 rps. Maximum speed 178 Km/h and 0-100 in 14,3 sec. Its bid
advantage was the economic fuel use 1l on 22 kilometer. Its big disadvantage
the oil use. The first 5000 Km 1l per 1000 later on in its live it aimproved
to 1l on 4000 km. The engine is very lively but very noisy. After 150000 km
(1994) a new one, but this time I chose a 2,5 TD. Currently I still have a
2,0 I.E. (1995)  for privat use and a Seat Alhambra TDI as a company car.
For the future I'm looking for a 2,5 V6 or a 2,5 TD, especcially to use it
as a towcar for my Caravan. In hills the 2,0 I.E. is a little bit to light.

I'm a Croma fan for two reason: I really like the looks of the car and the
chairs really fit my height of 1,96 cm.

Rene

Q. From Jon

hi my name is jon,
finally a page for the croma.
i have a 92' model, 2.0ie, 85kW, manual transmission, dark blue, 139'000
km, in very good condition.
do you know of any replacement part dealer (also on the net), preferably
in germany?
for example i'm looking for a used air condition system...

thanks
jon

Again, if replying to Jon, please copy Croma Centrale in!

Q. From Koert Kerkhoff

Hi there,

I'm thinking about buying a secondhand Croma built between 1993-1996.
Anything I should pay special attention to? Or what flaws does this car
have besides the one's mentioned on your site? I have shoe size 12 (US).
That's why I want a big Italian car.

My own opinion is that if you're buying a late-registered car, you'll almost definately have a good one, provided you check the usual things first. Rust shouldn't be a problem - especially at this age - just check the condition of the car and that the engine doesn't show signs of heavy wear (eg. blue smoke etc). Other than that if anyone else has any suggestions, e-mail and let us know.

By the way I don't find the Croma footwell particularly accommodating - does anyone else have any opinions?

Q. From Jaume Stonier

To anyone who can help,

I have a 1990 Fiat, Super IE, Croma. The front windscreen wipers do not park (fail to return back to their start position) and the intermitant function also does not work. I have been told this problem is due to the wiper relay being faulty. Can you please tell me which one is the wiper relay. Attached jpeg file is a diagram of the car’s fuse box.

Thank you. I look foreword to your reply.

Yours truly,

Jaume Paul Stonier

Q. From Maghild Ophiem

hi, my name is jan olav. I`m the proud owner of a croma 2,0ie and i have folloving question: How much does a turbo cost and would that only increase the top power?

Q. From Knislinge

hello i ned help i on a fiat croma 88 and i ned to have teknikal instruktion
to enyen
pleas help me
Mvh
christer klambro
sweden

Loads more Questions and some Answers can be found in the Web Forum!

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