Hi all....
Im a newbie here and looking for help

My cam belt broke and bend valves etc etc . i took it to engineering place to have fixed up cost me about R4500 (rand) got the car back and it idles like a drag racer V8. took it back to gerage who fixed it up. He says it might be an air leak some where. Got the car back yesterday and he says all is fine and hes happy........ well i didnt fetch the car...my wife did...she phoned me and said car is still the same....erratic idle.... i got home last light after work and looked if i could maybe see something....... :shakehead:...nothing....

It idles fine for about 3secs and then its starts hunting......puff puff etc etc.... i checked ht leads, vacuum hoses....:bang: couldnt find any loose or corroded....

where else can i look .... i suspect camtiming still to be out....guy at gerage says no ways...it cant otherwise it wouldnt start or run.... ok i agree. when i drive it drives fine no propblem....power is fine etc....just the idling......

Please i need some help people.....:bang::shrug:

Its a 2003 Fiat Palio 1.6 16v Weekender. And the car was fine before all of this...

Go to another workshop for a second opinion....!

I had the same thought but before i could take it,the car gave problems like high reving when you start car or stop at traffic light ( to 3000rpm and higher ) now the car is back with same workshop.....

He had the head taken off to pressure test it etc......

What could other reasons be for smoking and poor idling?

And second of all.....i cant find cam shaft timing tools in south africa...and Diat doesnt lend them out.... is there timiing marks on the cams 9 like indents on pulleys or how can one set the timing correctly on cams.....

Symptoms are bad IAC valve....( Idle Air Control)

Thanks....

Getting vehicle back today (late afternoon) will see what she's like:shrug:. Say it is the IAC valve......how do i check it? I mean is there any fault finding i can do at home to see if it might be faulty?

Thank you kindly for your replies i really appreciate it.:slayer:

Do you have any idea maybe of the cam positions for exhaust and inlet.....i understand that the cams have a key at the back where cam timing lock tools fit in....but what i need to know without those tools is it possible to set timing again.

You have to get your ECU read at a dealer I'm afraid.
Until about 2000 the IAC valve was just bolted on, and was an easy change, later versions have that valve in the throttlebody...

Hi....

Thank you.....i got car back yesterday the 10th April from same workshop. It doesnt smoke anymore goes like a bomb......idle is a teeny weeny bit better bit still a bit irratic..... the owner of workshop said that some of the valve guides were loose...... well i tell you what...here is south africa its very diffucult to get the rifgt parts for a fiat......you have to take the old ones out and take to parts shop to get the same ...like the clutch i did.....the kit they gave me for the weekender 1.6 didnt fit.....that car takes a fiat stilo 1.6 clutch kit....the spline is bigger......

Well i think its time for a change..... this red italian is giving just too many problems now.... and its costing me an arm and a leg....... my BMW was cheaper to maintain

ill take it to a dealer and have it put on the computer to read status of ecu.

Thanks a mill for all your assistance.....

have a nice one :slayer:

Hi / Hallo / Dumelang / Howzit :slayer:

Ok i got vehicle back , smoke gone , pulls like a bomb
but the idle problem is still there, no smooth idle......
but when you ref the vehicle or drive no problem, no power problems....

Could it be the crankshaft position sensor maybe?

Could it be the idle control valve?

Could it be the vehicle runs at TDC.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated guys :worship:

IAC, almost certain.

Hi Peter

Ok cool.....thanks for advice. I will see where i can obtain a throttlebody for the fiat. Will post reply on outcome.

Have a nice one Peter

Dankie vir al u hulp

Try to clean it first with carburetor cleaner.
Also clean the throttlebody inside with that stuff.

Hi

Still trying to get a throttlebody ....... i have cleaned it out sprayed the whole can empty while revving the car etc..... its sparkling clean inside. But problem still there with idling...... could it be a battery problem...... i havnt checked battery as yet, just occured to me know..... which other fiat has the same engine as in my palio.....all i know its a 1.6 16v motor..... maybe i can find a repair manual on the engine just to see where everything is located etc......

Im taking the car to Fiat on Friday to run a diagnostic test on it.....maybe that could give me a point to start from..... R690

Will let ya know

o yes...before i forget....
Another thing i forgot to mention was that when i pull away at times theres a hesitation like she wanna stall almost like an old curburator enging on cold winter morning......\Could that also be the IAC valve causing it.....?

Well i see nobody bothers answering me.....well for those reading my thread i hoping to help you too...... i purchased the timing tools ( cam locking tools ) to set up cams where they should be and to tension the belt correctly up..... i am almost 100% sure that my idling problem is the cam timing and not the ICV valve...... it was working perfect before all my crap started.

With the research i did i understand that if your cam belt goes out even by one tooth it WILL affect your idling cause cams is not in sinc anymore. Further to that i also worked out that one tooth gives you a 7.5 degrees. So one tooth out by 7.5 degrees on cam timing :bang: idling problems, slight hesitations on pull aways etc......two teeth out you might be getting a bit of a backfire in engine etc etc......

I will be doing it this weekend the 11 May 2013 and will give feedback on Monday.

Hi There, Im having the same probs with my Fiat Siena 1.6 16V. Total nightmare with this car. Even the so called hottest mechanics and dignostics in Durban cant find the fault with their hi-tec computers.

Fiat wants to charge like R5000 to start changing the cam belt pulleys and etc.....and still not certain that it will sort out the problem. dats crazy ! Not sure if this would help u. But I have noticed another problem today. got me thinking why does the idle only flactuate when the car heats up. So I pulled out the thermo fan switch while the idle was flactuating and it then remains stable. So before I go back to Fiat I will change the Thermo switch and see what happens.......dats if I can get the part in Durban.....:-(

The 1,6-16V Fiat engine is very common, and is/was used in many Fiat and Lancia models during the last 15 or more years.
Bad idling, or bad timing on this engine is NOT related to the Palio/Siena range.
Maybe try to post timing questions in the General Tech section elsewhere on this Forum.

Hi Vaughn

Ok. This is what i have done.

1) Got piston at TDC
2) Lock Fly wheel
3) Opened the cam covers, you have to remove the housing for the coil pack.
4) when all showed me its at TDC I inserted the cam tools and ....ya there she blows.... the exhaust and intake cam timing was out. Not by much on the timing tool side but on the pulleys about 2 / 3 teeth either side.
5) Slacken cam pulleys while tools holding cams in place , slacken tensioner, turned pulleys clockwise and lined belt up. the reason you need to turn pulleys clockwise is to compensate for tension on belt. While the pulleys move to fit belt and while tensioning. Not much play as they have key it moves about 1cm either way.
6) ok tightened everything up lekker .
7) now you gotta turn the motor over by hand 2x to get back to TDC, and re check timing marks.If it all ok.....you got it....

So i did all of that, put all the stuff back together and started car.............eish still the same thing.....it idled much better but still had that chocke on it........... man i started on Friday(whole day) saturday (whole day) and only on Sunday morning i decided ok.....timing is 100% then there must be something else.......vacuum, petrol, spark, air in petrol.....wwwwhhhhhhaaaaaaaattttttt.......man I tell you........

So i took out spark plugs to start at the basics........inspected inspected inspected and inspected once more............ i noticed a fine crack in the one sparkplug ( ceramic ) went off to spareshop and baught 4 plugs ( R134.00) and Ht coil leads ( R 170.00 ) came home fitted it,,,,,,,,and.............................................................................................................................................................


She runs like a dream,.........idles like a cat on soft blanket ............ just one thing a problem. when you stop the idling goes up and down sometimes just dies.......but the workshop i had the car at first did something to the throttle.......it never used to have a spring and now all of a sudden they put a spring on that time......if you take it off the whole throttle plunger falls open....... so theres another one to sort out.........but for the idling and jerking etc thats all sorted out now.............

thank you for your suggestion as well........ where is that plug located you mentioned that you plugged out........

But like i said Fiat charges for a fresh arm and leg and a the left kidney to do work on the cars...... Sh@$t if the car was woth $100 000 i would have agreed but man....i understand they charge like R670 an hour just labour.....


if theres anything else give me mail on [email protected]

idling problem sorted out......

it was the little torx screw at the throttle cable holder at throttle body.......i had to adjust it a bit cause the workshop i think played around with it.....it looks like a idle adjustment screw....you onlu need to adjust it by a half a milimeter or so very sensitive...... now everything is fixed........