Technical Timing Belt: DIY or not to DIY?

Currently reading:
Technical Timing Belt: DIY or not to DIY?

Joined
Jul 1, 2014
Messages
3,578
Points
976
Location
United Kingdom
Question to you all:

Have any of you done the Timing Belt (and water pump) on your Panda's with the 1.2 8v 2005

Deciding whether to buy the kit and replace it with my uncle who mentioned 'giving it a go' or taking it to Fiat to get it done with a two year guarantee for £242 - parts and labour total incl. VAT.

Any tips if you have done this before or difficulty you came into during the job or afterwards? And did it require many special tools?

Thanks, yet again, to everyone who responds. :rolleyes:

Fiat Forum is my cars bible! :worship:
 
I did it on my 1.2 . used a gates kit after a recommendation from here. It's frowned on in here but I used the liquid locking tool. Tippex and had the whole job done by about 2pm taking it leisurely.

My tips would be.
Support the sump with a second Jack and a piece of wood. Only use good tools on the engine mounts and the amount of clearance you'll have is tiny for some of the mount bolts I had to push the engine out if the way while my brother did it and vice versa. Final tip would be to not rush the water pump. Clean the mating area properly and leave at least 30 mins for the the liquid gasket to seal. I did it nearly 2 years ago and bit havent any bother at all. Good luck

Edit: another tip is change the alternator belt at the same time. You have to take it off anyway and it might cost £5-8
 
Last edited:
Only stating what I saw on car SOS. He cut the existing timing belt in half length ways with a Stanley knife whilst still on the pulleys. So with the existing timing belt half the thickness he slid the new one onto the teeth - so halfway on. He then cut the old one off and slid the new one completely on. No tools, no tdc alignment etc. it looked very easy.
 
Only stating what I saw on car SOS. He cut the existing timing belt in half length ways with a Stanley knife whilst still on the pulleys. So with the existing timing belt half the thickness he slid the new one onto the teeth - so halfway on. He then cut the old one off and slid the new one completely on. No tools, no tdc alignment etc. it looked very easy.

I've thought about that but never done it. I thought I was bodging by using tippex :) the thing that always stopped me even reaching for the Stanley is you have to take off the water pump and tensioner and its going to slip anyway.
 
Hey,

I would say go for it, particularly if you have some help. I am looking at doing mine (2009 Fiat Panda Dynamic Eco 1.2) in the next couple of weeks. As suggest it is a lot of effort so do everything while you are at it (both belts, tensioner, water pump).

Search for the following in you tube (sorry cannot post URLs):
"Fiat / Ford 1.2l Replacing timing belt and water pump"

This is a really good guide. I have jacked the engine to remove the engine mounts but most of the rest is the same. Space is pretty tight in the engine bay so hopefully you have a good range of tools. I had to abandon my last attempt as I did not have the right spanners to remove the lower engine mount (I got ring spanners and should be good now). It is my only car and I live remotely, so it is a real pain to reach a point where I don't have the right tools or parts.

Good luck.
 
I'm a DIY nut, so I more or less do everything on a car myself.
Having said that, and bearing in mind all your other posts, I would suggest that for £242 and a two year warranty, Fiat's price is tempting.
If you choose to give them the job it is important to make sure exactly what their price includes.

Of course, if you and your uncle are gaining confidence because of the work you've done on the car already - then go for it.
It's a great feeling when you're driving your car afterwards being pleased at a job well done and knowing exactly how everything works.
 
As stated it's a toss-up between having you known and well-used Fiat dealer do a proper job for a fairish price, or doing something fairly straightforward yourself with experienced help.

Have a look around the Punto Mk2 forum, there are a lot of threads and posts about people redoing their cylinder heads on 1.2 8Vs and tips for cambelt timing and checking etc. You shouldn't have a problem with all the info available.
 
Hi guys, despite wanting to do it all ourselves, we did find the video a member referenced above - the one of the 1.2 Ford Ka (think it was green in the video) and as I followed along one thing made me realise we aren't equipped to do the job...

Jacking the engine up 'out' slightly of the car seems a bit too complex for us.

Think I will be saving up and getting the timing belt done, putting away £75 every month so it'll be months away at most I hope. :)

I just hope it doesn't snap, or something knowing my car-luck! :(


Fiat does offer the warranty too, which, on a job like this I think maybe is worth it?! haha

I have also went over the eLearn with my uncle who originally suggested doing it ourselves, and mentioned the engine being lifted up and I think he kind of also realised it's not as easy to do as what he probably had in mind.. a bigger car where there's probably room to work without lifting the engine out.

Either way, I just hope my Panda's timing belt doesn't go. It's at 104,600 miles now and at the minute, I'd say I'm doing just over 1000 per month on short journeys - but altogether short journeys where the engine gets its heat up for a long time.

Thanks for everyones replies and if you're following along feel free to keep posting responses and tips / suggestions!
 
You already did the suspension which isnt easy the difficult part you're speaking about involves putting a 2nd Jack under the sump with a piece of scrap MDF. You just lift it a few mm to take the strain. I understand though if you want fiat to do it it's nice sometimes to not have the wasted time or stress with these jobs. Good luck with it, will be a well sorted panda when you're finished.
 
You already did the suspension which isnt easy the difficult part you're speaking about involves putting a 2nd Jack under the sump with a piece of scrap MDF. You just lift it a few mm to take the strain. I understand though if you want fiat to do it it's nice sometimes to not have the wasted time or stress with these jobs. Good luck with it, will be a well sorted panda when you're finished.


I'll run it by him again, you've made it seem rather simple! The guy in the video had this big metal frame that fitted the over the car and seemed to be custom build for that kind of job! So I thought right away "specialist equipment. Beyond our scope?"
 
Timing belts, or chains also, prefer long journeys to short ones.
It is the 'jerk' every time an engine starts up that puts the most strain on the belt. Not trying to scare you, because if your belt is in good shape a few thousand extra miles will probably not make any difference. It's just a fact.

Mercedes have found this out the hard way with their 651 series engines. Low mileage cars with this engine are giving trouble because they are frequently stopping and starting. High mileage long distance vans with the same engine are already hitting 300k miles with no timing chain (yes, it even happens with a chain!) problems.

That is also another reason to think hard if you ever buy a car with stop/start built in.
 
Last edited:
That is also another reason to think hard if you ever buy a car with stop/start built in.

I've often said that S/S will likely end up costing you more money over the life of the car; the benefits are more about urban emissions and noise pollution than cost savings.

In fairness though, the extra stress on the engine components from restarting a hot engine will be significantly less than you'd get from a cold start - it's repeated short journeys with a gap in between that really knackers engines, particularly in winter.
 
Timing belts, or chains also, prefer long journeys to short ones.
It is the 'jerk' every time an engine starts up that puts the most strain on the belt. Not trying to scare you, because if your belt is in good shape a few thousand extra miles will probably not make any difference. It's just a fact.

Mercedes have found this out the hard way with their 651 series engines. Low mileage cars with this engine are giving trouble because they are frequently stopping and starting. High mileage long distance vans with the same engine are already hitting 300k miles with no timing chain (yes, it even happens with a chain!) problems.

That is also another reason to think hard if you ever buy a car with stop/start built in.



It's things like this that make me want my next car to be a 1.2 4x4 Panda - old technology that's simple to fix :)
 
Hi guys, despite wanting to do it all ourselves, we did find the video a member referenced above - the one of the 1.2 Ford Ka

Thanks for everyones replies and if you're following along feel free to keep posting responses and tips / suggestions!

that's the later = fussier engine..:eek:

your car is the basic 8V, :worship:
only reason to support via the sump is that you need to unbolt the engine mount;)

no point in "elevating it..":confused:

I keep meaning to make a guide from the pics I took doing mine last year,
Charlie
 
Last edited:
that's the later = fussier engine..:eek:

your car is the basic 8V, :worship:
only reason to support via the sump is that you need to unbolt the engine mount;)

no point in "elevating it..":confused:

I keep meaning to make a guide from the pics I took doing mine last year,
Charlie

I see, so would the procedure be much different?

So I don't need to elevate it at all? Just support it by the sump to keep it steady once the engine mounts are unfastened?

Your guide would be very helpful, as have the other guides on here have been! Is yours the 8v?
 
2004 1.1 Active..

as the 8v 1242 punto mk2 in the GUIDES

even the cinq / sei is basically the same.

at one point we had 3 different FIAT's with the same engine;)

punto Mk1 55s 1997
Pand mk2 1.1 active 2004
Cinquecento Sporting 1997

one was MUCH nippier than the others:D
 
Supporting on a wooden block underneath allows you to undo the top engine mount and also raise the engine just slightly to give you more clearance for fitting the new belt.

Not a big deal really. Look on it like you might look on jacking up the car to change a wheel.
 
2004 1.1 Active..

as the 8v 1242 punto mk2 in the GUIDES

even the cinq / sei is basically the same.

at one point we had 3 different FIAT's with the same engine;)

punto Mk1 55s 1997
Pand mk2 1.1 active 2004
Cinquecento Sporting 1997

one was MUCH nippier than the others:D

All I can find is the Mk2 Punto Timing Belt for the 1.4 engine in the Guides Section so far
 
Back
Top