2006 Scudo 2.0 JTD manual (TW200 Taxi). Taking HMV out shopping last Saturday, 80MPH on M2, heard a clattering from under, then the engine died...made it to hard shoulder, inspection under bonnet showed Aux Drive belt 33% missing across and black/grey smoke rising from under air filter...tried engine...cranked but no start...called out the breakdown.

My garage thought something had come up from road, shredded part of Aux drive belt and then entered cam belt by water pump and either snapped or misaligned the cam belt.

Expecting the worst I had a pleasant surprise when he rang next day to say new cam belt fitted...old belt had been miss placed by 10 teeth and debris from aux belt found in there...but the engine is running, I went over to take a listen and to me it sounded OK....he thought he could hear tapping or something was not quite right but he could not "put his finger on" We agreed best plan was to put it back together, suck it and see...not worth taking the head off if its something minor or just suspected?

So I pick it up this afternoon, and hope I have got way with minor damage...it could have been so much worse...I had been bricking it thinking of valves through pistons and new engine. Any thoughts on what I should look out for when I pick it up be appreciated guys!

Should have known better, call from Garage to say when they drove out of yard it was miss-firing and belching clouds of smoke. They cannot take the head off till Friday...will know then if its gone through a piston...meanwhile no taxi-no income....lifes a bitch!

Compression check?

I thouht these engines broke cam followers rather than anything else?

Zog said:

Compression check?

I thouht these engines broke cam followers rather than anything else?

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Garage has not had head off yet-I am advised it will be tommorow, but they have had a camera into camshaft and there are bits of chain and one of the cam followers is missing <shudder>

We now find the Engine is 16 valve twin cam-had always been told it was 8....the injectors need to come out to even get to the rockers...the injectors will not budge...specialist coming tomorrow with extraction equip-accepted there is good chance the injectors might break in two...if worst case scenario and replacement engine needed been told to go for an 8 valve...anyone any thoughts of compatibility???

how can u tell if 8 or 16 valve cheers

r masters said:

how can u tell if 8 or 16 valve cheers

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Garage reported it was twin cam, could not get to 2nd cam without taking injectors out...and confirmed by Fiat dealers when given VEN number...I had always been under impression it was an 8 valve. Costing £150 min to tow to injector specialists to remove injectors....if they come out clean and camera shows pistons not holed then hopefully it will just be a case to replace broken cam followers...if injectors fracture then it will be a head off jobby...and if pistons damaged then replacement engine. This ones covered 250K but its a known quality rather than source a replacement....difficult to know when to stop spending....like I said, its a nightmare....fingers crossed!

Week 3, 18 ton puller could not shift injectors....given choice either wind up to possibly destructive 20 tons or take engine out to get a straighter pull. opted for the latter and waiting news.

Why can't they tell whether there are piston problems without taking the thing to bits? Ifv it's misfiring and belching smoke, there must be a reason.

When the Garage replaced the belt it was ticking over OK and revved with no smoke. We think when he put it all back together driving it off the ramp was the last straw for one of the cam followers. He was able to get a camera into the cam case and confirmed one had broken, but cannot get the 2nd cam cover off without removing injectors....as for viewing valves and pistons the only way is through injector holes...in which the injectors do not want to budge so far:bang:

It couldn't hurt, could it, to send a request to 1stchoice, or enquire at scrapyards about a replacement engine, could it? You'd know what was available at what price then, if you haven't already of course....

Thanks but already done that...it seems a minefield of unknowns till you start it up. Compatibility to ecu, fuel pump etc....but increasingly looks like this will be the way to go.

What sort of price is asked, as a matter of interest? Isn't an ECU a bolt-on?

Hoping never to have to do this, but....!

Zog said:

What sort of price is asked, as a matter of interest? Isn't an ECU a bolt-on?

Hoping never to have to do this, but....!

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Have found some on ebay £600-1000 and a new one from Fiat 3-4K. Trouble with the cheaper ones is you don't know what you are buying till you turn the ignition, all are from low mileage Scudos written off by rear end collision-and I suspect while being driven to the church on Sunday Injector guy got 2 injectors out intact...fingers crossed he can get the other two out today

Finally extracted injectors, 1 is ok, 2 might be damaged and one snapped in head. Awaiting cylinder head to be taken off Friday to find if bottom end is still serviceable....taken 4 weeks to get to this...wish with hindsight and increasing Garage bill I had opted for a replacement engine at the start...but I have heard some horror stories of engines bought...some found on delivery not compatible or they have died after 6 months. I have the engine number but unsure what type it is FWZ FWW...??? Can anyone please advise what detail I should be looking for to ensure a clean swap if I eventually have to take this route?

This is getting silly, been without Taxi since 15 July 2014...over 2 months.
Garage were due to start it up last week...they did...he is not happy with it, starts OK and ticks over but very rattly...and the rattles do no disappear when oil pressure is up to push the hydraulic piston adjusters that take up the slack on the cam followers.

But he thinks it might be a timing issue, because its twin overhead cam the two shafts are connected by a chain, this alignment seems atop the alignment of the cogwheels of the cambelt.

PLEASE GUYS! If anyone can give advice for this I can pass on, or point in the right direction of what he should be doing to ensure timing I shall be forever grateful!!!

Thought I would save some not going to main dealers...beginning to wonder at this guys competence...I suggested asking the Fiat dealers for advice but told they would only do this if the vehicle was brought down to them. I begin to think I'm losing it.........:bang::bang::bang:

Andycabs said:

This is getting silly, been without Taxi since 15 July 2014...over 2 months.

(8<)

PLEASE GUYS! If anyone can give advice for this I can pass on, or point in the right direction of what he should be doing to ensure timing I shall be forever grateful!!!

Thought I would save some not going to main dealers...beginning to wonder at this guys competence...

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Two months is a very long time for anyone not to have done something.

If the van's in one bit, I'd be after a Clarke tb2s towing bar and a trip to a FIAT dealer, assumint I can get it out of old matey's clutches in one piece and with suitable terms.

Sorry, I have no idea about any putative timing issue. I hope someone here has, but I should think a main dealer would know.

Thanks Zog...I still have gut instinct faith in my Garage....there has been one problem after another that he has kept me fully informed about and I could not think of any other way than his suggestions so far...I passed the point of no return ages ago in money so far spent. It seems there is a lot of dispute within the fiat community about the marks on the chain that joins the 2 camshafts...some had the marks in the wrong place and even the experts cannot seem to agree...he will be paying a personal visit to fiat to try and get the needed information...I am hopeful they will co operate and not close up saying it should have been done by them in the first place

Really disappointed no advice forthcoming so far...Garage have overcome the timing issue....all they need to do now is sort the turbo...because it took so long markings on the dismantled pipes was obscure and doubts if they have assembled correctly. It runs OK up to 1500 rpm but then feels it goes to limp mode-the turbo does not kick in?

Fault codes that we can find no info are
243H-579 and 1108H-4360

If anyone has a scooby about these be appreciated Guys....as would any diagram of the vacuum circuit that kicks in the actuator....

OK, I give up asking. :bang: