percymon said:

Fiat dealer quoted me £700 for a major service with cambelt change

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That will come as no surprise to the regulars here.

A Fiat dealer is no place to be going with a car of that age.

But if you do get the cambelt changed, either buy or borrow the tools, or go somewhere that has them, and knows how to use them. The cam sprocket isn't keyed, there are no timing marks and cam locking tools are all but essential on these VVT engines. This forum is littered with posts from folks reporting poor running after belt changes.

All the rest is straightforward for the home mechanic. When changing the plugs, consider upgrading to iridiums; you'll likely never have to change them again and they'll put less stress on the coil packs. NGK DCPR7EIX are the ones you need. Keep a close eye on the coolant level; this engine's achilles heel is that it won't survive long if the level gets too low and the HG often fails before the temperature gauge registers anything is wrong. Otherwide, the 1.2 has a good reputation for both reliability and longevity.

Finally, well done for making it this far, and enjoy your recent purchase.

Thanks for the info - i wasn't surprised by the dealer quote at all, but when we had the Panda they ran their own service programme for lower mileage / older cars - it really made it worthwhile for a few years to use them, if only for software updates and recall items. Sadly they no longer run that option, its Fiats own pricing scheme only

Photo hosting fixed - what's the views on whether the cambelt has been changed - looking at the sticker i think not, but not sure what the green cross and mark are - production line QC markings ?

Collected the car today, fuss free return home on M11 / m25 / m40 / a40 / m50 / a465 / a40. Yes 179 miles, 3 hours and 57.8mpg, not complaining !

And tomorrow I start the process of a full inner and outer detailing and then onto the service and preservation jobs !

Glad you got one, enjoy! Much as I loved the Twinair engine, I never got much more than 50mpg on a motorway run.
As a point of reference, we paid about £500 for a service and cambelt change on my wife's 500C 1.2 last year, that was at a local service/MoT station.
I always enjoyed cleaning our 500s, even after all these years they are such a nice looking little car.

percymon said:

Collected the car today, fuss free return home on M11 / m25 / m40 / a40 / m50 / a465 / a40. Yes 179 miles

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Thats a weird route to Chester..

TrevC said:

Much as I loved the Twinair engine, I never got much more than 50mpg

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The complete inability of the TA to achieve anything even vaguely close to its official mpg figures was known as soon as the first early test drives of this model by the motoring press, and nothing subsequently changed. IMO its economy was respectable, given its performance, but many folks claimed to have been misled, with some justification.

percymon said:

what's the views on whether the cambelt has been changed - looking at the sticker i think not, but not sure what the green cross and mark are - production line QC markings ?

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Painting hieroglyphics on the cambelt guard is a despicable practice which helps no one; even if it has been changed, you've no idea when, or what parts were used, or whether the water pump & tensioner were included. All that can be deduced from your photo is that, at some time in the past, someone placed a green mark on the cambelt guard. What is needed is proper service documentation stating exactly what was done, when, and at what mileage. Given the potential for serious damage if it does let go, and in the absence of proper records, I'd do the lot now.

The green mark might well be factory - Fiats seem to come out with all sorts of random marks, some by the robots and some by the line workers. There's no way of knowing from that picture if the cambelt has been done - only documentary service history will tell you (and it's entirely possible to put the cover back on without it looking disturbed - though I always like to give it at least a wipe myself ).

Find a good indy; you shouldn't have to pay more than about GBP 330 for a full cambelt water pump and auxiliary belt change, using all the right tools. I know it's not your area but maybe I can shamelessly plug www.auto500.co.uk.....though I have to declare an interest

Nick

puntodeltathema said:

The green mark might well be factory -

I know it's not your area but maybe I can shamelessly plug www.auto500.co.uk.....though I have to declare an interest
Nick

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The OP has a title saying 'Chester'

But the route in this thread reads as Brecon Beacons..

Not far from me - 'Heads of the Valleys'

But a LONG way from the Thames Estuary

varesecrazy said:

Thats a weird route to Chester..

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Yeah, better update my profile

varesecrazy said:

The OP has a title saying 'Chester'

But the route in this thread reads as Brecon Beacons..

Not far from me - 'Heads of the Valleys'

But a LONG way from the Thames Estuary

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Okay okay, my next job is my profile location. And yes, you are correct I’m now on the edge of the beacons.