JulieP said:

Thanks for that. I tried to buy the Michelin ones today of black circles as they are doing 15% off but three times it wouldn’t accept my card. I gave up in the end. So no further forwards. I have been given a price for timing thing on eBay Daycon is that a good make? Never heard of them.
I need to get a price for the wishbone before the tyres so I don’t need to get them balanced twice.
I might have to just be without a car while I pool some funds to get all this done as it seems tyres, timing and both wishbones all need to be done straight away, so I might just have to not drive it for a while. But I’ll get everything priced up and ready to go when I can.

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Daycon belt? probably Dayco? see here: https://www.dayco.com/en/product/timing-belts/ Big manufacturer of quality belts, you'll be fine with them. My personal favourite is Gates, which I've been using for many years and never had an issue. The market for timing belts is very competitive so a bit of time spent searching around could save you money. Don't forget to try your local motor trade factor - most will sell to the general public - the one I use (SRS Autoparts) do prices very much in line with what I would pay online but I like using them because it's so easy then to change a part which is incorrect for the vehicle. Are you going to get the whole kit including the water pump? If you're going for just the belt and tensioner - don't even think of not renewing the tensioner - a very careful appraisal of the water pump needs to be done. I don't think it's worth risking not doing the pump though because if it fails it'll very likely ruin your engine and anyway even if you catch it in time you'll have to do all the labour again to get access to the pump - and you probably shouldn't reuse a belt which has been involved in a component failure!

Changing the wishbones as a pair is good practice anyway but it's the tracking (wheel alignment some call it) which would have to be done twice if you did one and then later the other. Wheel balance is related only to the relevant wheel and once done - if it's done competently - should last the life of the tyre as long as it remains on that wheel. Fitting the wishbones and getting the tracking done is a separate task to wheel balancing

Can I ask, from the way you're talking here it sounds like you may be going to have a go at this yourself? or maybe you've got a friend who's handy on the tools? I'm only asking because you're talking about "being ready to go" when you can. If you're going to get a garage workshop to do this for you then check with them first if they're Ok with you getting the parts. Many don't like customers supplying parts, partly because they make a mark up on the parts so it's part of their income (everyone needs to eat) and I've no issues with that as long as it's not unreasonable, but also the workshop becomes legally responsible for the work it carries out. Parts supplied by customers may be of good quality, but, of course, may also be "dodgy" (and there's a lot of counterfeit parts about these days). By fitting parts from their usual trusted supplier they can have confidence the parts are of acceptable quality. I once talked to our insurer about this and they're advice was to not get involved with customer supplied parts as it confuses the issue if a claim comes about.

Thank you. No I’m not going to fit I am going to ask a mobile mechanic to fit them and yes I’ll have to check with him that’s he’s ok with me getting parts. If not no harm done because at least I’ll know how much the parts could be. And I’ve learnt some stuff because this is all new to me. So can I get the tyres fitted abs balanced and do the wishbone after? This would work better for me.

TurboToppolino said:

I got mine from here recently on the recommendation of another forum member. Spot on price for the brand.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/153479061963

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What a nice kit of parts. A well known "name" and very nice with all the important new fixings included.

JulieP said:

Thank you. No I’m not going to fit I am going to ask a mobile mechanic to fit them and yes I’ll have to check with him that’s he’s ok with me getting parts. If not no harm done because at least I’ll know how much the parts could be. And I’ve learnt some stuff because this is all new to me. So can I get the tyres fitted abs balanced and do the wishbone after? This would work better for me.

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The only draw back to doing it that way is that if the wishbone bushes are badly worn you will get rapid wear and, possibly, uneven wear taking place on the new tyres. I'd probably do the wishbones and get the tracking set up correctly before running the new tyres - sorry!

Yokohama Advin Fleva (weird name) or Michelin energy saver + my current tyres are 82v but Michelin 82h yoko are 82v The garage said it is ok to swop to 82h ... need to make a decision tonight and order.

It’s just the left bush that’s gone (according to nice RAC man yesterday) but I was told on here it’s better to do the whole arm not just the bush.

H rated are suitable for use at speeds up to 130 mph and V up to around 150 - if I remember correctly - google it to be sure please. My Ibiza's original fitment Bridgestones are H rated and it can go quite a bit faster than our 1.2 Panda. The relevance here is that you mustn't fit a tyre with a speed rating lower than that specified as original fitment by the vehicle manufacturer. I'd take a guess that an H is going to be satisfactory but you could try feeding your reggie number in on a Kwick Fit (others are available) website and check what they are recommending. Fitting lower speed rated tyres could land you with a fine and points on your license if a bright policeman picked up on it - and the "traffic boys" are pretty well clued up.

JulieP said:

It’s just the left bush that’s gone (according to nice RAC man yesterday) but I was told on here it’s better to do the whole arm not just the bush.

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It is possible to do just the bush but my experience of doing so is that it's quite a hassle. Sometimes the rubber will have detached from the metal of the bush so it makes life easier but often the rubber will only partially have collapsed. Then usually the best way is to get hold of a substantial gas torch - oxy acetylene is favourite in a garage - and burn out the old rubber. Be very careful if doing this as the burnt rubber causes highly toxic fumes but even worse the melted rubber seems to form some sort of acidic "gunge" apart from being hot, if it gets on your skin it can chemically burn too.

Then when you've got the rubber out of the way, you can take a hacksaw and very carefully, because you don't want to "nick" the metal of the arm itself and cause a possible stress concentration, cut through the metal outer ring of the bush. then you can "attack" it with a chisel or punch and partially collapse this outer ring which then lets it loose it's hold on the arm and you can remove it.

Now you're half way there. You'll need a very substantial workshop vice, or better, a proper hydraulic press, to press the new bush into the hole in the arm - and, if it's a "voided" bush you'll need to be very careful to install it so the voids are correctly located in relation to the arm itself.

Of course before you can do any of this you need to strip the arm out of the car and you've got to do that anyway if you are simply swapping it out for a new one. So very much easier just to buy a new arm with a nice new bush already installed and swap them over. That way you get a nice new front bush (but they don't fail anything like so often) and a nice new suspension ball joint (they do tend to fail from time to time) - So you are "killing" a few "birds" with the one stone, if you get my meaning?

Ok makes sense I’ll get the whole thing still might go for one not two though. I’ll get a quote to get it done.

By the way our Panda is on "T" rated 155/80x13 tyres. "T" being rated to 118 mph and are what's recommended for it on the two sites I just checked. Mind you, don't think Becky would think too much of being pushed to substantially over the legal limit, and 118 would be an aspiration rather than attainable!

JulieP said:

Ok makes sense I’ll get the whole thing still might go for one not two though. I’ll get a quote to get it done.

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Get whoever is doing it to carefully check the bushes on the other side - seems to always be the rear bush which goes due to it's design - It's not a difficult thing to asses for someone who knows how it should be. If it's in good order then happy days!

I've lost the plot here slightly. Did anyone answer your query about when to change the cam belt? I can't be bothered to re-read the whole thread so here's my "take" on it.

The factory recommendation for the 1.2 Fire engine is every 72,000 miles OR 5 years, whichever comes first. - When operated in "particularly demanding situations", which they define as; Cold climates, City traffic and prolonged idling it should be changed every 4 years. Neither of ours - our 1.2 Dynamic Eco Panda or my boy's 1.4 Punto Easy (so same cambelt/water pump kit) - do that sort of mileage but they do spend a lot of time in city traffic so I tend to watch for when they've gone past 4 years and then, when I get a nice warm day that's not raining, I get stuck in. Having said that there's very little on the forum about the FIRE engines suffering cam belt problems. The ones I have seen seem to point towards a failed water pump as being the "weak link" but generally they seem capable of running to considerably higher mileages than Fiat's recommended change interval. My "take" on this is that I'm going to change the belt when recommended to but if circumstances force me to put it off for a wee while I'll not be loosing a lot of sleep worrying about it!

As a general comment I would say that synchronous belts (which is another name for these timing belts) are amazingly robust and when you look at situations where a failure has occurred it's much more likely to have been the water pump or tensioner's bearings failing and either throwing the belt off or seizing up and forcing the teeth to strip. Listen to your engine often and if you hear it starting to make an unusual noise it might just be one of these bearings starting to fail!

JulieP said:

So can I get the tyres fitted and balanced and do the wishbone after? This would work better for me.

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Absolutely no problem at all. Don't confuse balancing the wheels (needed with new tyres) with tracking the wheels (needed after changing the wishbone(s)) - they are completely separate procedures.

Pugglt Auld Jock said:

The only draw back to doing it that way is that if the wishbone bushes are badly worn you will get rapid wear and, possibly, uneven wear taking place on the new tyres. I'd probably do the wishbones and get the tracking set up correctly before running the new tyres - sorry!

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If the OP is fitting just two tyres, then for safety the new ones should be put on the rear of the vehicle, (with the existing rears rotated to the front if the fronts have worn out) so at least any uneven wear from the dubious wishbone should be going onto old tyres.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSz7cm6MwH0

We replaced the cam belt at 7 years old as we got the car at 6, the water pump is 12 years old take time to shop around for parts, lower control arms can be bought for less than £100 a pair for reasonable quality items, don't rush things, try click mechanic website for prices to fit items, also note Euro car parts have a "fit for me price" option at check out, you don't have to complete but it gives you a fully fitted price for s guide?

You can fix the door hinge yourself, yes you really can with our help for less than a tenner a side, its really quite simple if a little fiddly probably take you 90 mins one side 30 the other.

JulieP said:

I might have to just be without a car while I pool some funds to get all this done as it seems tyres, timing and both wishbones all need to be done straight away, so I might just have to not drive it for a while.

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I think it's fine to use the car I really don't think there's any emergency on any of the items you've listed (unless you can't actually get in to the car because of those handles).

I understand the car passed the MoT two months ago with only advisories for exhaust & tyres? That shows a car in good health

Yes, the tyres will need replacing before winter arrives, but if they were dangerously worn your car would have failed the MoT.

The wishbone/suspension arm bushes usually show up as MoT advisories quite a while before they fail. If they were badly worn they would have failed the MoT.

So an RAC representative, some time after the MoT, recently advised you a bush needs replacing?

I think I'd choose to ignore that for now, personally, and see what the next MoT says about it.

There might be some play in it, they do wear out over time, and can exacerbate front tyre wear, so it's not a bad idea to replace them, but it's probably not urgent.

I was quoted £200 by an independent garage to replace one suspension arm when it failed the MoT (I chose to replace both myself for £80 from Shop4Parts, and they are available cheaper elsewhere).

Just a thought on tyres - JRK and others above are absolutely right, if you can at all afford a good quality pair of tyres then do, cheap tyres are a false economy.

I've always found Toyo to be a good balance of price, durability, grip & noise. These are for 500 14" wheels if that's what you have: https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rshop/tyre/Toyo/NanoEnergy-3/175-65-R14-82T/R-377716
£70 for a pair delivered, plus maybe £30 to fit and balance. A local independent tyre place might do even better (and I agree, always plonk new tyres on the back).

Yes, the timing belt is overdue because of age, if it has never been changed. That would be my priority. An independent garage might charge £200-£300

rmjbn1 said:

Yes, the timing belt is overdue because of age, if it has never been changed. That would be my priority. An independent garage might charge £200-£300

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Agree, a neighbor found out the hard way what happens if you don't change it, she was very lucky the belt slipped a tooth and the engine went into limp mode that one was 9 years old VW

The other bits can wait though the handles are a cheap fix if you or a friend can DIY the risk being you may pull the whole handle off if you leave it too long?

Thank you. The tyres are being done tomorrow and I have a mechanic looking tonight at the wishbone does this look ok https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Genu...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0
It’s says OEM how can I check it is genuine part?
My mechanic has quite me £55 plus labour but I guess that will be a big standard part .
I was going to ask him if we could use the one I have linked above instead as I’d rather use OEM if possible. They have offered £61 for the arm OEM but I need to know it’s genuine first . Will this come WITH the bush? As the bush is the bit that’s gone.

The OEM part number is 51857021 can I check that it is genuine . But worries about buying off eBay.

JulieP said:

The OEM part number is 51857021 can I check that it is genuine . But worries about buying off eBay.

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It looks fine are you having both done? If not it’s just a matter of time before the other needs doing
Trust me when I say the OEM ones are CHEAP! As in quality! Go for a decent brand and get both done at the same time … it’s a bit of work to get to just one bolt (front bumper off & lower crash bar ect) may as well get both done

As for the timing belt kit DAYCO I believe is OEM

JulieP said:

The OEM part number is 51857021 can I check that it is genuine . But worries about buying off eBay.

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Sandicliffe are a long established Ford main dealer (they used to service my Company Capri in the 1970's) - I'd say it's almost certainly above board.

But I'd agree with @baglady that the quality aftermarket parts (eg Lemforder) are far better than the OEM product.