help! i have just been to fiat and they say the reason car doesnt start is because phase sensor has gone. they have quoted £850-£900 for the job! is it a hard job. ideas pls

paulhemsley said:

help! i have just been to fiat and they say the reason car doesnt start is because phase sensor has gone. they have quoted £850-£900 for the job! is it a hard job. ideas pls

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The phase/cam sensor is behind the Cam wheel and is used for starting. The code light on the car instrument panel, I think should go out as ignition is engaged as no faults are detected. Then on cranking it should re illuminate as the sensor fails to send a signal and thus the car ecu shuts down the injector rail. (I think this is right)Anyway to get to this sensor the Cambelt needs to be removed.

Trouble is Fiat who are possibly the worst people to officially work on your car still believe, or have a policy that to change a cambelt on the 20v, you need to take the engine out. Hence why the price is so high. Its worth noting that the Cambelt should be renewed as well as the tensioners and possibly the waterpump. The specialists charge around £400 for this job as the engine can be dropped off its mounts and moved across without removing it. Or a decent private garage might be able to do for much cheaper.


Hope this helps

thanks mate, the fiat garage is saying it could be timing sensor but probably not ( about £25 for it). i may but one and fit myself, what do you think? would this stop the car starting or firing?

bridges said:

Trouble is Fiat who are possibly the worst people to officially work on your car still believe, or have a policy that to change a cambelt on the 20v, you need to take the engine out. Hence why the price is so high. Its worth noting that the Cambelt should be renewed as well as the tensioners and possibly the waterpump. The specialists charge around £400 for this job as the engine can be dropped off its mounts and moved across without removing it. Or a decent private garage might be able to do for much cheaper.

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Never taken a engine out or ever seen one taken out to renew timing belt & i'm in Fiat garages all the time.

T14086 said:

Never taken a engine out or ever seen one taken out to renew timing belt & i'm in Fiat garages all the time.

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Point taken.
Am not trying to slate Fiat. My basis is that I had a quote off a Fiat garage for around £1000 when I originally enquired about cambelt costs on my coupe 20v N/A

surely they must have been thinking along these lines when quoting paulhemsley to get near the £900 mark

bridges said:

Point taken.
Am not trying to slate Fiat. My basis is that I had a quote off a Fiat garage for around £1000 when I originally enquired about cambelt costs on my coupe 20v N/A

surely they must have been thinking along these lines when quoting paulhemsley to get near the £900 mark

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no no your quite right....I stated never seen it done not they didn't charge for it though

paulhemsley said:

thanks mate, the fiat garage is saying it could be timing sensor but probably not ( about £25 for it). i may but one and fit myself, what do you think? would this stop the car starting or firing?

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anyone?

did you ask the garage or actualy take it in for a diagnostic ?

T14086 said:

no no your quite right....I stated never seen it done not they didn't charge for it though

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I see


Paul, assume they mean crank sensor. Which would prevent the car from starting.

if a diagnostic on the examiner has confirmed the phase sensor (aka cam sensor) is the problem then i would replace it at a local independant garage and have the timing belt done at the same time, otherwise i would try the crank sensor instead becaue it is much cheaper and far more likely to be the problem.

jug said:

if a diagnostic on the examiner has confirmed the phase sensor (aka cam sensor) is the problem then i would replace it at a local independant garage and have the timing belt done at the same time, otherwise i would try the crank sensor instead becaue it is much cheaper and far more likely to be the problem.

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i have ordered a crank sensor, hopefully this will sort problem. if not i will buy timing sensor and belt and prob have a go myself doing it with a mate. i hear you dont have to remove engine to do cam belt? anyone know how? is it a matter of dropping off the engine mounts? anywhere i can get instructions from! thanks for the help guys/girls!!

T14086 said:

did you ask the garage or actualy take it in for a diagnostic ?

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i took it in and got dianostic done

paulhemsley said:

i have ordered a crank sensor, hopefully this will sort problem. if not i will buy timing sensor and belt and prob have a go myself doing it with a mate. i hear you dont have to remove engine to do cam belt? anyone know how? is it a matter of dropping off the engine mounts? anywhere i can get instructions from! thanks for the help guys/girls!!

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Just found this guide for you https://www.fiatforum.com/bravo-brava-marea-guides/43472-photo-how-marea-20v-cam-belt-change.html


Ignore that it's for a Marea. As your car engine and engine bay are identical.

I had a problem with my Bravo HGT 155 last week too. It just stalled intermitently i.e the engine completely cut out while driving and I could not restart the car. Got it towed to a private garage I use, ran diagnostics and came up with fault codes
P0130 - 02 sensor position 1 (lambda sensor) - (which was as a result of below)-->
P0335 - Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Malfunction

Changed the Crankshaft speed sensor which cost £28, re-tested and problem went away. Car has been running fine now for a week.
I suggest you get the fault code that they found from the diagnostics and if it is P0335, you need a new Crankshaft sensor.

However if the fault code is different then:
Camshaft sensor code is
P0340
Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Malfunction

other related codes are:

P0336
Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Range/Performance
P0337
Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Low Input
P0338
Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit High Input
P0339
Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Intermittent


P0341
Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Range/Performance
P0342
Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Low Input
P0343
Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit High Input
P0344
Camshaft Position Sensor Circuit Intermittent



Hope this helps.
Sub.:slayer:

90% or crank sensor failures do not result in any fault code at all, which easily catches out modern day mechanics who are lost without a fault code.

jug said:

90% or crank sensor failures do not result in any fault code at all, which easily catches out modern day mechanics who are lost without a fault code.

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i changed the crank sensor and still wont fire! do i need to reset ecu??

unfortunately it is now time to change the cam sensor