Hey there,

My 07 plate Fiat Bravo has 43,000 miles on it, it's a 2.0 Tdi. It's in great condition engine wise, just been serviced and passed MOT with flying colours! However, I was just wondering if the cambelt needs changing or not?

Fiat recommend 72,000 miles don't they??

Any responses would be appreciated greatly!

Cheers.

danthewam said:

Hey there,

My 07 plate Fiat Bravo has 43,000 miles on it, it's a 2.0 Tdi. It's in great condition engine wise, just been serviced and passed MOT with flying colours! However, I was just wondering if the cambelt needs changing or not?

Fiat recommend 72,000 miles don't they??

Any responses would be appreciated greatly!

Cheers.

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Surely you mean 1.9 Multijet ?

Anyway, if its 07 and the cambelt has not been done, then DO IT. The recommendation is 72000 miles or 5 years, whichever comes first.

neilshep said:

5 years, whichever comes first.

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Am I right in saying 4 years if it is used under more stressful conditions - around town, short trips etc?

But anyway if the OP's is an 07 reg then it sounds like a ticking timebomb if it hasn't been done yet.

I had my cambelt done last June ( 2012 ), at 40,000 miles on a 57 reg ( before I got my personalised plate )

austenw90 said:

Am I right in saying 4 years if it is used under more stressful conditions - around town, short trips etc?.

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I think you will find the views on this will vary.

The every 5 years / 50K has a reasonable safety margin built (compared to Fiats 72K miles) and in reality by the time an owner gets to 5 years and finally manages to get the job done the we could be up to 5.5 or even 6 years.

Engines that are run on short trips, start stops, revving up and down etc. do put more dynamic load on the cam belt over time than an engine that is started and run for longer trips.

Back in the 70s, 80s and 90s cam belt changes were recommended at 36K miles or every 3 years regardless of usage.

If I were running a town taxi then I would be looking at a 3 or 4 year interval but for most family cars 5 years is OK even with moderate to higher town usage.

I had my 2008 1.9 Multijet sport done at 5 years.
With 55,000 on the clock and only city driving the garage that replaced it and myself were surprised at the relativity good condition of the belt and water pump.
This is after 5 years of driving into Birmingham City Centre 5 days a week.

I say replace it for the sake of £200 or replace your engine at ten times the price when it or the water pump fail.

Thanks guys. Sorry, yer its 1.9 multijet. Is that how much it roughly costs to have it done, £200? Or is that for the parts only?

I would make sure you get cambelt, auxbelt and waterpump done. Make sure they use official parts only. I heard horror stories of waterpumps seizing after 3 months stripping the cambelt and trashing the valves. Just not worth the saving of £5-£10.

As for price, it could vary. Up to £200 for parts lets say. Maybe 4 hours labour at most?

It isnt a cheap thing to do but it would cost more to get the engine stripped down and valves/valve stems replaces/fixing the engine.

needs doing as car is 5 years old

use genuine parts

change tensioner and consider changing water pump too

:yeahthat:

Cheers! is it easyish to do yourself or worth taking to a garage?

Also, if I took it to a garage, it would be much cheaper buying the parts myself wdnt it? And letting them fit it.

danthewam said:

Also, if I took it to a garage, it would be much cheaper buying the parts myself wdnt it? And letting them fit it.

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Not nessecarily, as they should get trade discount. Not all will allow you to supply your own parts as they can't then fully warrent the work etc.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Not nessecarily, as they should get trade discount. Not all will allow you to supply your own parts as they can't then fully warrent the work etc.

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Whenever I have given my cars to a garage and I supplied the parts they always say there is no warranty as such, I only ever supplied oil and filters etc. I let them get the cambelts/tensioners just to be on the safe side.

In Croatia, I paid about 226€ for original parts + 2hours of work for belts and water pump with coolant changing + 1 hour for regular service (oil, filters etc.)

Cool, cheers.

Just one last question!

If the cambelt did go, is there a good chance it would damage other engine parts? Or is there a chance that it would not damage other engine parts?

Ta guys!

danthewam said:

Cool, cheers.

Just one last question!

If the cambelt did go, is there a good chance it would damage other engine parts? Or is there a chance that it would not damage other engine parts?

Ta guys!

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It would more than likely trash the valves and could damage the pistons. Would be pretty much require a full engine re-build plus the new camblet and everything..

Freebo said:

It would more than likely trash the valves and could damage the pistons. Would be pretty much require a full engine re-build plus the new camblet and everything..

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in other words

your car would be scrap

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail[/ame]

I had my 1.9 done at 86k and 5 years old cost me 300 to have genuine cambelt kit water pump aux belt and tensioner along with all 4 glow plugs done

On most Fiat Group diesels (JTD/Multijet) it's almost pointless doing the cambelt if you don't replace the waterpump - there's probably more instances on here and AlfaOwner.com of the waterpumps failing than there are the cambelt snapping, so always do the waterpump as well.

Anything after 5 years or 50,000 miles (doesn't need to be both), you're on borrowed time. Many Alfa 147s with the 1.9 150bhp Multijet engine have had waterpumps go as low as 40,000 miles.

I didn't know so much about the JTDs appetite for waterpumps at the time so my Stilo's one got done at 6 years/60,000 miles (late in time but early in mileage) & the waterpump was starting to leak when the garage removed it, so I won't be waiting that long on any future Fiat diesel.

5yrs max or the mileage quoted by fiat, whichever comes first. I had mine done on a 150mj last year at a Alfa/fiat specialist who said anything over 40k and you're on borrowed time. Especially with a 16v mj as they go through water pumps, so make sure it gets replaced too.

I got mine done, belt, tensioners, new water pump all genuine parts for £320 all in. The guy said fiat do not honour any belt snapping warranty even if you have it changed in the service intervals, so for peace of mind get it changed. It's amazing how many people don't get belts changed!