(G) Seicento OHC Non Interference Engine?

My daughter arrived home, parked the car, next morning said car would not start, I checked all the normall things i.e Fuel, spark, and prised the timing belt cover apart to see if the belt turned which it did but felt slack, I gave up and transported it to our local garage.

They phoned to say that it looked like the belt was slack and would check it when they can but told me that if the timing belt is broken or slips teeth then the engine could be damaged.

I said I thought the engine was non interference on the OHC but on checking the Haynes manual it said damage can occur. Which is correct.

The OHC FIRE 8v engines are all 'safe' engine, they are all non interferance. There will be no damage.

The older OHV engines were not 'safe' but they were chain driven and had no belt to break.

Thanks Steve, that will please my daughter and my pocket

Yep, fit a new belt, set the timing and away she goes. Great little engines.

Typical, they probably think you know nothing about engines, and to most people who have a car, they assume that a broken cam belt means lots of damage, so the garage think they can fob you off, you get a repair bill for damage that wasnt there in the first place.

and the garage probably cant believe there wasnt any damage, when they take the head off, but they will charge you for the work anyway, and that is what get drivers back up about garage charges and workmanship.

For interest, The garage found the problem, I checked that the timing belt rotated but it was a bit loose, they removed the timing belt cover and found the tensioner bearing kaput and the belt had jumped some teeth altering the timing

I you want a reliable non rip off garage in Gloucester let me know. A new belt was fitted with a new tensioner in a couple of hours.

Does anyone know the travel distance for the clutch pedal for checking the clutch ?