Brava Broken timing belt Fiat Brava 1.6 16V

[Gregovic]

Welcome to the forums. Good to see someone willing to put the effort in to repair a Brava instead of scrapping it!

 

[damydyo1]

Gregovic, it is not such a big deal and I'm happy to join it with you all. I'm waiting for spare parts now to put everything together again. Main things are the timing tools I ordered in Polen. Cheap though, only € 65,00 incl postage for a complete set of timing tools in and outlet, tensioner tool, crank blocking tool and TDC position tool. Ordered a head gasket set with head bolts for € 80,00 at e-bay. Some small gaskets, exhaust and waterpump I ordered at the near Fiat garage for € 10,00. A waterpump i also got from e-bay, only € 44,00 with gasket. Further things I bought were the timing belt with tensioners and the three other belts for a total of € 100,00. The head is skimmed for € 45,00. Some oil, cooling fluid and filters for € 50,00. I needed a special tool for the head bolts: Ribe CV M12 € 12,00. I changed my cable loom in the engine compartment for a decent one with the full plastic mountings, second hand for € 33,00 (most of my cables were cut and repaired by the last owner, a horrable sight) All together a repair for nearly € 450,00. A lot of time in removing, cleaning and refitting things. Also a lot of reading, for example Eper and Haynes.

That's the status for now. More will be put here if anyone is interested.

Ralph

 

[damydyo1]

Day four 26-6-12,
I received the skimmed cilinder head, the head gasket set, my special Ribe CV M12 tool for the head bolts, and a small pakkage of gaskets for the waterpump pipe, thermostat and the two pipe exhaust.
The Ribe CV M12 tool is rather different then a Torx. Ribe has square edges and Torx has pointed edges. Don't try it with a Torx, you wil ruin your tool!

I managed to fit the new gasket and refitted the skimmed cilinder head with:
Stage 1: 20 Nm
Stage 2: 40 Nm
Stage 3: 90° further
Stage 4: 90° further
All in the specified order for bolt 1 to 10, beginning in the top centre.
I didnt have a tool with degrees on it, so I marked every bolt with points refering to a mark on top of the head. Works for me I hope.

After finishing this I set the crank shaft on TCD, that's 0° on top of the flywheel beneath the thermostat as shown on picture.

I'm waiting for the waterpump now. For refitting it there is a lot of space now available, otherwise my exhaust manifold wil block my poor finger space :bang: Also I will wait with the thermostat wich let me able to see the TDC mark on top of the flywheel :idea:

Hereby some piccies. More to come.

Ralph

 

[damydyo1]

Day five,
I received the two camshaft seals part no. 40004940 (timing belt side) and also the two seals part no. 46438042 at the two end plates of the camshaft. I changed them on both camshaft carriers. The two at the timing belt side I had to drill a small whole in and plugged them out with a pointy tool. The two at the end plate were easy to change. Checked the camshaft for scratches and dirt but they seemed to be in good condition. By replacing them I oiled the cams a bit. After that I replaced the tappets after injecting them with oil and renewed the seals. I used a big plug for the two at the timing belt side to get them in place.
Used also some oil to place smoothly. At the end plates I submitted a little sealant.

Now the two camshafts are ready to replace.

Tomorrow I will receive other stuff. Have fun with the pictures. Questions anyone?

Ralph

 

[damydyo1]

Day six,
Renewed the waterpump including the seal. Fitted the pump complete with housing. That is a lot easier to reach the bolts of the front with pully. After that I reorganized my cable loom wich was a mess. Then refitted the thermostat and the two cams using the timing tools set on TDC. After that I renewed the waterpump belt and afcourse the timing belt with the crank on TDC.

Tomorrow the car will run as planned I hope :worship:

That for now folks. Enjoy the piccies. No questions so far, so I reccon everybody understands what I'm doing. :devil:

Ralph

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Why did the belt brake in the first place..??
Was it replaced every 60.000km or three years, as advised by Fiat..

 

[damydyo1]

Peter,
Thanks for your reply. I have to admit it was my own fault. I did not notice the last belt change at 180.000 km. Now the car had driven 270.000 km and it broke as well as the bearings of the belt tensioner. So folks keep that in mind. It will save you a lot of trouble.

I did a test last night without fitting the auxiliary, AC and the steering pump belt. Filled it up with 10W40 oil and cooling fluid and the car started up real fine. A lot of smoke though because of all cupper grease I used for the exhaust bolts, but nothing to worry.

Today I will finish the car and will put some pictures on this thread of the final work. I also renewed a petrol and oil filter.

Ralph

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

OK, got it!
The interval used to be 120.000km or 5-6 years, but is was cut in half, because of what happened to you!
What kind of coolant do you use right now?
As you renewed the waterpump, you could use the red long life stuff....!
( Paraflu UP ultra protection)

 

[damydyo1]

I did not use a special brand of cooling fluid Peter. Bought it at the petrol station. Maybe not the best choise but after a week hard labour I was glad to have a yerrycan of this liquid. The oil I used is Castrol.

Today I tried to fix the timing. The engine did not sound smooth and my timing tools were bended due to fitting the camshaft cranks on 115 Nm. :yuck:
I suspect it is off time now. Changed the belt one tooth on the crank. Sounded a lot better but I noticed a diesel like sound of the valves. Also one of my ignition cables broke. Almost everything I touch, especialy all the plastic mountings are damaged or broken. It's an old car so I have to live with that but will repair everything I can. See picture of the remains of my old cable loom. Current cable loom is now orderly lead by tubes and clips.

And if that was not enough, my tool for setting the timing belt tensioner broke. Have to fix that too. Not ready for today.

Tomorrow I get a new set of igition cables and will fix the timing. Hereby some piccies of todays status.

Ralph

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Great job!

 

[Gregovic]

That's Italian plastic for you. They know how to make a car that drives like a dream. Designing it to make it easy to maintain is not one of their strong points. Making plastic parts that don't fall apart the first time they are touched after install is not something they have achieved yet

Also, my hat's off to you. That's one clean looking engine rebuild!

 

[damydyo1]

Well Folks,

I finally got the job done The engine was way off time I repaired my timing tools with a clamp and a hammer. I managed to get the two timing tools for the camshaft in a straight line again. Guess what, the exhaust cam was out of time and also the inlet cam. I turned them with a homemade tool see picture. Fixed that and set the crank on TDC again.

At last I had a new chance to set the timing belt right. Although my timing belt tensioner tool was broke too I did the job simply with some wood and a hammer to get the tensioner on the right spot using the broken tensioner tool.

The big moment! Start up the engine and all went well. Nice sound al last :worship: A little bump in the sound made me think. There was a little hose missing from the injection tube to my vacuum, see picture.

Nearly midnight now but very satisfied the engine was running almost perfect I had to do a few minor things tomorrow:
- get the small vacuum hose fixed
- need an adaptor for the crank pully M36 form 3/4" to 1/2" an tighten it with 220 Nm
- renew the AC belt with tensioner
- refit the ventilation tube from the alternator
- refit the inside of the wheel housing
- refit the wheel

Thanks for following this thread and I will illustrate it with the things mentioned above.

Ralph

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

RESPECT :slayer:

 

[Courty89]

Good to see someone willing to put the effort in to repair a Brava instead of scrapping it!

Thats why i have 3 on my drive right now lol

 

[Plbmak]

Hi, could someone tell me please, what size Ribe bit is required for the cam housing bolts?

 

[500pop]

I just read a blog where a guy said to change a belt..
run a razor and cut 1/2 the belt off the long way leaving the inside on
Then slip the new belt on
Then cut the old belt all the way off