Hello fellow Fiat fans! Historic occasion this! My very first post on a forum ever! It may - or it may not - interest you to know a wee bit about me? My Dad woke my interest in all things mechanical when he gave me a little meths fueled steam engine back in the 1950's. I went on to train as a mechanic and earned my living as such until the 80's when I went off and did something totally different! I have never lost the passion for mechanical things with IC engines and to this day I maintain and repair the "family fleet" of six cars, garden machinery, the occasional older motor bike, and other "stuff". Over the years though there has been a steady thread of involvement with Fiat cars. A 500 and 128 in the 60's - the 128 was probably the first cambelt I ever changed and I remember thinking what a daft idea and expecting them not to catch on! Now I would much rather have a belt than a chain. But not a "wet" belt like the Ford ones. Then there was my friend's Mirafiore, Daughter's 750 panda on which she learned to drive and 999cc Panda Parade which my youngest boy learned on. She ,Felicity, moved on to a new owner last year. We had owned her for around 20 years and I did think about a ground up restoration but in the end came to the realisation that my body just isn't up to it any more. We were very sad to see her go. Now thinking about a 2009/2010 Panda dynamic eco as her replacement.
Now to the present. My first query concerns a 2014 1.4 8 valve Punto with about 45000 miles on it. The car belongs to my oldest boy and is in lovely nick but, at this age, I think it's slightly overdue a cambelt although water pump and idler are nice and quiet at this time. The belt change looks very similar to the Pandas with the exception of the camshaft pulley. I'm of the opinion this is a variable type? If so it'll be the first I've done. The Haynes manual recommends loosening the Torx bolt and letting the pulley spin free when fitting the belt (after all engine locking tools have been installed of course) after many years of working on vehicles I subscribe strongly to the opinion that sleeping dogs should be let to lie! And, if it ain't broke don't fix it! So I'm very tempted to see if, initially, the timing can be lined up without slackening this bolt. I've found this to work on other engines. If it does line up, because the belt is so accurately made as to be identical to the one it's replacing, then a phonic wheel relearn may not be needed? Anyone have an opinion? I ask because I've never done a phonic wheel relearn. (Nice word Phonic though! Reminds me of the rear suspension arms on Daf cars which, who knows why, were called Oscillating Arms?)
My second query concerns Multiecuscan. Problems with previous Fiats have been solvable with a multimeter and educated guesses! Now though the new Punto and Panda eco, if/when we buy one, really needs MES. Problem is I'm not good, for which read grossly incompetent, where computers are concerned. I have VAG COM (VCDS) but it came, from Derek at Ilexa, on a disc which was simplicity itself to load and it updates with one click! The Multiecuscan instructions talk about latency settings and much more - all Greek to me - so how hard is it to download and set it up to use (I'm probably going to buy the single computer option from Gendan with all those pretty multicoloured leads and plugs!) So again can I invite guidance from anyone who's used Multiecuscan?
Hey, this has been some first post! I'm going to shut up now and hang about to see what help and comments you guys & gals? can offer me.
Now to the present. My first query concerns a 2014 1.4 8 valve Punto with about 45000 miles on it. The car belongs to my oldest boy and is in lovely nick but, at this age, I think it's slightly overdue a cambelt although water pump and idler are nice and quiet at this time. The belt change looks very similar to the Pandas with the exception of the camshaft pulley. I'm of the opinion this is a variable type? If so it'll be the first I've done. The Haynes manual recommends loosening the Torx bolt and letting the pulley spin free when fitting the belt (after all engine locking tools have been installed of course) after many years of working on vehicles I subscribe strongly to the opinion that sleeping dogs should be let to lie! And, if it ain't broke don't fix it! So I'm very tempted to see if, initially, the timing can be lined up without slackening this bolt. I've found this to work on other engines. If it does line up, because the belt is so accurately made as to be identical to the one it's replacing, then a phonic wheel relearn may not be needed? Anyone have an opinion? I ask because I've never done a phonic wheel relearn. (Nice word Phonic though! Reminds me of the rear suspension arms on Daf cars which, who knows why, were called Oscillating Arms?)
My second query concerns Multiecuscan. Problems with previous Fiats have been solvable with a multimeter and educated guesses! Now though the new Punto and Panda eco, if/when we buy one, really needs MES. Problem is I'm not good, for which read grossly incompetent, where computers are concerned. I have VAG COM (VCDS) but it came, from Derek at Ilexa, on a disc which was simplicity itself to load and it updates with one click! The Multiecuscan instructions talk about latency settings and much more - all Greek to me - so how hard is it to download and set it up to use (I'm probably going to buy the single computer option from Gendan with all those pretty multicoloured leads and plugs!) So again can I invite guidance from anyone who's used Multiecuscan?
Hey, this has been some first post! I'm going to shut up now and hang about to see what help and comments you guys & gals? can offer me.
