Was cam belt done? 500

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Was cam belt done? 500

Dunxf8

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Thought I had posted this already so apologies if it comes up twice!
We bought a 2015 500S 32,000 yesterday from a dealer. Part of the deal was to have full service, cam belt and valet. The invoice says these were done.
Driving home petrol warning light comes on, we were told that admin fee would include fuel. A little later a ‘ service voucher expired’ notice was displayed followed by the yellow spanner..... not impressed!
I am now concerned whether the cam belt ( they say that water pump was done as well as new front discs) and serve was actually done? How can I tell please?
Many thanks!
 
Hello Dunxf8 and welcome to "our gang".

Can I presume it's a petrol? please confirm which engine. I'm guessing that it must be a petrol as the diesel has a chain I think (I'm not so good on the diesel engine specifics). I'm really "into" the FIRE based engines and if it's one of these then it's really quite easy to take the top cover off and visually inspect the belt. If you do simple maintenance tasks for yourself and have a basic tool kit you should be able to do this yourself, it only involves removing 3 small bolts (one "hides" down a hole on the front face of the cover, often hidden by a sticker - just to fool you! You'll need a 10mm socket on a short extension to get that one) A belt that's been so recently replaced will still have all it's lettering and maker's marks etc looking pristine - you may need to rotate the engine to get the belt to move to a position where you can see this though and you can do this by putting the car in a high gear, so 4th or 5th, and with the handbrake off push or pull the vehicle which will rotate the engine, Of course you must be on a flat surface and with the ignition OFF or the car could run away from you, or, even worse, the engine might start up!

Looking at my 1.2 engined Panda (the 1.4 in my boy's Punto is the same) here's a picture of the bolt that "hides":

P1090449.JPG

You can see the bit of sticker I had to peel away to uncover it. Why don't they just stick it on a bit of the cover so it doesn't hide the bolt head?

This bolt, the one next to the oil dip stick, is the one on the rear of the cylinder head:

P1090450.JPG

And this, the one right in the middle of the picture, is the one on the front of the head. It's quite near the exhaust manifold so, if the engine has been running, watch out you don't burn yourself:

P1090451.JPG

With these three removed and a bit of "wiggling" you should be able to remove the black plastic top belt cover and then look at the belt.
 
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It also occurs to me to ask, was it a Fiat dealer (or Fiat specialist/independent workshop) you bought from? If the car was actually due it's scheduled service then the service indicator can only be reset using a compatible electronic device. Most of us in the Forum, who do our own work, use a PC based program called Multiecuscan - you'll see us refer to it as MES. The service indicator can not, unlike with many other manufacturers, be reset without it (ie you can't do it by pressing the odometer reset button or pressing the clutch to the floor whilst sticking your finger in your ear (joke) etc). It may be that your garage didn't have a piece of "gear" which could do this. This reset procedure is especially important on the diesels and if not done properly can lead on to all sorts of running problems.

Very disappointing they didn't even put some fuel in it for you though. A garage just down the road from the one I worked in used to be bad for this and our pump attendant kept a "score" card for our workshop manager of all the people who either came in running on fumes or came to borrow a can to put a gallon in. Our boss insisted that no sales car left the workshop without the fuel gauge showing around an eighth of a tank with the needle out of the "red".
 
Hi,
Thanks for the replies! Yes its a 1.2 petrol engine. I have spoken to the dealer who isn't a Fiat dealer who assures me its been done and I have asked for a copy of the invoice for the parts used!
 
The resetting of service messages..oil quality.. etc

Is achived by plugging in software..

It is possible they dont have to correct kit for this.. :eek:


When they 'did the cambelt'

Was this a £10 belt.. or the proper KIT due at 5 years in service ?
Yes Charlie, a belt on it's own doesn't really do it for me. Belt plus tensioner at the minimum but preferably with the water pump too.
 
Should be possible to tell if the water pump is new - the metal will look clean and untarnished and there will be fresh sealant between it and the engine block.

Here's a photo of where to look

View attachment 213486
You set me to thinking with this recommendation as to how easy it is to see the pump flange with the engine in the car. so I just went out - in the rain (oh the sacrifices I make) - popped Becky's bonnet open and had a look. Jeronimo! very easy to see both the front edge of the pump and the bead of sealant.

I've just looked up her record book and I did the belt - full kit fitted - in May 2018. The pump is still, today, quite new looking but there are a few blemishes when you look closely on the aluminium surface which are probably due to road salt. On the other hand this car only runs around very locally (done about 2.000 miles since fitted) so a car used more regularly could be expected to display more signs of "age" on the metal surface of the pump, especially as this is the front of the engine so will get anything coming in through the grill. Also the surface of the sealant is now matt whereas it was shiny when applied.

So, Pickwick, I like your idea a lot. It's much quicker and easier to do this purely visual check with nothing to physically dismantle and I think probably it would be reasonable to assume that if the pump looks new then the belt and tensioner will probably have been changed too, especially in this instance. Why would they have put a new pump on it and not done the belt and tensioner - wouldn't make sense would it?

PS Ha Ha George!
 
Hi Guys,
Thank you so much for the replies! I have had a look at the pump and I am pretty sure I can see an bright aluminium flange with some black sealant round it, so it looks like its been done.
The pic was really helpful, thank you.
Its a lovely little car and I was maybe getting unnecessarily worried! Still have to go back and get the light reset. I still have no idea what the 'voucher service expired' means, can't find anything in the book.
Again thank you all! I am sure I will be back.
 
Hi Guys,
Thank you so much for the replies! I have had a look at the pump and I am pretty sure I can see an bright aluminium flange with some black sealant round it, so it looks like its been done.
The pic was really helpful, thank you.
Its a lovely little car and I was maybe getting unnecessarily worried! Still have to go back and get the light reset. I still have no idea what the 'voucher service expired' means, can't find anything in the book.
Again thank you all! I am sure I will be back.
Looking good then? One of the really good things about this engine is that it's been around for so long now, and even used in other manufacturer's vehicles - notably Ford - that a lot of mechanics will be very familiar with it.

I've just been "browsing" through the MES menu for service functions and I'm puzzling over the "voucher service expired" thing. I think this may relate to the service coupon count which, apparently, starts off at 9 and reduces each time a service reset is carried out. Maybe your's has reached 0 but that doesn't make sense on a 2015 vehicle does it? The yellow spanner doesn't really "compute" either if this is what's causing it. Looks like it can be easily reinstated by using MES to increase the voucher number? In fact if only i could plug my MES into it I'm sure all would be revealed! I haven't run into this one yet with either the Panda or Punto so I'm not sure. Anyone else able to enlighten us?

Do let us know how you get on with your 500 and, above all, just enjoy.
 
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