car fiat panda 1.2

I am now really stuck and don't know what to do

so far the slave cylinder has been done
a new clutch has been fitted

I have a few issues now and really :bang: after the clutch has been fitted the car will not start I have been told there is an earth wire been missed but I have had another guy look at the car and he has said he thinks that the timing belt has been snapped and also valves bent & said this can happen if the clutch is done wrong can anyone confirm this ?

another issue is the car when off will not always go into all the gears I am thinking that there is a problem with one of the gear selectors ? but the biggest problem seems to be this about the belt and valves

anyhelp would be great this has been going on for a month but I am now faced with the big isssues

so was the clutch done at the same time as waterpump and timing belt change?

An accurate time line of what was done when and when other faults appeared would be useful.

Robert G8RPI.

waterpump has not been changed the slave cylinder got changed then the clutch got changed now the car wont start and the other guy who I got to look at seems to think the timing belt has been broken and valves have been bent due to the clutch being fitted ? the car will also not go into all the gears when its off but I don't know if that is anything to do with gear selector

g8rpi said:

An accurate time line of what was done when and when other faults appeared would be useful.

Robert G8RPI.

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night car broke down lost speed and popped out of gear would not go back in gear with engine running but would go into all gear when engine was off

someone with mechanic experience told me that slave cylinder needed replaced so that was done this did not fix the problem

car would still go into all gears when off

guy then told me needed new clutch so this was done

now the clutch has been fitted car will not start when engine off car will not always go into gear ie sometimes go into all then only some then none !

now another guy has told me theres an earth wire not been connected somewhere and that he thinks that timing belt and valves have been bent due to the way the clutch has been fitted ? he also cant tell me why car wont go into gear only thing I can think is there is something wrong with gear selector also a bracket on gear selector has a bolt missing so its very loose

Hi,year & engine info required but if it's a 1.2 8v fire engine if the belt is snapped the valves wont be bent & no engine damage as is a non interference engine.

inki said:

Hi,year & engine info required but if it's a 1.2 8v fire engine if the belt is snapped the valves wont be bent & no engine damage as is a non interference engine.

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hi it is a 1.2 8v would fitting the clutch cause damage to the belt ?

Marc7 said:

night car broke down lost speed and popped out of gear would not go back in gear with engine running but would go into all gear when engine was off

someone with mechanic experience told me that slave cylinder needed replaced so that was done this did not fix the problem

car would still go into all gears when off

guy then told me needed new clutch so this was done

now the clutch has been fitted car will not start when engine off car will not always go into gear ie sometimes go into all then only some then none !

now another guy has told me theres an earth wire not been connected somewhere and that he thinks that timing belt and valves have been bent due to the way the clutch has been fitted ? he also cant tell me why car wont go into gear only thing I can think is there is something wrong with gear selector also a bracket on gear selector has a bolt missing so its very loose

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So who are these guys, a garage, a friend? did you pay them for the work? If it would not start immediately after the clutch was changed then whoever changed the clutch should fix it. Changing a clutch should not normally involve the tming belt. I don't understand why you appear to have gone to a number of different "guys" for advice / work. What does the guy/garage that fitted the clutch say?

Robert G8RPI.

g8rpi said:

So who are these guys, a garage, a friend? did you pay them for the work? If it would not start immediately after the clutch was changed then whoever changed the clutch should fix it. Changing a clutch should not normally involve the tming belt. I don't understand why you appear to have gone to a number of different "guys" for advice / work. What does the guy/garage that fitted the clutch say?

Robert G8RPI.

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hi the guys are local the first guy who fitted the clutch does not work in a garage but has mechanical knowledge but does not know what is going on now so I got the second local guy who works in a garage and he said he thinks timing belt and valves have been damaged due to the way the clutch has been fitted but I don't understand why this would be the case and he is saying its looking over £300 to fix it ?

I can only think of one earth cable you could check,follow the black cable from the battery - to the gearbox housing,check it's tight.

inki said:

I can only think of one earth cable you could check,follow the black cable from the battery - to the gearbox housing,check it's tight.

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I will have a look at this tomorrow.

do you have any idea what this other guy is talking about the timing belt I don't know how fitiing a clutch could damage timing belt also its an 8v so as someone else had said it would not do damage to engine

I would of thought that the clutch would slip before the belt would snap,you could remove the cambelt cover to view the belt.

inki said:

I would of thought that the clutch would slip before the belt would snap,you could remove the cambelt cover to view the belt.

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its the second guy who I got to look at my car he is saying the way the clutch has been done has snapped the belt and will have bent all the valves but the belt has not been checked yet I am going to check this myself !

also the car is an 8v so as someone rightly said if its 8v then there will be no damage to the engine

Marc7 said:

its the second guy who I got to look at my car he is saying the way the clutch has been done has snapped the belt and will have bent all the valves but the belt has not been checked yet I am going to check this myself !

also the car is an 8v so as someone rightly said if its 8v then there will be no damage to the engine

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As someone has already asked - what year is your car. The 1.2 has two variants and only the 2010+ Euro V spec engine could cause valve damage if the belt was snapped. He may have dislodged the crank sensor though and that would stop the car starting.


In any event, changing the clutch is unlikely to have done this.


I think you need more skilled mechanics........ones who can properly diagnose by running basic logic tests:


1. Is the starter motor turning?


2. If yes, does the car attempt to fire?


3. Is there fuel?


4. Is there a spark?


5. Are there any dash warning lights?

AB100 said:

As someone has already asked - what year is your car. The 1.2 has two variants and only the 2010+ Euro V spec engine could cause valve damage if the belt was snapped. He may have dislodged the crank sensor though and that would stop the car starting.


In any event, changing the clutch is unlikely to have done this.


I think you need more skilled mechanics........ones who can properly diagnose by running basic logic tests:


1. Is the starter motor turning?


2. If yes, does the car attempt to fire?


3. Is there fuel?


4. Is there a spark?


5. Are there any dash warning lights?

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hi thanks for the reply I am going back to look at the car today I am going to check the belt myself my car is a fiat panda 1.2 57 plate 8 v so I don't think even if the belt is damaged that this causes any damage to engine or valves


there is an earth wire not connected somewhere so that will also cause the car not to start
there is fuel there is no dash warning lights

I've seen a "guy" installing a clutch set the wrong way around on my Brava JTD.
It was impossible to select gears idling but with engine off no problem.
His boss installed a new slave (and probably master) cilinder and broke some interiorpieces in the proces.
Eventually it got all sorted after reinstalling the clutch as it should be.

Needless to say that they have never touched any other car off me afterwards.

However damaging the timing belt sounds farfetched.

Still not sure if the startermotor works and the engine won't come to life or the starter makes no sound.

Stick to the one guy that created the mess and let him solve it.

gr J