Hi all

I am looking at a panda 100hp but cant be sure if the cambelt has been changed. So... usual questions...

How often and at what miles should it be changed?

How much would a change cost roughly?

What else should I be looking for, particular issues?

Many thanks

Andy

Fiat say 120,000kms (75,000 miles) or four years. I would say get it done every 50K miles if its doing lots of short journeys but go the full 75 if its doing longer runs. Always change the water pump and tensioner at the same time. While the belts are off, check the alternator bearings for roughness and check the coolant pipe at front of engine which is notable for rusting.


If that sounds bad, the Fiat 1750 and Alfa 1.8 to 2.0 TS engines should be done at 40K miles "no ifs" "no buts". Renault 2.0 is 75K if doing long journeys or 40K if it's doing mostly town driving. Low revs and engine acceleration put a lot more load on the cam belt teeth than constant motorways speeds.

Thanks Dave

Any thoughts on an estimated cost to get it done?

Cheers

Got mine done , belts and water pump £150

DaveMcT said:

Fiat say 120,000kms (75,000 miles) or four years. I would say get it done every 50K miles if its doing lots of short journeys but go the full 75 if its doing longer runs. Always change the water pump and tensioner at the same time. While the belts are off, check the alternator bearings for roughness and check the coolant pipe at front of engine which is notable for rusting.


If that sounds bad, the Fiat 1750 and Alfa 1.8 to 2.0 TS engines should be done at 40K miles "no ifs" "no buts". Renault 2.0 is 75K if doing long journeys or 40K if it's doing mostly town driving. Low revs and engine acceleration put a lot more load on the cam belt teeth than constant motorways speeds.

Click to expand...

Tell me about it I have a 2 litre Twin Spark 155 as well as the 100HP and due to limited mileage I'm changing the belt on it at around 20k miles maybe less. When I changed the 100HP belt I changed the water pump and water transfer pipe seal as well, I got them from the dealers and the seal was more expensive than the water pump (club ricambi price) it's not that difficult a job you just need to give the water pump sealant time to set.

if I was to pay for someone to change a timing belt I would make sure the guarantee their work.


Of the four timing belts I have known to have failed. Three have been shortly after a belt change. Not Fiat by the way.

The other was only a few miles over the recommended replacement which was probably just bad luck as I have gone twice the recommended age and mileage on cars before now.

daiblack said:

Tell me about it I have a 2 litre Twin Spark 155 as well as the 100HP and due to limited mileage I'm changing the belt on it at around 20k miles maybe less. When I changed the 100HP belt I changed the water pump and water transfer pipe seal as well, I got them from the dealers and the seal was more expensive than the water pump (club ricambi price) it's not that difficult a job you just need to give the water pump sealant time to set.

Click to expand...

I bought a Punto Mk2 HGT with duff clutch and no cam belt history but it was cheap and looked ok. What did I do instead of parking it until the cam belt was done?

That little cock-up cost me a set of exhaust valves and one inlet valve plus the cam belt parts with all the hassle and struggle of doing the job under a car port in November.

I've done worse Dave, I had catastrophic oil pressure failure on the twin spark which resulted in many new parts including a block and sump from where number 3 con rod escaped.
It's all good now though.

To be fair I got lucky. The belt failed when I eased up the clutch to move forward in a traffic queue. The extra load needed to accelerate the cams was just too much.

On some engines, the piston/valve impact will crease a crank bearing shell. If left, that bearing will be rattling in a few hundred miles.

I have just received a Gates Cambelt kit to fit to my 2009 1.1.
I tried to remove the top cover to check the state of the fitted belt, I couldn't remove it completely but from what I could see there is no lettering left and the outside of the belt is very shiney so guessing it has never been changed, or if it has ,it was a long time ago.
Just on 48,000 miles now, so decision to change it is good timing!!!!

The state of the auxiliary belt can be a clue. Most would be changed along with the cam belt - not always but commonly. If that belt is cracking across the vee ribs, you can bet the cam belt is cracking across the timing teeth.

It's not damaging to a 1.1 or earlier 1.2 engines but breaking down in traffic can be dangerous. Later 1.2 engines are not safe.

I always thought the 1.4 100hp engine was of the non-interference type?

1.4 16v 100hp Definitely interference there is a current thread about rebuild following belt breaking.

My belts and water pump was changed in 2015 I think. Its done something like 3000 miles since then. I will take a look at it tomorrow to see the condition of the aux belt. Should this be changed as I know the Fiat recommdation is every four years.

My car has been off the road for around a year due to a slight miss-fire. Four new NGK coil packs and spark plugs in and she's back up and running.

A belt that has stood unused is as risky as one that's been over-used. The good news is that you can use the Fuzz Townsend method to swap the belt while keeping the existing tensioner and water pump.

1. Remove the cam belt covers and engine mount.
2. Run the engine and use a heavy builders knife to cut the belt down its centreline. You now have two narrow timing belts
3. Cut the outer 1/2 belt and remove the fragment. The timing is retained by the other half.
4. Carefully slacken the tensioner and slide the new belt 1/2 way onto the pulleys.
5. Cut the other half of the old belt
6. Slide the new belt fully into place.

The new belt is done and timing is correct but you still have the original water pump and belt tensioner.

I might just have it all changed with new belts, water pump and tensioner. What brand would you recommend? Dayco is what's on there at the minute.

DaveMcT said:

A belt that has stood unused is as risky as one that's been over-used. The good news is that you can use the Fuzz Townsend method to swap the belt while keeping the existing tensioner and water pump.

1. Remove the cam belt covers and engine mount.
2. Run the engine and use a heavy builders knife to cut the belt down its centreline. You now have two narrow timing belts
3. Cut the outer 1/2 belt and remove the fragment. The timing is retained by the other half.
4. Carefully slacken the tensioner and slide the new belt 1/2 way onto the pulleys.
5. Cut the other half of the old belt
6. Slide the new belt fully into place.

The new belt is done and timing is correct but you still have the original water pump and belt tensioner.

Click to expand...

The only issue with doing the cam belt this way is that the timing must be correct in the first place.

I did mine today, took 6 hours but this involved drilling and tapping a new hole for a sheared bolt, and also the timing was not correct so spent a lot longer using the cam and crank locking tools to set the engine up, The crank was about 15 deg behind the cam! so who ever changed the belt last didn't lock the cam when they set the tension.
after a bit of checking, double checking and treble checking and questioning myself and searching the internet, where I found this

https://pmmonline.co.uk/technical/belt-replacement-guide-fiat-500/

which gave me the confidence to carry on.
oh, those pin spanners for the tensioner are rubbish in the end I torqued the nut slightly so it gripped then tapped the tensioner round with a parallel punch and hammer to over tighten and set the belt, after 4 crank revs I then used the same method to ease off to the correct setting (a mirror is useful here), a few more turns, bolt everything back together and fingers crossed, the engine started first time and runs smoothly.

I know the 100hp is a bit different, but the principal is the same.