Dear All,

This is my first time here. Reading around the postings gives me much pleasure and would like to thank all those helping us continue to love these beautiful little cars. This forum is a great place to be, keep it up

I have several problems most of which have been addressed in previous discussions and I will use the advise there.

I have been trying to download the unomanual.pdf file without success. Can some one kindly email it to me?

Most importantly is that last week my uno stopped while i was driving! Firts thought it was fuel as i had been driving to the petrol station. Rolled to the side of the road and walked to the station, filled up some 10 litres, but alas the uno could not start. I noticed it was not pumping fuel so i though it was the fuel pump! I was towed home and later found the timing belt was broken.

1. I will call in a friend who is a mechanic to help with fixing this problem at home. What do we need to bye besides the timing belt?

2. What other damage may have been caused, that we need to deal with, valves, pistons ? The car is a carburetor type.

3. Otherwise it has been running fine. Will do a few tuning things as you guys have been discussing here

Help is greatly appreciated.

Uno

1.4, thats a NON fire engine i think Am i right in saying its a 70SX (5door) unless you have a turbo.

You should just need to buy a new timing belt. I know on the FIRE engines, they are non contact so the valves and pistons never make contact in the event of a broken timing belt, so you can just put a new one on and be away

Hello Uno (what a cool name, wonder why no-one had it before!)

I'm sorry to say that I believe you will have suffered some bent valves when the cambelt broke. But, if you can do some of the work yourself, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get the 1372cc running again fairly quickly. Look for spare valves (or a complete cylinder head) off a Tipo 1.4. I think the valves are a different size to the Uno 1301cc head, but if they are the same, there's no reason why you can't mix and match (and adjust the clearances).

It will be a good excuse to clean up the head, lap in the valves, replace the head gasket, valve stem seals, etc. You will need the head gasket set, which should be somewhere around £20-£30. You will also need a valve spring compressor, and probably the special tool for depressing the tappets. Allow plenty of time for adjusting the valves after refitting the head to the engine.

Let us know what you decide to do and how you go with it...

-Alex

Hi Uno

Welcome to the forum!

Thanks for the kind words! Much appreciated. Sorry I haven’t had any experience with the Non-FIRE 1400 so can offer little help.

luke1985 said:

1.4, thats a NON fire engine i think Am i right in saying its a 70SX (5door) unless you have a turbo.

Click to expand...

LOL Luke the 1400 was available in 3 door even with SX trim.

Regards All,

Thanks guys for all the help.

Its been two weeks now and I have what sounds like a new engine. Took it into a friendly garage and the guys advised replacing two valves and their guides. The engine head was also machined and every thing looks and feels new. I have noticed improvment in power and engine sounds quieter then before.

I need to make more improvments on this. Does anyboday have a picture of where to find the lambda sensor on this 1372cc egine? I have read so much a bout it and I would like to take a look, may be replace it or clean it.

cheers

Hello there. I'm glad to hear that you got the Uno back on the road. Most would have scrapped it.

If you have a look on eBay for a Haynes manual that should help you.

Hi Uno,

Good news that you are back on the road!

I have no pictures of the 1400 block. Presuming you have the injection model, but the Lambada sensor is fixed onto the exhaust pipe, probably on the down pipe.

Its not worth removing to clean as its very delicate, and your likely to do more harm then good. If your any good with electronics, there is a method for building a lambada sensor tester here:-
https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?t=28442

Kind Regards,

Took it into a friendly garage and the guys advised replacing two valves and their guides

Click to expand...

I thought the Fiat FIRE engines were non-interfering?

Apparently the 1400 or (1372cc) engine is not safe. Its such a good powerful engine that it feels bad that the timing belt can ruin it. Apart from replacing the belt as required is there a way of telling that it is about to snap? Some electronic sensor of some sort would help!

The 1.4 isn't a FIRE engine. Unfortunately all you can do is replace the belt and tensioner at the interval or more frequently.

uno said:

Some electronic sensor of some sort would help!

Click to expand...

on an uno? wish on........

uno said:

Apparently the 1400 or (1372cc) engine is not safe. Its such a good powerful engine that it feels bad that the timing belt can ruin it. Apart from replacing the belt as required is there a way of telling that it is about to snap? Some electronic sensor of some sort would help!

Click to expand...

A timing belt will snap only for a few reasons. And it would be impossible to make a sensor which will warn that it is about to go. As far as I'm aware no car has ever had a sensor that detects that the belt is about to snap.

The reasons a belt will fail are:

If it is old - perished/ worn rubber.

If it has been run without the cam cover - allows dirt/ grit to get into the teeth hence premature wear.

If it has become contaminated with oil - oil will rot the rubber and weaken it.

To prevent a belt snapping, do the following:

ALWAYS change the belt at the recommended mileage/ age interval.

ALWAYS have the plastic belt cover fitted.

And make sure there are no oil leaks coming from the side of the engine where the belt runs. You don't want the belt to get contaminated with oil.

Also make sure that the cooling system/ water pump are in good order. On the FIRE engine the water pump runs off the cambelt. If the water pump starts to seize then it puts extra strain on the belt leading to stripped teeth and/ or snapping.

Basically, service your Uno correctly, keep the engine clean where the belt runs and check the water pump isn't stiff. That way you shouldn't have any problems with a snapped belt.

Preventative maintenance is the key here!

Great - Glad I know this now. I was actually looking around for a 1.4 Uno 'cos it would be better on the motorway, but I'm not sure I'd want one now.