Good day all,
im new here, i have just had my car towed to the garage and they say my cambelt has snapped.
I have always had dealer services, currently have 120 000kms on the clock.

My question is, do you know if this is a safe engine and possibly if the belt snapping didnt cause further damage?

Also anyone know the cost involved with fixing this?

Is it a big thing to replace myself, if i could find the manual online

your best and cheapest option will be to fit a used engine from a vehicle dismantler.


It is not a safe engine.


The pistons are like to have been damaged when they hit the valves. So its not just a case of replacing the damaged cylinder head.


You can try just a replacement head but if it doesn't work out you will then have to pay for a complete engine change as well as cost of replacing the head which didn't work.


sorry you have had bad luck.

Thats not good !!!!!! If its always been serviced by Fiat Dealers, and to the book, may be worth giving them a bit of a 'talking to'........may help, may not.
Good Luck.
Qube O.

It turns out they replaced the cambelt and then tried to start the car and found no compression.
The next step they dismantled the head to check, they said they sent the head to engineers to inspect and then they replaced the gaskets, re seat valves and labour.

Went to test drive it yesterday and the engine light came on, now they tell me the lamda sensor and exhaust manifold need replacing to make the engine light go away.

Baffles me, we told them every service something wrong with exhaust/consumption, smells of petrol all the time. Funny they only find problems when warranty is up.

what causes the lamda sensor to fault?

When the cambelt broke, it is possible that unburnt fuel passed through, and if it exploded or burnt in the catalyst it could have destroyed the catalyst and the lambda sensor. I think the catalyst is built into the manifold, which is why they say needs replacing.

Lambda could alternatively have been hit with debris from engine failure. In which case only lambda is needed, unless debris is stuck in the catalyst and preventing it from working properly.

How long ago did they replace the cambelt as part of the servicing routine? And why has its life been too short? They need to answer those questions.
If they have not replaced the cambelt at the due time, and it has failed because of this, they will need to explain why this was not done. There could be some liability on their part.
Bottom line, they need to explain why the belt failed.

Hi Portland_bill, thanks for the feedback.
They never replaced the cambelt before, it went to the dealers for every single service up to this point, they say they inspected everytime and it was fine.
They said they fixed the crack in the manifold and changed the sensor and the light has gone off now.
They also said they had to change the thermostat, water pump.
The report they say they got from the engineers, says there was no leaks on hot pressure test, and the head surface was still in factory spec.
They said 4 exhaust and 4 inlet valves were bent and that new valve stem seals were required.

I'm surprised that the cambelt has not been replaced by 120,000kms. Most of the petrol engines have a specified distance or time interval for replacement, and this is part of the servicing regime.
I think you should check the handbook, read the servicing section thoroughly to see when cambelt should be changed. If it is not listed, contact Fiat for their recommendation, and ask if the dealers are aware of that recommendation as it is not in the handbook.
If it was due to be changed before the failure, then the garage have a responsibility to make good the damage caused, unless they can prove they suggested it and you said no.
If the failure was before the recommended time, ask Fiat for a contribution to the repair costs, as their recommendation is apparently too late.