Technical 2009 Panda 1.1 timing belt change.

[koalar]

@puntodeltathema
Did you manage to sort it

 

[puntodeltathema]

Did you manage to sort it

So...I think so...(famous last words)!

I rechecked the timing. You might remember I said my cam lock tool would only go in the "wrong" way up, i.e. 180 degrees out.

What I only realised on rechecking it was that in this position there was a fair bit of "slop" (as the top of the tool wasn't tight up against the top of the slot in the cam) and you could turn the crank some degrees whilst the cam lock was in. The mid point of this play range actually corresponded with the crank timing being slightly off, so I loosened off the cam pulley bolt (leaving the rest of the belt setup alone) and adjusted the timing slightly with a socket on the crank pulley, before retightening the cam pulley. On reassembly the engine ran up fine and the persistent cam-crank correlation error disappeared immediately.

(One tip - if you are attempting to undo the VVT cam pulley with a belt in situ that you want to keep, make sure you find a way to stop the oil from inside the VVT mechanism - that rushes out when you undo the cap - getting on the belt. I taped an "apron" to the bottom of the cam pulley, runing right down past the crank pulley, so the oil in the VVT pulley could run off without contaminating the belt....)

So, world order partially restored though I'm still puzzled why that Sealey cam lock tool didn't fit in the "correct" position in the end of the cam on this particular vehicle (a 2014 Euro 6 1.2 with the metal cam cover). I'm sure I had used it OK on other cars (though all Euro 5 from memory). It was as if the camshaft was set a bit too low in the bearings (or the rim of the cylinder head was a tiny bit higher than it should be. I wonder if Fiat changed the spec of the head very slightly at Euro 6? I've since bought a timing lock set from another manufacturer and it's dimensions are exactly the same (though made out of a soft alloy so I can at least file it down to fit if I need to in future.....!).

I will now be checking all cam lock tools for slop...!

Nick