General Bravo 1.6 Cambelt - Engine

[godzilla252]

Hi, Im pretty new here so no sure if anyone has asked this before but does anyone know if the 1.6 16v engine in the Bravo is an interference engine?

.....Basically if the Cam belt was to snap will i likely end up with bent valves or is it like the FIRE engine where you just slap on a new belt and keep going?

also, how often are you supposed to change the belt on these engines? my cars done 62k on the original belt (I think?)..... time for a change maybe?

 

[Hellcat]

Oh yes, all 16 valves are at risk if the belt goes. The largest 'safe' engine is the 1.2 8v found on the puntos.

Regardless of your car's mileage, it must be over 5/6 years old now, so get it changed ASAP as the rubber perishes with time as well as through usage.

 

[NumanR]

Nope its damage all the way when this cam belt goes unfortunately, revised fiat service period is 60k miles or 5 years.

 

[godzilla252]

If thats the case does anyone know any garages in west yorkshire that will do a decent job on a new belt and not charge thousands for doing it?

Im stressing over it because i had a belt changed by a local garage on a 1.4 tipo i use to have and 3 days later it snapped killing the engine! Dont want that happening again

 

[Hellcat]

If thats the case does anyone know any garages in west yorkshire that will do a decent job on a new belt and not charge thousands for doing it?

Im stressing over it because i had a belt changed by a local garage on a 1.4 tipo i use to have and 3 days later it snapped killing the engine! Dont want that happening again

Surely they paid up for repairs though?

Where in West Yorkshire are you? Some of the better garages might be a bit of a trek..

 

[godzilla252]

Im in bradford ..... the only place i know thats good (but VERY expensive) is Betacar in keighley.

They did the repairs on the Tipo for free but I had to bring it back 3 times as they could never get the "new" valves to sit right apparently. Finally I gave up and sold the car as it was! Shame really, it was a good looking 1995 3 door model, nice car!

 

[Hellcat]

How much do they want at Betacar? Elsewhere I got all the belts changed on my tipo (more complex) for £200. The water pump would have been an extra £30-40 but it had been replaced just prior to me buying the car.

 

[godzilla252]

When i phoned them the guy said i was looking at about £250 labour fees + parts, just for changing the cambelt.

Is your Tipo like the Coupe where they have to take the engine out or tilt it to get to the belt? .... surley they wouldn't have to do that with my Bravo? There seems to be plenty space there to get to it!

 

[Hellcat]

No its not as bad as that, but its got balancer shafts to work around too.

Your Bravo should be a doddle. How much would a Fiat garage want for the job? I would phone back and suggest that for £250 you would want the water pump changing too.

 

[godzilla252]

yeah I think I'm best go down in person and speak to them about it because I didnt think it was an over complicated job for them to do! ....maybe i Just cought the guy on a bad day!

There isnt really a Fiat dealership left in bradford, the closest (i know of) is in Leeds and I cant go there because i use to be a salesman there and left on erm..... well.... not very good terms

 

[jug]

i wish i knew where you people get quotes from, i just got a quote of 40quid to change the belt, although that was just labour, from my local garage (P.A.T.S. in horden if ur wondering). i wouldn't advise anyone to let a garage fit a cheap trade belt, and they will if you let them, buy a belt from fiat, they dont cost much, then get it fitted at a small backstreet garage. it takes less than an hour to do so they cant charge the earth. even better change it yourself, its really easy if you've got a haynes manual, just lock the cam&crank, slip off old belt, slip on new belt, done. only prob with bravos is that there's no timing marks on anything, and i mean anything, so its a pig of a job if the belt snaps, or if you dont lock up properly before you remove the old belt. even at a garage the most you should expect to pay is 65quid all together, any more and you should seriously ask yourself why? its a while you wait piece of pess job.

 

[pete_h]

i wish i knew where you people get quotes from, i just got a quote of 40quid to change the belt, although that was just labour, from my local garage (P.A.T.S. in horden if ur wondering). i wouldn't advise anyone to let a garage fit a cheap trade belt, and they will if you let them, buy a belt from fiat, they dont cost much, then get it fitted at a small backstreet garage. it takes less than an hour to do so they cant charge the earth. even better change it yourself, its really easy if you've got a haynes manual, just lock the cam&crank, slip off old belt, slip on new belt, done. only prob with bravos is that there's no timing marks on anything, and i mean anything, so its a pig of a job if the belt snaps, or if you dont lock up properly before you remove the old belt. even at a garage the most you should expect to pay is 65quid all together, any more and you should seriously ask yourself why? its a while you wait piece of pess job.

it sounds like you havent changed the tensioner, these can cause a breakage just like a worn belt can, sounds like youve only dealt with half the (potential) problem!

 

[jug]

a tensioner usually comes in the box with the belt kit, thats another advantage of buying parts yourself. you'd have to be a bit daft to go to all the trouble of changing the belt and not the tensioner, although i've never seen or heard of a tensioner that had stopped working on any car in my life, still its better safe than sorry, i'd agree always change the tensioner at the same time as the belt.

 

[Hellcat]

a tensioner usually comes in the box with the belt kit, thats another advantage of buying parts yourself. you'd have to be a bit daft to go to all the trouble of changing the belt and not the tensioner, although i've never seen or heard of a tensioner that had stopped working on any car in my life, still its better safe than sorry, i'd agree always change the tensioner at the same time as the belt.

Pop down to motormech in birmingham, they have been rebuilding an alfa 156 2.5 v6 which had its belt changed but not its tensioner... £1500 rebuild for the sake of a £20 tensioner

 

[godzilla252]

On my tipo at my local (totally cr*p) garage, when they did the belt they didn't change the tensioner, and the belt snapped! - not sure if its got anything to do with it but thats why i'd like someone who knows Fiats to do it on the bravo.

I do most of the other work needed on my car myself but not the cam belt because if its a tooth out or not tight enough its bad news! - at least if a garage does it and it does break soon after, you got someone to blame.

I've still not got round to having it done yet coz ive got the MOT in 2 weeks, i'll see if i can get it done at the same time!

 

[sammiboo]

motor-mech is your best bet as Hellcat has said. He went all the way from Harltepool to get it done.

I am getting my 1.6 done there and I live in rochdale.

 

[godzilla252]

how much did they quote you?

 

[sammiboo]

not sure now. I had the quote on the coupe forum (fccuk) but their server went down and i lost all my pms. but i was happy with what they quoted me.

Why dont you call them and find out. If you can get a service and MOT done at the same time would save you some money too

http://www.motor-mech.co.uk

 

[godzilla252]

Nice one mate! if their any cheaper then betacar i'll go there!

I wish we had some more places like this up north! It seems all the italian car specialists are miles away! :bang:

 

[sammiboo]

there is also woodcock garage in hull. I used them for my manifold replacement on the coupe.

Also powerfiat are due to be opening in yorkshire at some point.