Technical Cam Belt Question

[samuelbrr]

Hello,

I bought an R reg fiat Brava 1.4 a few days ago (first car in all) and I don't have a service history on the car, now my question is the car has done 76000 miles and I am not sure when the cam belt has been changed.

How much does it normally cost to have it checked and changed?

Cheers
-Samuel

 

[dave]

welcome to the forum

i would think its just under £100 to have a new belt and tenshioner fitted, but the bravo/a guys n girls will be on later to correct me if i am wrong.

 

[Helz]

It does of course depend where you go. Take it to Fiat and you'll pay a lot more, take it to a local garage you trust and I think £100 is about right.

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum .

 

[samuelbrr]

Hey,

Thanks for the answers so far, maybe try one of those nationwideautocentres.co.uk, got one just down the road. Infact the car is there now getting a new starter motor for £160 .

I don't know the service history for the car so I suppose getting the cambelt and tensioners is a kind of must do.

Will let you everyone know tommorrow how much it costs.

Cheers
-Samuel

 

[dave]

ask around local mates to recomend some garages, then ring around to get best price

 

[samuelbrr]

Hello,

Well the car is in getting a new starter motor £160.00 and a new cambelt and tensioners for £180.00. This is probably a bit over what a private garage would cost but I bought the car three/four days ago and you know what its like having your first car, if something goes wrong you just want it fixed.

Got stranded three times trying to get it to the garage, yes I stalled it three times and couldn't get it started again due to the starter motor draining all the power from the battery meaning the car wouldn't even turn over, each time had to get the AA out

Hopefully with the new starter motor and cambelt and tensioners I can get the pleasure of a nice drive with my new Brava.

No sure if the previous owners looked after the poor wee thing but I am sure I will

Cheers
-Samuel

 

[dave]

Got stranded three times trying to get it to the garage, yes I stalled it three times and couldn't get it started again due to the starter motor draining all the power from the battery meaning the car wouldn't even turn over, each time had to get the AA out


Cheers
-Samuel

did the AA man test the battery?

 

[samuelbrr]

Hello,

Yeah he had about 5 different meters out including laptop taking all the reading from the battery as well as various parts of the car and the battery was fine, he also tested to make sure nothing else was draining the battery.

When he started the car he heard a noise and instantly said the starter motor was having trouble and that it was draining all the power from the battery.

Cheers
-Samuel

 

[Thrisey]

Hi and welcome to the world of Italia

That's a bit shady, Didn't AA man follow you to garage, they use to just to make sure the member got there ok. my things are changing!
I can remember when they use to salute you when they passed you if you had an AA badge on your car.........
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No not really, come on I not that old, but apparantly thats true.

 

[JonnyBoy]

£340 on repairs and you've only just bought the car.. yep, welcome to the exciting world of Fiat ownership!

The AA are no use at fixing cars, I've got AA cover but I've only used it once for a free tow when my gearbox broke they wanted to tow me to the Fiat dealer in Sheffield for a new one which would've cost about 500 quid, but I insited that they tow home to Donny so I could replace it myself using a box from a scrap car.

 

[Helz]

Did you buy the car from a garage? If so they should really be forking out for repairs not you . The cambelt is usually changed between 36 and 72k miles (usually in between) so if you don't know if it's been done it's a must really as I think I'm right in saying the 1.4 isn't a safe engine and if it goes that's your car dead .

 

[arseofbox]

I think I'm right in saying the 1.4 isn't a safe engine and if it goes that's your car dead .

Well...dunno about the design of the 1398cc, but if the top and bottom metal bits meet and it all goes pop, its certainly not totally dead...

The likelyhood is that a valve stem (or more) may have bent as it smashed into the piston. Its not expensive in parts (a new valve is ~ £15 a pop), but it involves much more work that a timing belt snap or loss of timing alignment on a safe engine would:

eg:

Safe Engine (Non Interference design)

1. Get old belt off
2. Line marks up
3. Put new belt on, check
4. Drive off

Unsafe Engine (Interference design)

1. Get old belt off
2. Dismantle head if necessary to survey for damage (1h for a pro)
3. Replace any broken bits (2+ hrs)
4. Put head back on
5. Line marks up
6. Put new belt on, check
7. Drive off

 

[samuelbrr]

Hello,

Here is the latest:

https://www.fiatforum.com/showthread.php?t=24192

 

[Helz]

Ta Tom, was wondering about all that earlier as my knowledge is a little sketchy. What I was really wondering was what actually makes the difference between the two types of engine? You do know you're a star don't you

 

[arseofbox]

What I was really wondering was what actually makes the difference between the two types of engine?

Interference design (eg:Renault Clio 1200cc of note)
-------------------

At TDC (Top Dead Centre - the highest the piston can travel upwards), with one or both valves in a cylinder open at their maximum travel, there is no clearance between the piston top and the valve base.

In short, if the cam belt snaps, and the piston moves to TDC, and a valve is open, the two will meet, and something has to fail (usually the valve stem or a pushrod (in an OHV engine) to dissipate the energy of the collision.

Non interference design (eg:Fiat 1108cc FIRE)
-----------------------

At TDC and with a valve open, there is a clearance (however small) between the piston top and valve base, so the two cannot collide if the timing becomes misaligned, hence its safe, no amount of hamfistery can kill it!

Sounds a bit complex I know, but heres a sideways american look on proceedings http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/2000/May/09.html

 

[Helz]

Cheers Tom, always handy to know these things