maybe, how would I go about checking such a thing?
Also just a random side issue, does anyone know which carb is supposed to be on the panda sergio with 999cc fire engine? I've found loads of sites which talk about weber 32tlf 4/250, mine is weber 32tlf 6/252 what exactly is the difference?
Don't know about the carb I'm afraid but the cam timing is relatively easy to check.
I'll give you the Haynes manual order of procedures, although personally I don't follow it exactly.
1. Remove spark plugs and alternator drive belt. This makes it easier to remove the belt cover and turn the engine over, but I'd be inclined to do neither as you can probably pull the belt cover back far enough to see what you need to with the alternator belt in place, and the engine is not too hard to turn over with the plugs in, it's your choice.
2. Remove the timing belt cover. It's held on by three bolts, the two at the top are easy to spot but the third is low down and sunk into the cover, just above the crankshaft pulley. You need to be able to see the front of the gear on the camshaft, if you can't move the timing belt cover far enough back to do this after removing the three bolts it's best to take it off out of the way completely, it needs a bit of a wriggle though.
3. The engine now needs to be turned to top dead centre no.1 cyl. firing.
To do this follow the plug lead from no.1 cyl. to the distributor cap and make a mental note of where on the cap it connects, the rotor arm should be pointing to this area when the engine has been turned to the correct position. Remove the distributor cap so that you can see the rotor arm, then using a spanner or socket on the bolt in the centre of the crankshaft pulley, turn the engine in a clockwise direction until the rotor arm is roughly pointing to where the no.1 lead was on the dist. cap. Now to get the engine exactly on t.d.c. you will need to look in the inspection hole in the bell housing which is directly below the distribtor. You may have a rectangular rubber plug in the hole which you will need to pull out, but most have been lost by now. Through the hole you should be able to see a section of the flywheel, and at the top of the hole four pointers. Cast into the bell housing above each pointer are the nos. 0 5 10 15, the pointer below the 0 is the t.d.c. marker and should be bigger than the other three. Now look at the flywheel to see a small slot cut into it, the engine needs to be turned until this slot lines up with the t.d.c. pointer. If you can't see the slot straight away, turn the engine back and forth until it comes into view, but if the rotor arm is pointing in the right direction it shouldn't be far away.
4. Ok, so you've got the engine on top dead centre no.1 cyl. firing, now if your cam timing is correct the timing mark on the camshaft pulley should be in line with a mark on the cyl. head. The mark you are looking for is a small line on the front face of the pulley on the edge next to the gear teeth. Looking from the front of the engine the line should be at about the 9 o'clock position. It should be lined up with a small notch cast into the cyl. head about 10mm below the mating face for the cam cover gasket.
If you find it doesn't line up, you've found your problem, if it's ok, you've simply learned some new stuff, which can't be a bad thing but we will have to think again.
If it is wrong let us know and I'll go through the procedure for correcting it. You can also PM me for my phone no. if it helps.
Good luck with it if you decide to go ahead.
