Technical Do I need to change timing belt for my Panda?

[beyond818]

Hi Everyone,

I am new here as just bought a 2nd hand Fiat Panda. The car was looked after very well. Although it is 04 reg, only done 20k miles and with full service every year. I read the handbook, the timing belt is needed to be replaced either 100k or 5 years. But as the car is still very new, do I really need to replace timing belt at this milages?

Any advices?

Thanks

Shuo:slayer:

 

[Andy Monty]

yes you should have it done the belt will get hard with age lack of use can also be as bad as too much use


if its a 1.2 or 1.4 8v the engine is a "safe" unit meaning there is no valve/ piston overlap so if the belt goes ping there is no real risk to the engine, however you will loose the engine which is not what you want on a motorway in rush hour

 

[306maxi]

Short answer, yes, long answer definitely yes.

 

[JD82]

On the plus side its a cheap job on the Panda, I've seen offers from dealers for £150, less than the cost of a main dealer service

However a good indie might be able to do it a lot cheaper.

 

[philr1981]

yes you should have it done the belt will get hard with age lack of use can also be as bad as too much use


if its a 1.2 or 1.4 8v the engine is a "safe" unit meaning there is no valve/ piston overlap so if the belt goes ping there is no real risk to the engine, however you will loose the engine which is not what you want on a motorway in rush hour

is the 1.1 a safe engine also?

 

[Nathan126]

I also thought the 1.1 was a safe engine, always spoken about in the cento section.

 

[beau]

i see 10 year old/70k puntos/seicentos on original belts and still going fine, id say 8 years/50k or 5 years/70k interval will be fine on a safe engine- after all, the interval for the mk1 punto 16v is 8 years/72k (id say thats more risky seeing as its not a safe engine though!)

 

[dave]

i see 10 year old/70k puntos/seicentos on original belts and still going fine,

how you know they on original belts

 

[beau]

how you know they on original belts

cos i know they are by what they look like, im not stupid, i see my self as mr cambelt specialist lol and the owners confirm to me anyway.

i changed the cambelt on a brava 1.6 about 6 months ago, W-reg with 79k, original belt, i would of never left it this long, but it did last that long.

i got a punto gt engine here too, 1998 with 50k, original belt still.

 

[dave]

how do the owners know? if i brought a 10 yearold car to you that had the belt changed 4 years ago and i didnt tell you or have it stamped in a service book how would you know?

 

[beau]

how do the owners know? if i brought a 10 yearold car to you that had the belt changed 4 years ago and i didnt tell you or have it stamped in a service book how would you know?

these people have all had them from new, im not talking about just any customers, customers who have been going to my garage before i was even born


and to be fair, i would know anyway, its not hard to work out, belts which are like 50k/5 years old look pretty new.

i done the first cambelt on a fiesta last month, it was a 1993 1.6 model with 60,000 on it.

 

[tarbyonline]

I also thought the 1.1 was a safe engine, always spoken about in the cento section.

Yup, 1.1 is a "non-interference" design. Afterall the 1.2 is more or less the same engine with a larger capacity.

Dealer was cheaper than independant for me (they had an offer on). Plus you have piece of mind it isnt going to suddenly die on you!

 

[dave]

these people have all had them from new, im not talking about just any customers, customers who have been going to my garage before i was even born

must be a crap garage then if they didn't already fit new cambelt at the right service

 

[krasniipartizan]

My 1.1 had the timing belt replaced at only ~12.000km! And that's because in Romania (that's a dirty colony in Eastern Europe, you know... , where every dealer can impose whatever warranty conditions, just to make a heap of cash), the manual states that it should be replaced at 60.000 km(! not 60k miles, like stated in uk manuals) or after the first 2 years.
Yes, it's a relatively cheap operation for a Panda...but I think that it's an abuse (they won't see me too soon, I'll take regular maintenance in my own hands)
If the car wasn't idle for a long time, and the belt+accesories looks fine,I see no reason for you to change it below 100k km.

 

[Thunderbug]

I'll change my belt when the cars gets to 60k miles, its on 41k at the moment.

 

[dave]

I'll change my belt when the cars gets to 60k miles, its on 41k at the moment.

on a 16v you are brave