Technical fairly annoyed stilo owner...

[Pete89]

My cambelt's snapped, before you all say it needed changing, it didnt. it was only 5000miles old max.

has anyone had any previous experience with this?
whats the likely damage? and is it a good thing that i didnt hear any noise when it snapped or does that make no difference?
its being checked over today but obviously im quite concerned at the moment.
any opinions would be greatly received, thank you


p.s sorry if this thread has been done before.

 

[sixpotman]

First question is who fitted it? Second how long ago time wise?
and which engine? Was there a warranty on the work.

Damage depends on engine and luck of the draw. Bent
valves, damaged valve guides, dented pistons or trapped
piston rings because the valves clouted the piston hard.

Or very little damage only when the heads off will you be able
to tell and decide what to do. If the belt was fitted by a garage
then that would be the first port of call. Depends if the original
repair was skimped by not replacing tensioners, pullies or
waterpump if that's driven by the cam belt.

Depends on age it may be cheaper to buy another engine
or car.

John

 

[Pete89]

its a 1.6 2002.

it was done on the 24/10/08
and yes, fitted by a garage.

he changed the kit but not the water pump, there was an issue with the water pump, it was rattling and was getting looked at on the evening it snapped.

so im assuming if i need a new engine/car then iv gotta fork out for it? is the garage not liable in any way?

thanks for the help

 

[Argonought]

My cambelt's snapped, before you all say it needed changing, it didnt. it was only 5000miles old max.

I presume you mean 5000 miles after it was changed and you aren't referring to the original.

Time to get legal advice and prepare to sue the garage that did the job I'd say. You may have legal advice included within your car insurance and of course you can always get advice from Trading Standards.

Fiat main dealers provide 12 mths cover for the parts fitted and consequent damage (assuming they fitted it)

 

[Argonought]

its a 1.6 2002.
he changed the kit but not the water pump, there was an issue with the water pump, it was rattling and was getting looked at on the evening it snapped.

Best to get an independent inspection/opinion if you can.

Are you sure it wasn't the crank pulley as they're known for becoming loose and very noisy - don't hear much about noisy water pumps though :chin:

 

[Pete89]

I presume you mean 5000 miles after it was changed and you aren't referring to the original.

yeh, brand new belt and it snapped.. im dreading the phone call to hear whats wrong with it.

unfortunately it wasnt a fiat dealer, it was just a mates mate garage. could the garage turn around and say 'faulty belt' or is it his job to spot that?

it could of been, it was only a guess about the water pump really, he was going to have a proper look the night it snapped.

as you can tell, im a beginner to all this.
thanks

 

[john55]

he changed the kit but not the water pump, there was an issue with the water pump, it was rattling and was getting looked at on the evening it snapped

A failed water pump will do in your cam belt pretty dam quick. I would guess that is why it snapped.

You should always change the water pump when you change the cam belt, to avoid exactly the situation you have now found yourself in.

You should be able to pick up a second hand engine from a breakers quite cheaply. Don't even bother trying to repair that one. It will be more expensive than changing it.

 

[Pete89]

yeh i relise that now, but at the time, i had no idea.
the bloke should of said really, im not impressed.

if a few valves are bent, is that worth fixing or am i likely to get problems a few months down the line?

 

[Argonought]

if a few valves are bent, is that worth fixing or am i likely to get problems a few months down the line?

No reason why it shouldn't be fine after a good repair providing only the head is damaged. The primary concern would be the cost.

I once owned a VW Scirocco which dropped a valve collet which effectively meant the valve bounced up and down with the piston before the big crunch

That cost me £500 - but then that was nearly 20 years ago!

The engine was fine afterwards though - even if it still had a gouge in one of the pistons

 

[sixpotman]

Not sure I'll let you know

Bought my stilo in December 2008 advertised
as in "perfect condition" private seller 1.8 Dynamic
blue, blades 2003 53000miles car looked ok, felt ok
pulls well, getting around 29mpg in head to toe traffic
and short burst on a dual carrageway, paid cash.
A week or so later going through the service receipts
there is a receipt and note with 2 months warranty
left on it for "Camshaft Belt Snapped" When it gets
warmer I'll check if the water pump and idlers were
replaced. The bill was for £800 plus vat new valves(16),
headskim etc. from mobile mechanic.

Was a bit miffed but that's life, BUT the bill for that and
other repairs and parts replaced within the last 12months
by fiat came to more than I paid for the car.

Suck it and see see what cost the repairs cost then
decide.

John

 

[Pete89]

yeh,think im going to have to. does just seem to be a constant flow of problems. i definately think a ford next time

thanks for the help everyone!!

 

[john55]

yi definately think a ford next time

Fords also have cam belts and water pumps too. Only way to avoid this is to buy a car with a cam chain, not a belt. BMW and most Japanese manufacturers tend to use chains instead of belts.

 

[Pete89]

Fords also have cam belts and water pumps too. Only way to avoid this is to buy a car with a cam chain, not a belt. BMW and most Japanese manufacturers tend to use chains instead of belts.

yeh but reliability is much higher with a ford. well il never make this mistake again, thats for sure.

 

[krismc]

yeh but reliability is much higher with a ford. well il never make this mistake again, thats for sure.

i work at ford and have to deal with belt snaps at around 30-70k, way short of the 100k we recomend you change,

if you refer to the mistake of buying a fiat again, bear in mind your garage probably didnt use an origional part, and "there was an issue with the water pump" at the time.

when you were doing the belt, the garage really should of replaced the pump when doing the belt 1st time, after all if you were getting your pump done on the night it failed, they would of had to redo the cambelt again anyway, hence should of got it done during the belt change! or your paying for 2 cambelts to be done :doh:

oh and driving with a known dodgy water pump for 4 months is a gamble :tosser:

 

[Pete89]

oh and driving with a known dodgy water pump for 4 months is a gamble :tosser:

i didnt intentionally drive around with a dodgy pump! i had no idea til it started rattling the other day.

 

[OzMoSiS]

1) its your fault for not changing the water pump at the time, weather it was faulty or not. its a recommended procedure.
2) the Fiat engines do not have timing marks and hence should be taken to a fiat dealer or at least a reputable fiat specialist for beltwork.
3) assuming you have done this 5000 miles in less than 6 months, i'd take the car back to the garage and claim their liability. i'd try to settle for a 50/50 repair cost agreement.
4) the stilo is 100% not at fault, EVERY other make have problems, ford, vw, bmw, merc, renault, toyota, ..........and the list goes on. oh and guess what, a lot of other makes have problems more than fiat. i know of people with fords and vw's who have scrapped them.

PLUS, the stilo is one of the UK's most reliable cars

EDIT: MY 1000th POST!!!! YAYYY!!! :slayer::woot::woot::woot:eace:

 

[wotnowarninglight]

Fords also have cam belts and water pumps too. Only way to avoid this is to buy a car with a cam chain, not a belt. BMW and most Japanese manufacturers tend to use chains instead of belts.

Yes but timing chains come with different issues, on Nissans SR20DET engine my timing chain shot after 58K due to skipped oil changes which should have been done every 9K. £1000 engine out job to put right on Serena thankfully it was vending dealer/warranty co's problem or else trading standards :devil:

Generally think with any secondhand car you always inherit the wrongs the previous owner/s inflicted on your new pride and joy, thankfully my JTD is an ex. motability car and was well cared for and it shows, especially compared to the 1.6 Stilo I had beforehand, which was a multi owner originally arnie clark supplied daily rental fleet vehicle... from my forum handle, can you guess what its party piece was? :bang:

 

[Argonought]

if you refer to the mistake of buying a fiat again, bear in mind your garage probably didnt use an origional part, and "there was an issue with the water pump" at the time.

Quite so

How the hell can changing the make of car you buy change the quality of servicing you get when taking it to non specialist garage A badly serviced car is simply that - and it's bound to be unreliable.

In fact, I'd stick my neck out and argue that if you'd never even bothered to have the cam belt changed back in October then there's a very good chance the engine would still be running today (on the premise that if you aren't gong to do a job properly then it's best not to do it at all!)

 

[Deckchair5]

The water pump isn't driven by the cambelt on a 1.6 engine, it's very different from other Stilo engines.


Here it is, above the alternator, driven by the auxilliary belt


It's entirely separate so it wouldn't have any influence on the cambelt. You could change a 1.6 water pump and it's drive belt without even touching the cambelt area so there's no need to change it's water pump just because you're doing the cambelt

Most garages do a parts and labour guarantee- so faulty parts or bad fitting means back to the garage for them to sort out at their cost

 

[Argonought]

Good pick up there Decks - and I think that means my comment about a loose crank pulley can also be discounted.

Looks like it's all down to the garage after all