General Punto Dynamic Speedgear Cam Belt etc. Advice Required

[Lassie1970]

Hi All. I have an ancient, much loved Punto which recently refused to start one morning and continued to misfire. Having found a mobile mechanic the diagnostics pinpointed the cam belt as the issue. This was found to be 4 degrees out whatever that means (female - sorry!) The cam belt had been slipping and the necessary parts were removed/replaced yesterday. The car is driving again but was a little juddery this morning when idle or at junctions as though it has lost some power. The mechanic cannot be sure whether a valve has been damaged or not with the cam belt having slipped. When driving normally/at speed it drives perfectly. However, reversing into a space this morning it was making an awful grating noise - can this be connected or do you think this is a separate issue? I will speak to the mechanic but as I'm at work and can't make calls I thought I'd ask here first! Thanks.

 

[judderbar]

Hi All. I have an ancient, much loved Punto which recently refused to start one morning and continued to misfire. Having found a mobile mechanic the diagnostics pinpointed the cam belt as the issue. This was found to be 4 degrees out whatever that means (female - sorry!) The cam belt had been slipping and the necessary parts were removed/replaced yesterday. The car is driving again but was a little juddery this morning when idle or at junctions as though it has lost some power. The mechanic cannot be sure whether a valve has been damaged or not with the cam belt having slipped. When driving normally/at speed it drives perfectly. However, reversing into a space this morning it was making an awful grating noise - can this be connected or do you think this is a separate issue? I will speak to the mechanic but as I'm at work and can't make calls I thought I'd ask here first! Thanks.

Hi, Elsewhere you said you had a 2003 16 valve car. A 16V can be damaged if the cambelt is very out of position but if you can drive forwards without a rattle, the reverse rattling is more or less certainly nothing to do with the cambelt. The engine always goes the same direction whatever direction you drive the car.

If you put something on the ground so you can kneel down low can you see anything hanging from the underside of the car?