General VVT Solenoid

[Adam1984]

Hello,

Are Intermotor a good brand? Looking at a VVT Solenoid and, Fuel Parts UK, Febi, Lemark, INA and Intermotor are looking the most affordable. Any thoughts or best to choose?

And why do some of the designs look different. Will they still do the same job?

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Hello,

Are Intermotor a good brand? Looking at a VVT Solenoid and, Fuel Parts UK, Febi, Lemark, INA and Intermotor are looking the most affordable. Any thoughts or best to choose?

And why do some of the designs look different. Will they still do the same job?

Er, why?? Thought your valve timing issue had been fixed (correcting the misaligned cambelt). Do you have any fault codes or other info indicating any issues with the valve timing still??

 

[The Panda Nut]

Er, why?? Thought your valve timing issue had been fixed (correcting the misaligned cambelt). Do you have any fault codes or other info indicating any issues with the valve timing still??

My thoughts exactly.
Its NOT necessary to change all the parts on a car and at this rate it really would be cheaper to go buy a brand new car. Its all learning, but I would strongly recommend looking at what is being spent and keeping an eye on it. Putting cheap aftermarket parts on in place of perfectly servicable manufacurers original parts is a way of increasing costs over a few years as they maywell not even last as well as OEM kit the car has now. Cheap parts often fail earlier than expected and not even outlast what is on the car from its build.
The old saying 'if it aint broke, dont fix' it has some merit here. Keep on top of servicing but dont overdo it. You may as well literally burn your money. Later in life you look back and realise it was mad to be mislead into spending too much on cars. Car marketing is totally evil for example! Cars depreciate, so and overspending is one of the fastest ways of being penniless. You never get back anything for money put into a standard cheap car. Frankly only gambling addiction comes close to being worse on tis repect..
I have 250K experience of Pandas now and touch wood, its only brakes and pads, exhausts,dampers (due to failed bushes) the odd battery a failed evap solenoid and a couple of window winders (and a few odds and ends) that have had to be done in all that distance. TIme spent keeping the car clean, especially the underside, drains and rust protected is a good investment as is good regular maintenance. I have clearly OCD relating to car condition and if the cars arn't all in a state to be driven anywhere, any distance at any time I cant stand it, so I am qualified to notice if spending is getting excessive.
VVT either works or not. Its actually a simple thing and while cleaning the actuator os healthy you would really know about it if there was a failure, as the car would be reluctant to rev and very low in power. If it will rev to 5000rpm the VVT will be fine changing it is just not a great need I suspect. A new part wont work any more than the original works.

 

[Mike1alike]

Does your Panda have VVT?
I'd pick Febi out of the ones you've mentioned.

 

[Adam1984]

Does your Panda have VVT?
I'd pick Febi out of the ones you've mentioned.

Yes it does have VVT.

I got a special deal on the Febi one, was only £40

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

Yes it does have VVT.

I got a special deal on the Febi one, was only £40

But could be expensive to actually fit. Is the current one faulty??

 

[Adam1984]

But probably needs the special tools used for the belt replacement… so could be expensive to actually fit. Is the current one actually faulty?? if not, then it doesn’t need replacing…

I am not on about the belt. I am on about the VVT sensor. This is what I bought.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

I am not on about the belt. I am on about the VVT sensor. This is what I bought.

I altered my earlier reply to be clearer. Yes, I know you mean the solenoid. Is it easy to get to? Does the timing need locking (using the special tools needed for the belt job to prevent anything getting out of alignment- again?) And crucially, is it actually faulty? What difference do you see if you unplug it? If none, then maybe it’s not working. If the engine runs ‘wrong’ when unplugged, then it probably is working when plugged in.

 

[Adam1984]

I altered my earlier reply to be clearer. Yes, I know you mean the solenoid. Is it easy to get to? Does the timing need locking (using the special tools needed for the belt job to prevent anything getting out of alignment- again?) And crucially, is it actually faulty? What difference do you see if you unplug it? If none, then maybe it’s not working. If the engine runs ‘wrong’ when unplugged, then it probably is working when plugged in.

I don't know.

It's very easy to get to. Don't even need to remove anything. I read online that it could be worth changing if have a rough idle and slow acceleration. It only cost me £40, and I can change it myself

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

I don't know.

It's very easy to get to. Don't even need to remove anything. I read online that it could be worth changing if have a rough idle and slow acceleration. It only cost me £40, and I can change it myself

But you told us getting the valve timing corrected cured that issue… has it come back, or did it never go away?
I’d expect the engine warning light to come on if the solenoid is faulty…

 

[Adam1984]

But you told us getting the valve timing corrected cured that issue… has it come back, or did it never go away?
I’d expect the engine warning light to come on if the solenoid is faulty…

The timing belt sounds better than what it was from when it did get corrected. And the sluggishness and idle is still present.

I haven't even had a single error code since owning the car in the first year.

 

[jrkitching]

Its NOT necessary to change all the parts on a car and at this rate it really would be cheaper to go buy a brand new car. Its all learning, but I would strongly recommend looking at what is being spent and keeping an eye on it. Putting cheap aftermarket parts on in place of perfectly servicable manufacurers original parts is a way of increasing costs over a few years as they maywell not even last as well as OEM kit the car has now. Cheap parts often fail earlier than expected and not even outlast what is on the car from its build.
The old saying 'if it aint broke, dont fix' it has some merit here. Keep on top of servicing but dont overdo it. You may as well literally burn your money. Later in life you look back and realise it was mad to be mislead into spending too much on cars.

This is good advice and well worth taking on board. On an older car, replacing parts that may be a little worn, but are still serviceable, just costs you money you don't need to spend. If you want the look and feel of a new car, with everything in pristine condition, by far the cheapest way to achieve this is to go and buy a new car.

It's very easy to get to. Don't even need to remove anything. I read online that it could be worth changing if have a rough idle and slow acceleration. It only cost me £40, and I can change it myself

Changing something because it's cheap and easy in the hope that it might fix a problem based on something you've read online rarely achieves anything, other than to waste a bit of time and money. And if you keep repeating this, you'll eventually end up wasting quite a lot of time and money, without actually making the car run any better.

 

[benmac]

Only thing I'd add to the above is that you really need to get someone who is used to these cars to have a drive or even just a passenger ride in it and get their opinion on whether it is running as a 1.2 should or not. All the talk of it being sluggish, particularly still after the cambelt tweak and the other bits you've changed (even the new brakes to discount rubbing there) still seems odd but, as mentioned previously, they're slow cars with less than 70bhp to pull nearly a ton around.

If your previous driving experience is in faster stuff (particularly modern turbo charged cars which add that useful lump of torque at low revs) a low powered petrol car that needs to be revved out to get the most out of it will feel slow.

 

[KPat]

As the OP has stated previously "I am not that good with fault finding as I don't have a clue to be honest about cars and what I am looking for." Then changing numerous engine parts in the hope it will cure a perceived performance issue. Much better to take it to a Fiat specialist and get them to test drive and assess it. A lot cheaper in the long run.

 

[Mike1alike]

Much better to take it to a Fiat specialist and get them to test drive and assess it

It's tricky. Because you can't find them on the side of the roads and many of self-called specialists just do exactly what Adam does, the difference being they want to be paid for doing it.
But yes, @Adam1984, just changing parts willy-nilly is really really bad strategy. You have the forum here, you can get very good advice. You just need to be observant and learn to describe the problems with as much details as possible. Read what's written already on the forum, cross it with what's bothering you. You're not the first to have those problems and others who had them before you even wrote the solution for them here, on the forum.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

As the OP has stated previously "I am not that good with fault finding as I don't have a clue to be honest about cars and what I am looking for." Then changing numerous engine parts in the hope it will cure a perceived performance issue. Much better to take it to a Fiat specialist and get them to test drive and assess it. A lot cheaper in the long run.

I think a few of us have said this before, a few times….
@Adam1984: where (roughly) are you based? Maybe we can help point you towards a Fiat expert - there are a few around the country.

 

[Adam1984]

I think a few of us have said this before, a few times….
@Adam1984: where (roughly) are you based? Maybe we can help point you towards a Fiat expert - there are a few around the country.

I am based in Merseyside. Thank you.

 

[Herts Hillhopper]

I am based in Merseyside. Thank you.

Great…

OK fellow Fiat fans, who do you recommend close to Liverpool to help Adam out here? He’s a bit too far from my friendly Indy Fiat folk in Hertfordshire

And @Adam1984 - you might take a scroll through here to see who’s local: https://www.fiatforum.com/directory/categories/garages.2/ (scroll down past the map… )

This place - although originally a Saab specialist, has been mentioned in other threads as being very good (seem to recall they are one of very few independents who will fix Fiat’s troublesome Dualogic auto gearboxes too?)

Small Car Liverpool

www.fiatforum.com

Pete

 

[AnthonyH]

I don't know.

It's very easy to get to. Don't even need to remove anything. I read online that it could be worth changing if have a rough idle and slow acceleration. It only cost me £40, and I can change it myself

If you already have the solenoid then fit it and let us know what happens. It probably won't help but i'd actually like to be wrong!

I'm of the same opinion as the above posts, only fix things which you are certain have a problem. I've made this mistake myself, several times, i ended up redoing jobs that didn't need doing in the first place - and breaking things which were just fine... If you want to use trial and error to fix things then you need to have a lot of free time and patience. If you want to learn something new and don't mind mucking things up thats ok too. To get around the problem of stuffing things up you need a "spare car". I have 3 cars but only really need 2. You can't be doing trial and error repairs if you only have one car because it won't be long before you can't get to work because the car repair went wrong

 

[Mike1alike]

I am based in Merseyside

Are you a Liverpool fan? If so... You'll never walk alone...!