Fiat Punto 1.1 55 s (1996)

[Khargoosh]

Hi

I bought a second had fiat punto 2 weeks ago. It's my first car. Overall car is quite ok and no real problem. But today I went to a workshop to buy coolant and the mechanic looked into my engine and told that your timing belt is oily. It can be because of leakage or some spill of oil as well. But he said I should repair it soon. I asked him how much would it cost and he told it could cost upto 300 euros. Now the problem is I don't want to spend so much money for a car which i have bought for 1100 euros. My question is how dangerous is oily belt? How much damage oil can cause to the belt? Can it have some sudden effect or it would just reduce the life of the belt e.g half or 1/3rd or what? How bad is oil leakage (if there is any?) Can i just top up the oil or i must repair it?

My average use of the car is 15-20km per day. But i'm also planning a couple of longer trips of 6-7 hundred kilimetres.

So what do you say folks?

Thanks

[Quin]

Well you have to keep in mind that your timing belt is a very important part in keeping your car running. It is made of rubber and oil dergrades the rubber making it more likely to snap. If it snaps it can thoroughly screw your engine (Fe the valves will be bend) which is _alot_ more expensive then 300 euroos. Ofcourse this does not have to happen but it definalty is a possibility. So the choice you have to make is pay up 300 euro now, or maybe go to a none dealer garage and you can probably get is fixed cheaper, or take the risk of it snapping in a week, a month, a year, 2 years or maybe never.

I personally would not take the risk esspecially since you say you will take a couple of longer trips of 6-7 hunderd KM's. Dont want to be stranded when you are in the middle of no-where. But if it is your choice and with your Punto you can get lucky or unlucky. Do a google on "cambelt snap" to get some examples of what can happen

[Khargoosh]

Hi

Thanks for replying. I read some where that if engine has free wheeling then broken belt is not so dangerous and can't bend the valves. But now i'm not sure if Punto 1.1 55 s (96) has free wheeling or no. SO if it's just about stranding then I can take the risk as I'm not so busy person . Do you know if it has free wheeling or no?

Thanks

[Mook]

Maybe it would be better to find out when it was last changed, and when it's due to be changed next. You should normally change the water pump at the same time as the timing belt since you normally need to dismantle the same bits to do both jobs.

[Khargoosh]

I'm not sure if water pump was changed but belt was chaged just 5000 km before. So still long time left under normal conditions but don't know wha to do.
How much does it cost to just change the belt? what do you think if i just change the belt much earlier than rpairing leakage and other expensive things?

[rinso]

I had a broken timer belt in an old Fiat once.
You don't want that to happen.
The car will never run again, unless you pay much more than it is worth.

[umit]

In the United States one of my friends bought an old Toyota Corolla for maybe 1000 dollar. A few weeks later he recognized an oil leak somewhere from the engine block. He took the car to a dealer's garage and they asked for 600 dollar to repair!!! (They said they have to remove the engine, change some parts, labor, blah blah) Then someone suggested him to buy oil and top up when needed, just like most Americans do in a similar situations. Later on he found an Iranian mechanic and he fix the problem with a duck tape and asked 10 dollar for the service

So, moral of this story:
1- Don't buy old and cheap car.
2- Don't take your cheap car to a dealer's garage.
3- Don't behave like an American, think about long term cost of the solution and environmental issues
4- If you are not happy with a western solution, try to find an eastern solution

[pres589]

An old cheap Fiat sounds like a riot. Unfortunately, the ones in my part of the world turned to red dust for the most part. In any case, the engine is almost certainly an interference engine, which will send the valves into the pistons if you have the belt slip too far or break. And even if it's not, if the belt goes too far one way or the other, you're stranded with the thing in what could be a strange place paying strange prices to get it fixed. There may also be idler bearings that keep up the slack in the timing belt that should be replaced, a good shop will tell you.

Don't take the car on a long trip until this is fixed, budget out for the full price of the repair including a new water pump. Unless the pump looks perfect (not coolant coming from the weep hole at the base of the pump shaft bearing) and feels perfect (no rumble in the bearing itself) it should be replaced at the same time of the belt. And it might be smart to replace it anyway because of the hassle with this.

Good to do all of this at once. And then you can forget about it. Hopefully the crankshaft isn't worn where the front seal contacts the crank journal it seals against. It's probably fine, that sort of wear on a car this age would be surprising.

Short version: Sorry, but my advice is to have the seal, the water pump, the belt, and any ancillaries that need to be changed done before a long trip.

[Khargoosh]

Thanks all for suggestions.


I think i would not take it to a long trip before repairing but at the same time i would not get it repaired at so big cost if I'm driving just inside the city. And as suggested, would try to find some eastern mechanic

One more question- where can i get a user's manual for this car except dealers. Does any of you have got a manual?

[Quin]

You can get them cheaper on ebay but still costs. For example http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FIAT-PUNTO-OWNER- ... 86.c0.m14=

Can also try Huuto.net

If you want them for free you can torrent them from places like piratebay etc