My Fiat Brava has now done about 36K.
When does the cambelt need changing on this model (brava 1.4sx - 98), and does anyone know roughly how much it should cost?
Thanks
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Immediately. Change all tensioner and jockey pulleys too, and fix any oil leaks which may be contaminating the belt.
HJ
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Steve,
HJ is right. Here is a post from last year on the same car....
<<< >>>
At that time I was changing the belt on a customers 1.4 at 44,000mls and had reason to make these comments.....
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Hope that helps.
David
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www.fiatbravo.org.uk/cambelts.htm
Recommended interva; by fiat is 72K
However the brava site states "make sure your vehicle engine type is either NOT one of the ones prone to failure or that it already has the uprated cambelt tensioner fitted. If it's a major Fiat workshop they will KNOW which ones are failing even if Fiat can't be bothered to do a recall or even inform owners and advise getting the modification done"
So it does look like fiat have modified the tensioner unit?
Any idea how much a belt/tensioner change should cost? the repair from failure seems to be about £600-1400
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Carl,
That was an interesting site, confirming the tensioner as a serious culprit in these failures.
When I went to buy the replacement tensioner for the customers car in August '01 I was quite careful to enquire as the the part number and updated tensioner situation. The supplied part was identical to the old one and they were certain there had been no change in the spec.
There was a section missed from my post above which was a copy of a contribution on this site last year which neatly sums up a worse case failure....
"Author: Neil (---.sunderland.ac.uk) Date: 14-06-01 15:45. My wife and I drove a Fiat Bravo for three years (80000 miles). The belt and tensioners are designed to last 72000 miles. The original belt was replaced under warranty due to worrying noises from the engine bay at 36000 miles. The second belt snapped at 70000 miles (after 34000 miles of use) resulting in a bill for almost £1000."
Thankfully this customer has just changed the Fiat. They were a bit unsettled over the possibility of timing belt failure, just managed the fact that the speedo and fuel gauges would only work for a few seconds after the dash was thumped but had to give up when the starter motor ring gear failed at 50,000 miles.
David
David
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At what mileage should it be changed?
Mine has done 28K now.
36K seems a very short life for a timing belt, esp as it seems that the problem is caused by a design fault on the tensioner.
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Carl, what model is your Bravo / Brava and what year is it?
The belt itself is likely to last until 72,000 miles but that is no good when the tensioner breaks. However, cambelt change intervals always used to be 36k and I've stuck to that.
regards,
Paul
www.fiatbravo.org.uk
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1.4SX - 1998 R reg.
any idea of the total work/cost to replace the belt & tensioner?
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Try Halfords
They changed the belt on my Tempra - a tough job - for the fixed price of
£60 last year. The rate has probably gone up a bit since then.
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Hi
The 1.4 SX Brava is one of the cars that is fitted with the iffier tensioners. Fiat did change the design when they threw away the 1.4 12V unit and replaced it with the 1242cc 80 SX. They also changed tensioners for the other models so post 1998 Bravos, Bravas and Mareas are far less likely to have as serious problems as the previous models in the cambelt area
Paul
www.fiatbravo.org.uk
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Interesting Paul.
So when I went into the Fiat dealers to get a belt and tensioner for this Aug'97 model should they have supplied an updated item from the later cars?
David
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The old-design tensioner was made of inferior materials from the company Fiat sub-contracted to make them. As far as I'm aware from the digging around I've done, the dealers *should* have been supplied with the newer part, so in theory they should have replaced the model you sent in with a new-design component.
But whether or not they replaced the component with a new one is neither here nor there. You know what the Fiat dealer network is like. Thankfully I have a very good service agent which is run by enthusiasts and have always done the job properly and quickly and to a good standard. This is normally unheard of in the Fiat dealer network.
regards,
Paul
www.fiatbravo.org.uk
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David
Do you have the part number for the old tensioner by any chance?
regards,
Paul
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Paul,
By a bit of luck I do. The number on the box for the supplied replacement was 0007782192, the original tensioner on the car had the same number and they were identical. I note it is marked Made in Canada.
I keep this tensioner in the box as an example to show customers what one looks like when I'm seeking approval to change one with the belt.
David
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