Timing belt and service

Mobilvetta

Full Member

Messages
684
Well the motorhome is coming up to five years old, I rung fiat professional who confirmed that the timing belt needs changing at five years old, I asked for a price from the Walton summit Fiat professional centre, it was £1,100 if it's just the timing belt and £1,500 if they also do the water pump. Bugger that I thought. I enquired at my local garage, it was a lot cheaper and they have done work for me and my family before.

I've attached the bill, this included a oil change as I don't like the idea of only having it done every two years, and a general check over, asked them to also check the brake fluid for water contamination. The old timing belt didn't look in bad condition to be fair, but the mechanic said it's hard to tell as the material goes hard over time. Hopefully this gives others an idea of the price to have the work done when you are due.

IMG-20230412-WA0006.jpeg
 
Well the motorhome is coming up to five years old, I rung fiat professional who confirmed that the timing belt needs changing at five years old, I asked for a price from the Walton summit Fiat professional centre, it was £1,100 if it's just the timing belt and £1,500 if they also do the water pump. Bugger that I thought. I enquired at my local garage, it was a lot cheaper and they have done work for me and my family before.

I've attached the bill, this included a oil change as I don't like the idea of only having it done every two years, and a general check over, asked them to also check the brake fluid for water contamination. The old timing belt didn't look in bad condition to be fair, but the mechanic said it's hard to tell as the material goes hard over time. Hopefully this gives others an idea of the price to have the work done when you are due.
That's a fair price £614 .... I paid £350 just for a Full Service on our Eldiss , Wheels off to check Disks & Pads ect ,neighbour's just paid £380 for c/belt on a VW Golf.
 
Well the motorhome is coming up to five years old, I rung fiat professional who confirmed that the timing belt needs changing at five years old, I asked for a price from the Walton summit Fiat professional centre, it was £1,100 if it's just the timing belt and £1,500 if they also do the water pump. Bugger that I thought. I enquired at my local garage, it was a lot cheaper and they have done work for me and my family before.

I've attached the bill, this included a oil change as I don't like the idea of only having it done every two years, and a general check over, asked them to also check the brake fluid for water contamination. The old timing belt didn't look in bad condition to be fair, but the mechanic said it's hard to tell as the material goes hard over time. Hopefully this gives others an idea of the price to have the work done when you are due.

View attachment 66739
The only caveat I would add is that of posts on another Forum reporting problems with the reliability of [non Fiat] 'Cambelt Kits' in relation to subsequent cambelt failure. It's probably one area where I would ask my garage to use only the Fiat genuine parts

Steve
 
The only caveat I would add is that of posts on another Forum reporting problems with the reliability of [non Fiat] 'Cambelt Kits' in relation to subsequent cambelt failure. It's probably one area where I would ask my garage to use only the Fiat genuine parts

Steve
They used a Dayco timing belt kit, the auxiliary stretch belt that was removed was also Dayco, I hope that is what Fiat use as OE replacement.
 
good price. and £45/hr is extremely cheap nowadays.
The mechanic who services my taxis only charges £30 an hour and no Vat as he isn't Vat registered and he has a large garage premises in Poulton, he used to charge £25.00 an hour, he only has one employee, don't know how he does it, but he does make a bit extra with the parts he supplies, but some taxi drivers take the Mickey supplying there own parts, he should charge them more for Labour for taking the piss.
 
The only caveat I would add is that of posts on another Forum reporting problems with the reliability of [non Fiat] 'Cambelt Kits' in relation to subsequent cambelt failure. It's probably one area where I would ask my garage to use only the Fiat genuine parts

Steve
Fiat, in common with other manufacturers do not make most of the components they fit to their vehicles. They will commonly use cambelts and components from large makers of such stuff, like Ina, Goodyear, FAI, BGS, Conti, Dayco and so on. The only thing special about Fiat and other dealers is their ability to overcharge people.
 
Nothing is perfect.
 
Whatever you do, don’t buy one of those awful Ford engines with the cambelt that is in an oil bath. Over time, especially given extended oil changes of 40k miles I believe, the belt wears tiny fibres into the oil galleries eventually blocking them. Then when the oil is changed the loosened fibres can cause issues within the bearings. Scrap engine time as they can’t be cleaned out.
 
The only caveat I would add is that of posts on another Forum reporting problems with the reliability of [non Fiat] 'Cambelt Kits' in relation to subsequent cambelt failure. It's probably one area where I would ask my garage to use only the Fiat genuine parts

Steve

Quite honestly, amongst the trade Gates belts are considered to be about as good as you can buy as such, I doubt very much that an OE Fiat belt is a Gates product!
 
Thank god for the cam chain.

These days on a large number of engines fitted with chains, very unfortunately the bean counters have been at play and reduced them down in width which means that whereas in years gone by when it was fitted for life, they have to be changed and yet again the design engineers and bean counters have been at it again the result of which being that the darned engines have to be removed to change the chain!!!!!
 
Quite honestly, amongst the trade Gates belts are considered to be about as good as you can buy as such, I doubt very much that an OE Fiat belt is a Gates product!
It was the Gates Kits that were reported on the other Forum as causing problems. I am just flagging this up.

Steve
 
For my 2008 Renault Master today I have just had quoted by a very highly respected garage in Lincoln, to change the cambelt, auxilliary belt, water pump and do an oil and filter change as well, just £477.55, using either INA or Gates belts.
 
I've always used Gates belts and other components, beware of imitations on ebay.
 
Quite honestly, amongst the trade Gates belts are considered to be about as good as you can buy as such, I doubt very much that an OE Fiat belt is a Gates product!
Fiat OE belts and pulleys are generally made by Dayco. The biggest issue with Gates is that the market is flooded with counterfeit items, so real care is needed to ensure that you are getting genuine parts.
 
It should go without saying that any engine spares should come from a bona fide supplier near you if possible, not worth saving a tenner to spend thousands.
 

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

Back
Top