my friend has trouble with his x reg fiat marea 1.8 petrol, we think the timing belt has broken. Anyone know if this engine lunches itself when that happens? The engine spins fast and quietly on the starter like all the valves are open. Definately turning as the car moves in gear.

Poor lad has had so much bad luck i thought id try to find out for him how bad it is

Cheers!

are you sure the whole engine is turning? It could be that the starter gear doesn't kick out.

quote:

---

Originally posted by rost
are you sure the whole engine is turning? It could be that the starter gear doesn't kick out.

---

If it's a 16 valve engine i would probably say it's a high interference, and threfore not looking good . If it's 8 valve then you might have got away with it..

If it is a 16 valve engine it has almost certainly bent valves.

Joel

When it happened to my Marea (a 5 cylinder) it wrecked the top end entirely.
the warranty bill was £1,987.

Ten years ago.

I know, not the same engine, but I wouldn't be hopefull.

See if you can remove the top part of the cambelt cover and see if the camshaft is spinning when turning over the engine. Sometimes the belt doesn't break, it can shred a few teeth off the belt down on the crankshaft end.
Cheers Eric.

i'll get him to have a look thanks!

He was selling it tomorrow, and had used the deposit to fix a few things on it! So now he has no car to sell and no money to give back i mean

Sadly it is an interference engine, bent valves almost inevitable

A decent s/h head shouldn't be too hard to find though.

well ive had a look now, the timing belt appears to be on but doesnt move when cranking, the aux belt does, and the valves dont move in the rocker cover. It is a 16v engine, and it turns over quietly like there is no compression.

Cant understand why the belt appears to be intact? Could be as eric says, just a few stripped teeth. Would it turn over quietly if the valves were bent?

Cheers!