My Fabia SDi, timing belt gone, what are my options?

[fabia19]

Hi, my 2002 fabia 1.9 SDi that hit 175,000 yesterday suddenly lost all its power on the motorway, AA came eventually and discovered timing belt is kaput. I just ordered 2 new VRS alloy tyres today aswell!.

I know that to have this fixed is more than the car is worth or atleast very close to it (I paid £1200 for it 2ish years ago) but how much sense would there be in getting an SDi engine off ebay and having it dropped in? Is it worth looking into? Or should I just sell as non runner? Its too good to scrap, very clean inside and fairly clean outside and underneath. What are my best options? Im so annoyed this close to xmas, gonna have to use public transport to get to work which is horrible especially in this weather. Anyway Cheers for any advice.

[jordy_wd]

Have you had the engine looked at to see the state of the head? Sometimes they snap with no damage to valves etc at all. Be optimistic haha!

[giandougl]

Have you had the engine looked at to see the state of the head? Sometimes they snap with no damage to valves etc at all. Be optimistic haha!

I totally agree, see what extent of any damage first, before jumping the gun.

Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck.

[Tech1e]

Take the cam cover off and see if any of the buckets are stuck down, if they are still in contact with the camshaft turn it over and see if they all move correctly. If they look like they are ok whack a new belt on and cross your fingers. Seen a few got away with it, if not then at least you have a new belt to fit to a donor engine before it goes in.

[fabia19]

Nice to hear there is some hope, how easy/cheap is a cambelt change? And what sort of price do you reckon a garage would fit an engine for as i had an sdi engine quote this morning (£520 delivered for a 2003 41000 miles one) will let you know how i get on. Ive been looking at autotrader all morning and getting quotes on different cars, but if its more economical to fix then ill keep the furby. Thanks for all the help,

[andrewkeith5]

Nice to hear there is some hope, how easy/cheap is a cambelt change? And what sort of price do you reckon a garage would fit an engine for as i had an sdi engine quote this morning (£520 delivered for a 2003 41000 miles one) will let you know how i get on. Ive been looking at autotrader all morning and getting quotes on different cars, but if its more economical to fix then ill keep the furby. Thanks for all the help,

The timing belt on my 1.4 16v petrol was £350, although another garage quoted the parts as £120 plus VAT so I've probably been completely done over on the labour...

[Tech1e]

The timing belt on my 1.4 16v petrol was £350, although another garage quoted the parts as £120 plus VAT so I've probably been completely done over on the labour...

Blimey, we are a main dealer and I think we quote about £100 less than that.

[fabia19]

Right it went to a garage that I trust, and they slapped on a new cambelt kit but only to find that engine is goosed after all. Gonna be £800 or more to have fixed or around £1000 to have another engine put in. So im thinking its just not worth it for me to have done.

Its such a shame as he was my first car and my pride and joy, i had powerflex bushes put on it, fitted blaupunkt rear speakers, just got new stereo, new brake pads and discs, new fuel filter, done the rear door sealant fix, bought tailored mats, just had tracking and new steering rack done, new TCA put on last december, been sprayed and repaired after bus grinded into it, and just bought 2 new tyres for my VRS wheels.

What would you guys do in this position? :(

Cheers.

[DRJ]

Cry probably...

Not much choice have you unfortunately. It would be interesting to know both the time interval and the mileage since the cambelt was last changed. If indeed it has ever been changed. Do you have that information?

[Phil-E]

Right it went to a garage that I trust, and they slapped on a new cambelt kit but only to find that engine is goosed after all. Gonna be £800 or more to have fixed or around £1000 to have another engine put in. So im thinking its just not worth it for me to have done.

Its such a shame as he was my first car and my pride and joy, i had powerflex bushes put on it, fitted blaupunkt rear speakers, just got new stereo, new brake pads and discs, new fuel filter, done the rear door sealant fix, bought tailored mats, just had tracking and new steering rack done, new TCA put on last december, been sprayed and repaired after bus grinded into it, and just bought 2 new tyres for my VRS wheels.

What would you guys do in this position? :(

Cheers.

Maybe should have spent that money on a timing belt change then instead...

If you are ever uncertain as to when the belt was last changed or think it is due or over due... just get it done! For the sake of £250 and peace of mind.

When we got our car I didn't know when it had been done but had an idea it was about 40k ago. But thought it may have been over 4 years ago so got it changed anyway!

Phil

[DRJ]

However it's very easy to say that in retrospect - not at all easy to appreciate before you've gone through it.

This should be a lesson to all on here as to what can go wrong if this matter is not addressed at the appropriate time (though we don't know the history yet to see if that was indeed the case).

[Phil-E]

Yes I guess we all make mistakes and sometimes lessons are hard learned!

And no you're right I don't know the circumstances surrounding the belt snap. I mean it could actually have been that it was actually within the recommended interval and it is an early failure.

Not many people think about their timing belts as it is something you can't see and doesn't present any symptoms of wear until it's too late!

Phil

[vindaloo]

Right it went to a garage that I trust, and they slapped on a new cambelt kit but only to find that engine is goosed after all. Gonna be £800 or more to have fixed or around £1000 to have another engine put in. So im thinking its just not worth it for me to have done.

Its such a shame as he was my first car and my pride and joy, i had powerflex bushes put on it, fitted blaupunkt rear speakers, just got new stereo, new brake pads and discs, new fuel filter, done the rear door sealant fix, bought tailored mats, just had tracking and new steering rack done, new TCA put on last december, been sprayed and repaired after bus grinded into it, and just bought 2 new tyres for my VRS wheels.

What would you guys do in this position? :(

Cheers.

Assess the situation logically. Probably better to break the car and buy another one than try to fix this one. £800-£1000 would almost certainly buy you another car. S/h engines on eBay seem to vary from £50 to £200.

J.

[fabia19]

Well if I had known that a cambelt change was only £250 to have done I would of had it done, I was under the impression that it was like £800 just to have a cambelt change. Well I learnt a valuable lesson. Anyway I decided to go ahead with the rebuild for £800 as they have already put the belt kit on and towing it is just a mission and a load of hassle that I dont need at xmas. Anyway Ill keep the little furby until the insurance runs out atleast. But yes people, if you dont know about the camblet being changed just get it changed! I will check my records to see if it had ever had a cambelt change in its 175,000 miles