Why you need to change your pump with your belts

[bazzbazz]

Recently a client purchased himself a 2011 Giulietta QV, it had about 78,000km when purchased and he had been planning to get me to change the belts on it in the very near future. Even though they were not due till 105,000 km (this is a 1750 Tbi engine remember) they were due for replacement as they had past the 5 year mark.

Unfortunately the car was apparently impatient and wanted its belts changed NOW!!

As our hard working owner was travelling home one night, a couple of streets from home all of a sudden the alarm went off and the temp gauge went through the roof. He quickly pulled over and shut it down, checked for coolant leakage and found no coolant loss. He sensibly allowed the car to cool down and carefully limped it home at a slow pace the last few streets.

As the car overheated with no coolant loss we assumed that the internal impeller on the pump had failed and come adrift from the pulley shaft, Time for a pump and belt change, well we were going to do it anyway, remember.

He should have bought himself a lottery ticket.

As I removed the belt covers I was faced with the horror of shredded belt everywhere!! But it wasn't a belt failure . . . but only just! The water pump bearing had collapsed, the belt forcing the pulley over at a 15 degree angle, this then tried to push the belt off all the pulleys, the only thing saving it all was the belt covers. The problem now was the belt covers shredded the width of the belt narrower and narrower every rotation. By the time he got home the belt was only a pinkie finger wide.   

As you can see in the photos, this was one very lucky owner, had he not acted quickly and sensibly he would have been up for a lot more grief.

Having the pump fail like this is not unknown of, but usually happens to vehicles that are run way past the replacement interval and the bearing just wears out. In this case one can assume this was a unfortunate premature failure. Event tough this particular one had a plastic impeller it was not the cause of the failure, it was the bearing. (Yes the new one fitted had a Metal impeller)

Be aware, though the layout of the belt in the 1750 Tbi engine is almost identical to the earlier 2.0 Twin Spark & JTS engines it uses a wider and different belt thus the different change intervals.

An interesting note for those with earlier Giulietta QVs when you check your owner manuals most of you will find the service interval as 105,000 kms with the annotation -

Regardless of the distance covered, the timing belt must be changed every four years for particularly demanding use (cold climates, city driving, long periods of idling) or at least every five years in all other cases.

However, in models from 2015 onwards the owners manual is updated and states 120,000 km interval and the following -

Areas that are not dusty: advised maximum mileage 120,000 km. Regardless of the mileage, the belt must be replaced every 6 years.
Dusty areas and/or demanding use of the car (cold climates, town use, long periods of idling): advised maximum mileage 60,000 km. Regardless of the mileage, the belt must be replaced every 4 years.

So, be VERY aware of the following:

1/ When you change your timing belts/tensioners/pulleys in any engine where the timing belt runs the water pump YOU MUST CHANGE THE PUMP AS WELL!!  ( That's almost all 147/156/159/Giulietta 4 cylinder petrol and diesel engines)

2/ Take note of how you (or the previous owner) drive your car and in what conditions, It DOES matter.

Just remember, if your ever unsure of what's what, ask here on the forum or give me a call, be glad to help out.

Baz

[Neil Choi]

Good one.
Had this.
Lucky.

[daliq]

Had this happen to my 2012 QV, heard a squeal while accelerating and then it just popped in 2015, was repaired under warranty, it's an expensive ordeal.. Might have been the tensioners or water pump

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

[Duk]

While I'm all for correct maintenance and replacing the water pump at the same time as the timing belt is common practice on basically any belt driven camshaft engine, this smacks more of rubbish Alfa Romeo design issues (perhaps undersized bearings?) or quality control than anything else.

[Citroënbender]

I'm doing the belts, variator and water pump of my manual TS today, they fell due in October 2015.

Will be interesting to see the state of everything under the cover!

[Citroënbender]

Well, unlike Bazz's water pump discovery, everything in there was pretty much tickety-boo. It was last done by Alfamotive using a mix of genuine and OEM parts from Alfa Workshop UK. Belts were overdue by 27000 km and 25 months. There was visible wear to the timing belt but neither was anyone to panic about. I'd honestly think it would have run another twelve months no worries. Water pump bleed hole showed nil history.

Have set the tensioner needle on the high side of the dot for now, will back off when I replace the covers - one needs a repair and the small front inner piece needs replacement. Biggest pain in the clacker is the significant (to me) weep from the variator solenoid.

[bazzbazz]

The problem with the belts is that they can look perfect one day and snap the next. It's not wear of the external rubber that causes most failures but the breakdown of the internal composite fibres.

As for the Variator Solenoid, remove it and replace the O-Ring seal, just be VERY careful removing the two retaining bolts, they have a tendency to be seized in and the heads can strip easily.

[Citroënbender]

So a new o-ring will cure the solenoid weep? It seemed to be pushing oil up into the connector, or could it have wicked there?

Either way, the weep is tracking down the rear inside of the timing chest.

If the car hangs in there, I think next major service will include internal refreshment. It's done too many city miles and is one of the "oil burner" production batch.