Timing belt jump

[Ncflyguy0210]

Hey guys. Need some help and insight on this issue. I was driving home last night and my 500X started to slow down and then it cut off. I coasted to the shoulder and try to start it. It wouldn’t start. I had it towed to a repair shop near my apartment. The owner said he diagnosed it as a timing belt jump and he can’t work on it as it takes special tools. I called fiat customer care and they said they can’t help me. The car barely has 46,000 miles . They recommended that I tow it to the fiat dealership. The dealer is not close to me. I am not able to get it towed until Monday. What all is involved in repairing it and what is the average cost to fix it. I heard that fiat customer care reads this forum is there any help I can get ? Or anything anyone can recommend? Any help would be greatly appreciated. The car is a 2016 fiat 500X pop 1.4 turbo manual transmission with 46,000 miles

[Fabio13]

Stateline Alfa Romeo Fiat just south of the state border has served me well in years past. Fort Mill, SC

[Ncflyguy0210]

I’ve used them for oil changes. What is a round about cost and what is involved? Do you think I should call fiat customer care again and ask for a supervisor? I think that 46,000 miles on a car and having that issue so soon kinda leaves a bad feeling of how it will do down the road .

[Fabio13]

I doubt it's a timing belt.

[Ncflyguy0210]

I had it towed to the repair shop near my apartment and they diagnosed it as a jumped timing belt. He said I need to tow it to the dealer as he can’t work on fiats . I will have it towed Monday. Any idea on costs.

[map]

Quoted prices vary wildly. One guy here reported $520 (4 years ago) and another said he received quotes of $700 and $1200. The latter, I assume, was for idler, water pump and belt and $1200 sounds like it was probably a dealer price.

IIRC, your car has the 1.4L turbo engine and if your belt broke it'd be the youngest belt I've read about. Recommended change is 150K miles. Even though I've read where a couple have broken around 125K, there are others that have gone 175K. You could check the date your car first entered service. If it sat on the lot until mid 2017, you might have a case for FiatCares. They won't warranty them forever but sometimes they'll cut a break if the car broke w/in a couple months of warranty expiration.

Your worry will be, when they break, punching holes in pistons and bending valves. If your stereo wasn't blasting you'd probably have heard that racket. I'd start by checking for trouble codes and getting a second opinion. It sounds like the shop you took it to doesn't know about the dozens of fails that can have your car stall or simply doesn't like working on Fiats.

[Ncflyguy0210]

Thanks , I called fiat customer care and they said they can’t help. The warranty expired in March. The shop I had it towed to said due to it being an inverse engine they won’t work on it so it will sit until Monday and off to the dealer it goes. I still think as young as my car is that is crazy it jumped at such low mileage. I’ll know more Monday, It just irritates me they won’t help. And no my stereo wasn’t blasting , the car just slowed down and died . Thanks for your response. I’ll post what the dealer said next week

[smark]

I’ve used them for oil changes. What is a round about cost and what is involved? Do you think I should call fiat customer care again and ask for a supervisor? I think that 46,000 miles on a car and having that issue so soon kinda leaves a bad feeling of how it will do down the road .

Your why over you cars warranty period. Sorry Fiat care can’t help you. Try Christian brothers automotive. A very reputable automotive service center Nationwide. We use them in our city, for all our cars. They just replaced the rear wheel bearing, on my Daughter’s Jeep Renegade last week. They have several locations in your city, of Charlotte North Carolina.

B3C3FE9A-3F79-4535-B7AB-14C0FF761843.jpg

[Ncflyguy0210]

Thank you, I’ll check their website out

[Fiat500USA]

If you are having valve timing issues, it's more likely a MultiAir issue and not a skipped belt. I find a skipped belt hard to believe at that low a mileage. The shop is not familiar with MultiAir so I can see them guessing it's a belt. Most modern cars, certainly for the past 30 + years, have transverse engines (there is no inverse engines), so the shop saying they don't work on them is a big red flag as far as their abilities. I wouldn't trust their diagnosis.

The same basic questions are always asked with an issue like this. How often do you change the oil? What oil and weight? When was the last time you checked the oil? Do you need to add oil between changes? I would check your oil right now to rule out running out of oil. If you are low on oil, you may have found the problem. Of course, you would then need to find out why and also keep your fingers crossed about any possible damage.

Good luck and let us know.