Beta sedan - first questions

[ckeen74]

Hi all,

Having worked through the most pressing stuff on my Alfas, I turned to the Lancia. I was going to replace the timing belt, but it looked so good that I (with the consent of three other shop-mates, vastly more experienced than I) decided to not change the belt. Amazing how little space there is in there, is it the same for the coupe variants?

Anyway, I've noticed a couple of other issues with the car.

1) It runs roughly, both under load and at idle. It does fire up pretty easily, and revs & pulls as strongly as I could expect. This is my first carburetted car, so I'm pretty new at this - any obvious failure points you would check? And yes, I know RTFM, but at the moment I have no FM :p

2) The boot on the steering rack seems to have split. A Milano-driving friend of mine says his has a split boot, and it's no big deal if you don't live in a salty climate, but I wanted to see if that's any different for a beta.

More stuff going on than this, but I want to focus on getting it running smoothly first.

Thanks,
Chris

[Charley]

First of all if you do not know how many miles or how old that timing belt is ,I would replace it immediately.24,000 miles or two years is recommended by Fiat. Fiat/Lancia twin cams are an interference engine. If the timing belt breaks,the valves and pistons will collide and the auxiliary shaft lobe can hit a connecting rod. This can produce serious valve train and piston damage from what I've been told. My timing belt has three years on it soon,but only 3200 miles,it is over-due on time but I will change it this winter.
The usual things to check/replace cap,rotor,plugs,wires.And importantly empty that fuel filter into a container,check for any rust sediment.Replace the filter with a clear one and keep an eye on it.If you start to see red stuff you have the dreaded Beta fuel tank rust.This is the optimal cure for that (in my opinion). http://www.gastankrenu.com/
Is this a power or manual rack? I would certainly want to replace the torn boot it if it is a manual rack,as the oil has probably leaked out and dirt will get in.Power steering racks I would imagine would be the same scenario.

[1,6 HF]

I'd take Charley's advice--all of it.

No offense to your shop mates, but I'm guessing none of them has ever owned a Beta or Fiat twin-cam. Do not take chances with that timing belt; replace it.

[rossocorsa]

replace the cam belt ASAP it's an easy job on a Beta plenty of room compared with most Lancias (have you ever seen in an Integrale bonnet!) not a long job change the tensioner as well as a precaution it's a lot better than ending up taking the head off and replacing valves. As regards bad running I once had a low miles sedan that had stood for donkeys years (although it was a euro version of course) it would occasionally run like a bag of spanners coughing and spluttering cured it by removing all jets idle adjuster screws and so on and blowing every where through with an airline nothing obvious came out but it was cured revved easily to 7K (not really recommended!) although it was a 1600 and they are a lot more rev hungry than 2000 models

[HFStuart]

I don't see the problem with space - everything fits doesn't it.....

http://www.integrale.jp/photo/mydelta/DSCF1084.jpg

[rossocorsa]

i think there was once a rumour that the designer previously worked canning sardines !!!

[ckeen74]

Alright, I'll do it - the timing belt really looks quite good, but with 1-2" clearance it's not going to be the most fun in the world.... even the belt cover was tricky to remove. What is the typical failure mode of the belt - snapping, or slipping a tooth?

With regard to replacing the tensioner, I've read differing opinions - in this (http://www.lancisti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2404) post, SubGothius says to check for smooth operation, but not to replace it if it spins smoothly since the original ones are better but NLA.

As for the fuel issues, that little filter on the (US) passenger's side fender looks clean and clear. Is there another filter somewhere? The guy who had it for a month didn't even transfer the title over to himself, but he did change all the fluids and replace filters. While the car sat for about 10 years, it did get started & run every so often, and was stored with a full gas tank.

The car does have power steering, although I'm not sure it's operational - I need to top off the reservoir. Any particular fluid I should use?

Thanks for the help so far!

[1,6 HF]

Good call with the belt. I can't recall the typical belt failure; when I had my Betas, I changed them religiously, so I never experienced a failure--just not worth a risk. And if the car's been sitting, the belt can't be trusted--time's as big an enemy as mileage.

[SubGothius]

In my case, the belt slipped a tooth or two, but I'm fairly certain that was more due to tensioner bearing failure, as I discovered my bearing was shot, crunchy and downright sloppy! PS fluid is standard type, aka ATF fluid.