The misses car 09 plate with 50k miles broke down at the start of the summer holidays, snapped timing chain! Anyway the car got taken to a local garage her dad uses where they set about stripping and rebuilding the engine. She got the car black last week and after a short journey, 15 miles sat at around 40mph we got back and the smell of burning oil and the heat coming from the side of the engine (the side where the chain would be) I thought was excessive, the thermostat and water and oil levels are ok. She took it to the garage this morning and the mechanic looked at it, rev`ed the engine and said it was ok.

I don’t think the engine should be getting this hot, is there anything I can check/look for or question the mechanic…even for peace of mind..or is it part of the running in process of having the engine re-built?

Any advice or tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

Check the oil feed pipe, no idea where it is but if it’s blocked or split or fallen off it might cause the chain to get hot
I am not a mechanic..

thanks, it may explain the chain getting hot.

Have a look on the Fiat Panda forum as well, its the same engine as the Panda multijet.

ok thanks I will take a look

Define hot. The entire engine will reach over 80deg once fully up to temperature.

It’s probably just some spilt oil burning off after the first decent length run. However if you’re still getting a burnt oil smell after a few decent length runs, then I’d be looking as to why the smell isn’t clearing.

If there is an oil leak it is probably the sump gasket as this butts up against the timing chain cases, if it’s not replaced it’s prone to getting snagged. The other thing they are prone for is spitting oil from the pressure sensor. But if not losing oil or water, is the heater getting hot? If it is sounds all ok to me from this distance. Just keep an eye on oil and water levels for the next few journeys.

well she had done around 150 miles in it and there was still a strong smell of burning oil, with fresh oil near the sump plug. I will keep an eye on the oil level and water level over the next week. thanks