Timing belt slipping off.
11-25-2014, 01:34 PM
#1
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Timing belt slipping off.
I noticed that I was leaking coolant from somewhere. Popped the hood to find that the timing belt is slipping off the cam gear and has worn through the timing cover, to rip the coolant hose that runs right in front of it. I know the tbelt has to be replaced asap. What I'm wondering is if my timing belt actually snapped or is it just falling off? What could be causing this?
11-25-2014, 08:33 PM
#2
The timing belt has not snapped. If it had, the engine does not run.
Do not drive the car very fast, if at all in this condition, I mean it!
I would say the combustion engine gods smiled on you to catch this one.
If the belt snaps when the engine is running fast, high probability of catastrophic failure and major rebuild. Just so you understand, when the belt snaps, the cams in the head stop, the valves therefore stop going up and down, but the engine is in motion, the cylinders don't stop so suddenly, impacting on valves, resulting in bent valves, damaged head, sometimes punching holes in the pistons, can result in buying another engine is cheaper than repairing.
Of course, some have 'good luck' stories of little damage, belt snapped while the engine was at idle etc, but usually if a belt snaps it's when it's under load (ie fast acceleration) and the damage is horrific.
Without seeing the engine the why is harder to say. The belt has a tension adjuster, as the belt stretches over time, the adjuster tightens up the slack. Could be this has failed, or the belt has stretched so much the adjuster has no more travel, or the belt is actually coming apart. Could be the cam sprocket coming off the front of the cam.
Whatever the reason, get yourself a timing belt kit from ECS, Europaparts, Pelican etc and replace the belt, tensioner and relay roller. I would replace the water pump and the thermostat while your at it, only because you are removing the front of the car for this project, so buy the kit that replaces everything while your in there.
The job is actually not that bad to do. there are good write ups on this site and others, and if you buy a kit from a stockist like the ones I mentioned, they have step by step writeups as well.
Put aside a day, you need space to take the front off the car (they are designed to do this easily) and move it out of the way, the job is actually straight forward.
Do not drive the car very fast, if at all in this condition, I mean it!
I would say the combustion engine gods smiled on you to catch this one.
If the belt snaps when the engine is running fast, high probability of catastrophic failure and major rebuild. Just so you understand, when the belt snaps, the cams in the head stop, the valves therefore stop going up and down, but the engine is in motion, the cylinders don't stop so suddenly, impacting on valves, resulting in bent valves, damaged head, sometimes punching holes in the pistons, can result in buying another engine is cheaper than repairing.
Of course, some have 'good luck' stories of little damage, belt snapped while the engine was at idle etc, but usually if a belt snaps it's when it's under load (ie fast acceleration) and the damage is horrific.
Without seeing the engine the why is harder to say. The belt has a tension adjuster, as the belt stretches over time, the adjuster tightens up the slack. Could be this has failed, or the belt has stretched so much the adjuster has no more travel, or the belt is actually coming apart. Could be the cam sprocket coming off the front of the cam.
Whatever the reason, get yourself a timing belt kit from ECS, Europaparts, Pelican etc and replace the belt, tensioner and relay roller. I would replace the water pump and the thermostat while your at it, only because you are removing the front of the car for this project, so buy the kit that replaces everything while your in there.
The job is actually not that bad to do. there are good write ups on this site and others, and if you buy a kit from a stockist like the ones I mentioned, they have step by step writeups as well.
Put aside a day, you need space to take the front off the car (they are designed to do this easily) and move it out of the way, the job is actually straight forward.
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