timing belt issues

[BENE38A]

today i was redoing the valve cover seal and luckily noticed that my timing belt appeared loose, i will put up some pics of it tommorow in the day light but what am i looking for here it has quite a bit of deflection in it and i can even go side to side (only a couple of millemetres) but im sure that aint good, damn im glad i seen it though could have been costly, i think since im asking this i will go and just replace the belt, tensioner, waterpump etc and i think i gotta have a look at the oil pump too, could be my answer to some of my unkwown engine noise.

 

[BENE38A]

another thing this engine has been re-built so the head and block surfaces were resurfaced, i didnt do the build so i dont know how much has been taken off and thickness of headgasket etc not great but is what it is, will the tensioner have enough in it to absorb these changes from stock or are there different length cambelts? engine has balance shaft delete.

 

[brisvr4]

Is it loose between the cam gears? If so this is normal.

 

[BENE38A]

yes but looks abnormally loose, will check it tommorow

 

[mcbride89]

The resurfacing of block and head shouldn't have affect on deflection of the belt. The main tension is applied via the tensioner pulley and the automatic tensioner keeps it there. Replace that pulley as well. I'd take a look at the hydraulic tensioner and see if it's leaking though. good catch.

 

[EfiniX]

^^^^^THIS^^^^^
And I know there are varying schools of thought on the topic, but my mechanic (EHMotorsports) says always go OEM on the belt tensioner. JNZ carries them and because this one part can mean the life or death of your motor, I figure it's worth the extra cheddar.

 

[prove_it]

Yea, I've seen aftermarket tensioners fail at 10k miles.

Pending on where the engine is stopped, you can have up to an inch of deflection between the cam gears.

Also when setting the tensioner and pretension on the pulley, there is a certain way of doing this.

 

[coyotes]

I have a gates tensioner... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[4doorboost]

gates is fine, they make quality parts. its more autozone and cheepy parts that fail. I run gates belt and personally i wouldnt be worried. Just my 2 cents

 

[transparentdsm]

Quoting prove_it:
Yea, I've seen aftermarket tensioners fail at 10k miles.



^this, on 1078 i had an aftermarket tensioner and after roughly 10k miles the tensioner literally exploded and took the head with the car. thankfully it was just in the driveway, i turned the car on and let it warm up for 10 minutes, went and put it in reverse and pow, car shut off. game over.

 

[mitsuturbo]

Quoting BENE38A:
today i was redoing the valve cover seal and luckily noticed that my timing belt appeared loose, i will put up some pics of it tommorow in the day light but



But where are the photos?

Unless you've pulled the lower timing cover off, and you've checked the tensioner, you're barking up the wrong tree.

 

[gvr4ever]

^^^^ This

The belt can seem rather loose depending on where the engine is turned, but it will tighten as well.

Take the lower t-belt cover off and measure the gap on the tensioner and look for leaks. Hit up vfaq.com t-belt change for instructions. I think the gap should be 4mm, but verify that.

If you have zero history on the timing belt on your car, you might want to change it anyway, with a new water pump.

 

[BENE38A]

"But where are the photos?
Unless you've pulled the lower timing cover off, and you've checked the tensioner, you're barking up the wrong tree."

yes mate as above it got dark, when you guys are awake im normally asleep.

so pulled off the lower timing cover and set crank on the mark. the oil pump matches and the cams line up nicely so its in time, as for the tensioner it appears in good condition, no oil seeping or leaking brand unkwown check the pic to see if its oem, i flooded the engine yesterday after i turned it over a few times to see if the timing belt stiffened up, which it did but now the car will not start i got fuel, spark and it coughs and pops but dont start. where to go from here im not sure, this time of the year im always short on money so to go and splash out on all new parts isnt possible yet, luckily it aint needed for driving duties at the moment so i think i may bite the bullet and strip it, start rebuilding the subframes. i want to freshin up the engine, i have noise, checked the sump and its clear of metal flakes or grindings but im not convinced, not sure on what BSE kit was used in this car and ive heard not so great things about most other methods of doing this so i think im going to join the J.S.B club.

 

[EHmotorsports]

the dowel pins for the cams need to be pointing up when number 1 cyl is at TDC.

 

[BENE38A]

yea sorry wrong photo

 

[coyotes]

interestingly, my cam gears did not have marks on them.

 

[BENE38A]

they are grooves but at some point have been highlighted with some paint

 

[mcbride89]

As for your no start. Have you verified you coolant temp sensor is in working order? You should have 5 volts on the plug with key on the "on" position and ten measure resistance on the sensor itself which will vary with how cold it is outside. If it's near 32 degrees out expect to see 5kish on your multimeter. With it about 68 degrees F, you should see about 22-2600K

 

[BENE38A]

no, examining the timing side was all i was in the mood for, what tool do i need a multi-meter? this was another thing in the back of my mind because the car was running fairly rich, black soot up the bumper and i understand this is a symptom of a poor working sensor. ive got flipping leaks galore too gotta replace the steering rack and get the transmission resealed so again will be ripped apart YAY. its a love hate relationship, i love the car, the car hates me.

 

[FlyingEagle]

The OEM Mitsubishi timing tensioner assembly shows you the last 3 numbers of it's full part make-up, as embossed on the parts exterior; in your case a 533 which is a standard part for 6 bolt 4G6X motors, 4g61/63/67/64. This is part MD164533. So, you are good to go in that department.

Thought the teeth on the oil spacer/slinger behind the crank pulley was actually a balance shaft belt sitting loose there! Had to do a double take and look at both crank pictures!!