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wierd timming belt wear

Hey guys
i noticed the car was running really rough this afternoon and wouldnt idle.
by the time i got it home it would bearly run so i checked out what was causing the bad idle.
i heard a wierd noise that sounded like sucking but short bursts and it was coming from the timing cover so i descided to take it off to find the timming belt was only half as wide as it should be. lol i dont know what caused it but something has worn the half closest to the motor down to nothing. luckily it was still holding but could have gone bad. so does anyone know what could have been wearing on the timing belt to cause this.
cheers guys.
 

91GSR

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
728
Location
Newport News, VA
you should find out what is wrong when you change it. best recommendation is to not even try starting the car until it is all replaced. might as well get a tensioner and tensioner pulley along with idler pulley and water pump while you're at it. my guess would be that one of the pulleys is angled wrong or bent and is pushing your timing belt towards the inside rubbing it down. not sure tho. tear it apart and find the rubbage.
 

Definitely don't start it again, you don't want to find out the hard way that it doesn't hold anymore. Like the guy above me said take off the lower timing belt cover, before you do anything run your hand along the timing belt the best you can and try to find the point of contact/wear. Otherwise if you take off the timing belt before hand you might not be able to see the wear point, though unlikely since timing belts are pretty stiff.
 

evo8ya

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
351
Location
PA/MD
There are 2 10mm bolts on the oil pan (T-belt side) that needs to be shorter than the rest. If they are to long they will wear a grove in the T-belt and in your case... cut it in half. It's fairly common to happen, if you're not very familiar with all the little corks these engines have.
 
Last edited:

fivestardsm

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
1,699
Location
Middle, Michigan
Just as everyone else has stated so far, DO NOT START IT!
All of the fragments of the belt are sitting in the bottom just waiting to get sucked into the gear. As soon as it happens, its all over.

The bolts in the pan are a pretty comon problem, expecially if the motor has been apart in the last 10-20k.

One of the most common reasons for this kind of wear is the bearings in the idlers and tensioners wear out and cause them to tilt a little which makes the belt run off causing it to wear on the edge.

I have pulled quite a few motors apart that have had the same problem. I usually toss all the pulleys and tensioners when I see that.
 
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