DOH! Timing belt broke...

Topic: DOH! Timing belt broke... (Read 1229 times) previous topic - next topic

DOH! Timing belt broke...

May 01, 2011, 05:22:59 PM

Well, that was fun. I just got off the highway, and was rolling in a 55mph zone, and all of a sudden, a slight engine buck, and the tach dropped to zero. I let it roll until I came to a small side street and whipped it in there. When I hit the key, it turned over too quick... *sigh*... Call the tow truck, I don't even have to open the hood.

You think with only 42k miles, it would be ok. I mean, it's only 26 years old, lol. I should have replaced it sooner. Oh well, a $40 tow bill later, and it's home.

Looks like it shouldn't be too hard. Any quick tips for me?

DOH! Timing belt broke...

Reply #1 – May 01, 2011, 07:02:39 PM

Well, I got the old one out. Turns out it wasn't "broken" per-se. But, it was missing about 20" worth of teeth, heh. some of which were scattered around the belt chamber. Now I get to do some research about how to line this thing back up!

DOH! Timing belt broke...

Reply #2 – May 01, 2011, 08:45:31 PM

Timing belt on our neon went out 6 days after we bought it...less than 100k on it....I knew it was the timing belt when I heard the sound and the car died....by the time my mother in-law was done telling me to check everything else...the valves were bent...gotta love interference engines(and interfering mother in-laws lol)! God I hated that car, but it just wouldn't die....it took a prick in a jeep pulling out in front of us to kill that piece of lol.

DOH! Timing belt broke...

Reply #3 – May 01, 2011, 09:23:55 PM

I am trying like heck to get this thing done tonight... Why I am sitting in front of the PC instead of working is a mystery... I have to keep looking up stuff and I get distracted easily, lol.

I got it back together and it ran like dog , so I am looking at it again, overcomplicating things, you know, good times.

DOH! Timing belt broke...

Reply #4 – May 01, 2011, 09:34:43 PM

Was this on your XR-7? I'd imagine the 2.3 is a lot easier to get at than the 5.0, or is it?

DOH! Timing belt broke...

Reply #5 – May 01, 2011, 11:06:48 PM

Yeah, it's the 2.3t. It's would be super easy to replace when it's not broken. When it breaks, you have to line everything back up. I had the old one out in 30-45 minutes or so. I am finished now. It took me about 5 hours total, but I took a lot of breaks, heh. It's strange, I have less turbo lag now. I must have been off a little before hand, or that belt was sloppy this whole time.

I looked up a lot of people's procedures for doing the belt job, and many people have way too many extra steps in there (such as removing the radiator, thermostat housing, power steering pump, etc). Granted this may be for other 2.3 vehicles or years, but I found a few shortcuts that I will share-

1. Breaking the crank pulley bolt loose- This is difficult without an impact gun. I have one, but it is a gutless chinese wonder. My trick involves one of those jumbo wrenches (like this http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/wrenches/6-piece-sae-jumbo-combination-wrench-set-925.html). 1-7/8" to be exact. This wrench fits on the flats of that ring that surrounds the crank bolt. Put it on the flats and turn it until it hits the floor. Now put your breaker bar on the pulley bolt and the jumbo wrench will hold the pulley from turning. I am sure there are a million ways to do this job, but I was just glad to find a use for these jumbo wrenches I bought ages ago.

2. The timing cover bolt that is behind the thermostat housing neck- Here's why they tell you to take the housing off, and drain the radiator, etc. Not necessary. Take a 10mm 1/4" drive socket on the end of a 6" extension or so and back the bolt out about 3/8". You cant take the bolt out, it hits the thermostat outlet. Anyway, just back it out as far as you can without getting it stuck. The timing cover is notched to lift off (the hole is "n" shaped). It's kinda rough to wiggle it back in there, putting it back on, but it beats draining the coolant.

3. The Auxiliary Sprocket- The auxiliary sprocket is a fun little obstacle. There is no pointer on the front. If you want to see the pointer, it's on the back. But you don't need to know where it is. All the aux cog does is drive the distributor (and oil pump). Set the cam to the center mark, set the crank to TDC, pull your dizzy cap, and point the rotor to #1 (when you turn the rotor, you can see the aux cog spin). With those three lined up, put on your belt. Make sure the sprockets didn't move while you were wrestling it on. Set the tension, and put the crank pulley back on. Turn the engine over with a breaker bar 2 full rotations and recheck your marks.

The rest is just turnin' bolts :)

DOH! Timing belt broke...

Reply #6 – May 02, 2011, 12:25:07 AM

All the ones I've taken apart the Aux sprocket had the same mark as the cam sprocket. This make its so much simpler. Then you just use a straight edge and center it on both cam gear bolt and aux gear bolt line up both marks with the straight edge and your set. That is how always set mine up.I'm not sure but I do believe the cam and aux gears are the same. Even think you can turn them over either way and they will work. So just maybe someone before installed the aux gear backwards.

Hoping to help
Stuckman