Timing belt broke while driving
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08-12-2015, 11:22 AM
#28
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Re: Timing belt broke while driving
I just recently replaced a belt - tension and wp looked fine - belt snapped 40 miles later - again. Hopefully I'm OK. Going to replace the lot this time including timing covers since mine in rubbing.
08-17-2015, 03:03 AM
#29
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Re: Timing belt broke while driving
Yeah, something bad is going on there if your belt snapped that fast.
I wouldn't imagine that a plastic cover could cause the belt to fail in 40 miles. look at the belt when you pull it out. If it's a clean break, I would say something is seizing up and causing it to snap, and believe me that's got to be a lot of energy. Even cheap belts have reinforcement fibers in them to make them wear better.
If you know what to listen for, then you could carefully and slowly rotate the crank using your hand so you can feel any resistance and listen to see if you can hear anything bumping.
I have noticed on the last 3 vehicles I have worked on that have had timing belts snap that the cams do have the tendency to rotate off the cam lobes. That is where I think people get lucky. However, one of these cars was poorly maintained. the top of the engine didn't look like it was getting enough oil, and he had to valves that were bent. The cam was not moving freely when we took the top of the head apart. I think that is the problem with that car...93 Civic SOHC.
First thing you are going to have to do is solve the mystery of why the belt snapped. Without having to take everything apart, you should be able to use a coat hangar to be sure all the pistons are below the head in the the stroke. then you should be able to index the cam/s. Of course, they are going to be spring loaded so there will be resistance, but the cam/s should be able to move relatively easy. There should also be a fair amount of fresh oil in the top cavities of the head. (good sign that the oil pump is working)
Once you get passed that, I would be checking the waterpump, and the tensioner.
I usually replace both whenever I put on a new timing belt. Piece of mind is worth the cash to me. If I do this for a friend, that is one of the terms for me helping them.
Let's say you get lucky, and there is no apparent damage...and you satisfy the reason the belt broke in 40 miles. Let's also say you did the smart thing and replaced the pump and tensioner too. Then I would get everything lined up and reassembled. then do a compression test. to be sure that there isnt a valve bent. Your manual should tell you what the high and lows are.
Of course, you could just get everything out of the way before you replace anything put the new timing belt on line everything up and compression test it before you start replacing parts just to be sure you don't have bigger fish to fry. Personally, that is probably what I would do once I figured out why the belt is prematurely snapping.
I wouldn't imagine that a plastic cover could cause the belt to fail in 40 miles. look at the belt when you pull it out. If it's a clean break, I would say something is seizing up and causing it to snap, and believe me that's got to be a lot of energy. Even cheap belts have reinforcement fibers in them to make them wear better.
If you know what to listen for, then you could carefully and slowly rotate the crank using your hand so you can feel any resistance and listen to see if you can hear anything bumping.
I have noticed on the last 3 vehicles I have worked on that have had timing belts snap that the cams do have the tendency to rotate off the cam lobes. That is where I think people get lucky. However, one of these cars was poorly maintained. the top of the engine didn't look like it was getting enough oil, and he had to valves that were bent. The cam was not moving freely when we took the top of the head apart. I think that is the problem with that car...93 Civic SOHC.
First thing you are going to have to do is solve the mystery of why the belt snapped. Without having to take everything apart, you should be able to use a coat hangar to be sure all the pistons are below the head in the the stroke. then you should be able to index the cam/s. Of course, they are going to be spring loaded so there will be resistance, but the cam/s should be able to move relatively easy. There should also be a fair amount of fresh oil in the top cavities of the head. (good sign that the oil pump is working)
Once you get passed that, I would be checking the waterpump, and the tensioner.
I usually replace both whenever I put on a new timing belt. Piece of mind is worth the cash to me. If I do this for a friend, that is one of the terms for me helping them.
Let's say you get lucky, and there is no apparent damage...and you satisfy the reason the belt broke in 40 miles. Let's also say you did the smart thing and replaced the pump and tensioner too. Then I would get everything lined up and reassembled. then do a compression test. to be sure that there isnt a valve bent. Your manual should tell you what the high and lows are.
Of course, you could just get everything out of the way before you replace anything put the new timing belt on line everything up and compression test it before you start replacing parts just to be sure you don't have bigger fish to fry. Personally, that is probably what I would do once I figured out why the belt is prematurely snapping.
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