I was checking out the timing belt on my friends car as we were working on the motor and doing some maintenance this weekend and I noticed a verticle slit/line on his timing belt.. I asked him about it and he didn't know... so I asked him how old it was (the timing belt since the last T-belt change) and he said about 20K miles old...

is the diagonal slit where they assemble/seam/construct it together? or is that a crack in his timing belt? is this anything to worry about and should the belt be changed? the belt seems tight and otherwise it looks good (no cracks or chip marks or anything)... but we're just wondering if the diagonal slit is anything to worry about.. or if thats where they put it together/connected the ends to form a belt?

it looks something like this |/| where the slit is diagonal... sorry no picture/digital cam....

 

that's probably just where they connect the timing belt together. timing belts are made in a big long line, and at some point, they have to loop them together. a slightly diagonal line should offer more surface area to bond to, as opposed to just making the timing belt stick together with perfectly horizontal flat edges. is that it? it's on the outside of the belt, where there are no teeth showing, rite? i could be wrong, too. just a guess...

 

yeah its on the outside of the belt not on the side w/ the teeth.. its a diagonal line.. I suspected thats where its assembled/put together (where the 2 ends meet to form a belt) but just wasn't sure so I asked.. thanks for the response...

 

just checked my car, i have that same line on my timing belt... stock oem. hope that helps.

 

thanks I guess its normal then....