i looked around but its hard for me to find something that i dont even know the correct name, so maybe you can help me. i recently cut my valve cover to expose those high end oem cam gears, but since i did its almost like the car got noisier. when the hood is up i can hear the belt hitting something, what is the name of that belt? and when should it be replaced, id kind of like to replace it before it slips and its bye bye motor, can anyone help me?

 

First, that cover is there for a reason. To keep debris from falling into the timing belt area and chewing up the belt. (Trust me its happened to me before). Second, maybe something did fall down in there. You didn't cut the cover with it on the car or something did you?

 

nope, i took it off to cut it, cleaned it thoroughly to before putting it back on, im just wondering if the belt has seen its day, and needs to be replaced.

 

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Uhhh... A timing belt?

 

this is what i thought, just wanted to make sure. so when do you know when its time to be replaced? i can see the seem go around, but its almost like there a frey in the belt also that goes around.

 

If the belt is worn and frayed then you shouldn't need a response on the forum to tell you to replace it... Worn timing belts = belt failure = catastrophic engine damage.

Get it changed ASAP.