Symptoms of a bad timing belt?

Taylor3180 · 06-12-2007, 01:10 PM

Just curious what the symptoms of a bad timing belt are. A buddy of mine heard me start my car and its squealin for like 5 seconds and goes away. And thats from a cold start but from turning the car off and starting it again it makes no noise. My buddy says thats what his did before it broke any truth to this i've never heard of that and when I take the top cover off it looks in pretty good shape.

jim97gst · 06-12-2007, 01:21 PM

The timing belt has teeth, so it won't squeal. Sounds like one of the accessory belts is loose. Tighten the accessory belts to see if it goes away.

If the timing belt looks good, but you suspect it might have a problem, then you might want to check the tensioner as well. Actually, if you have no idea when the timing belt was last changed, you might want to go ahead and change it anyway.

Cs4g63 · 06-12-2007, 01:27 PM

^^^^ I agree.
Your accessory belts are what is making the noise. You should inspect them for missing ribs, missing sections of rubber, cracks, or to see if they just plain look like crap. They are a simple and inexpensive fix.

Taylor3180 · 06-12-2007, 02:01 PM

Thanks for the help I was just out looking at the car and noticed the belt for the power steering and I believe the ac was a little loose so a little tighten and it is fine I thank you for the help once again.

Eclipse98_RS · 06-12-2007, 05:00 PM

If you tighten the belts and it comes back that means the pulleys could be bad too. I have had to tighten my belts 2 times now. Definitly NOT timing belt though.

Defiant · 06-13-2007, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taylor3180

A buddy of mine heard me start my car and its squealin for like 5 seconds and goes away.

You have a blown harmonic balancer.

flyinghighlm · 06-13-2007, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Defiant

You have a blown harmonic balancer.

yep yep, same issue I had and thats what defiant told me it was, spent the 90$ on a new one and the problems are all gone. I spent a month chassing sounds, wish I would have known this sooner,lol.

Grescht · 09-16-2008, 04:42 PM

I was told my harmonic balancer was blown.. but it turns out it was the PS belt the whole time. When the belts slip they get a glaze on the inside of them that most of the time no matter how tight you make them, they still slip. I replaced the belt tightened it up nice, and no squealing.

wow, this thread is old... lol