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1G What is the structural difference b/w MD141454 and MD141456/61 timing belt covers?

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sacrileger

Proven Member
288
43
Jun 26, 2016
Orillia, ON_Canada
i have a "second hand" 6-bolt 4g63 engine which came with a timing belt cover stamped with part number MD141459 S / MD141461 B.
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this particular timing belt cover leaves about 1/2" gap between the oil pan flange and the bottom end of the cover. the timing belt can be clearly seen thru the gap.
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i have never given this gap any serious thought until recently. i live in a rural area and i am often driving on unpaved and/or gravel roads with mud, stones, dirt etc. flying everywhere even at low speeds. in my opinion, one cannot rule out the possibility that some foreign object can enter the timing face area via this gap and potentially cause problems.

i searched this forum and found references to various tbelt covers which also fit the 6-bolt. one such cover is the MD141454. further search of this forum uncovered 6-13 y.o. dead links to " parts for a hyundai sonata from Beck Arnley 038 0265 Timing Cover Engine Timing Cover | eBay and the other looks 1gb Beck Arnley 038 0267 Timing Cover | eBay", Beck/Arnley 038-0265 is packaged and badged as an OEM Hyundai/Kia lower timing belt cover with part number 2135033131. This presumably is the same as the DSM 6-bolt lower timing covers. Some posters claim that a dohc 2.0 Hyundai sonata works just like dsm stock and the part number was 038-0265 beck/arnly for his 6 bolt; some posts are suggesting that MD141456 is black cover and MD141454 silver cover, etc. However, besides comments confirming that these covers bolt on the 6-bolt engine, i have not found any definitive info if any of these covers close the 1/2" gap and this is the information i am hoping to ferret out in this post.

thank you in advance for looking under your car and reporting back if you have timing belt covers which close the gap and if they do, what the part number is.
 
MD141456 and MD141454 do not have a gap that I have ever noticed. There is also a rubber seal around the cover. Are you missing this?
Guessing you have the wrong cover for your engine.
You have no profile so I'm not sure.
 
That is a 6 bolt timing cover. Are all your bolts in place? These two holes use different length bolts. Over time, the cover does deform and warp from heat.

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That is a 6 bolt timing cover. Are all your bolts in place? These two holes use different length bolts. Over time, the cover does deform and warp from heat.

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yes, i have the correct length bolts installed in proper place. i have two of these md141459 covers and when i take a timing belt cover off, i put these bolts into the spare cover. i have gone back into the manual to look up which bolt goes where so i am pretty sure they are in the right places.

the tbelt cover i have is not warped and i tried to push it against the block but the large recessed cylindrical "bolt" is in the way (see pic in the first post).

do you also have a gap on the bottom where mine is or your tbelt cover bolts on flush and eliminates the gap which i am experiencing?

are there any differences b/w md141459 and md141454? besides, perhaps, color?
 
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do you also have a gap on the bottom where mine is or your tbelt cover bolts on flush and eliminates the gap which i am experiencing?

are there any differences b/w md141459 and md141454? besides, perhaps, color?

I do not know the difference between the two part numbers and tbh I’ve never seen a black lower cover (doesn’t mean they don’t exist).

The cover I have is new and it does not have a gap. Previous cover I had sat flush as well.

Obviously something is preventing it from sitting flush. There are 3 metal brackets (2 on head & 1 on block above where the ac compressor), are those straight?
 
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I do not know the difference between the two part numbers and tbh I’ve never seen a black lower cover (doesn’t mean they don’t exist).

The cover I have is new and it does not have a gap. Previous cover I had sat flush as well.

Obviously something is preventing it from sitting flush. There are 3 metal brackets (2 on head & 1 on block above where the ac compressor), are those straight?
i have gone over every bolt to ensure all timing belt cover edges were mounted flush with the block. all steel bushings and bolt guides in the tbelt cover made contact with the studs protruding from the timing face, especially the two lower bolts located at the bottom corners of the tbelt cover. There was a slight warpage at the bottom of the timing belt cover and at some point it rubbed against the back of the pulley, but the warpage was not more than 0.100" by my estimate; not enough to close the gap.

i cannot find a reason why your MD141461 bolts on flush with the oil pan flange and mine doesnt.
it's clear i will have to come up with a kluge to close that gap rather than trying to figure out which MD### timing belt cover was originally intended for my specific block.

needless to say, mitsubishi is known for quality and thus there had to be compelling reasons why mitsu had several versions of the timing belt cover. i am aware that the 1991 models were slightly different than the previous 1990 models and then some time in 1992 more changes came into effect hence i am speculating that there were timing covers specifically molded for specific blocks... but i could be wrong if some of the changes did not involve the size of the oil pan flange, ... or the bolt on aluminum tray/housing behind which the oil pump gears are installed, for example.
 
I do not know the difference between the two part numbers and tbh I’ve never seen a black lower cover (doesn’t mean they don’t exist).

The cover I have is new and it does not have a gap. Previous cover I had sat flush as well.

Obviously something is preventing it from sitting flush. There are 3 metal brackets (2 on head & 1 on block above where the ac compressor), are those straight?
The 56/black one is from galant gvr4. It should be the same as the 54/silver fitment wise, just a different color.
 
The 56/black one is from galant gvr4. It should be the same as the 54/silver fitment wise, just a different color.
Good to know Deric! :thumb:

i have gone over every bolt to ensure all timing belt cover edges were mounted flush with the block. all steel bushings and bolt guides in the tbelt cover made contact with the studs protruding from the timing face, especially the two lower bolts located at the bottom corners of the tbelt cover. There was a slight warpage at the bottom of the timing belt cover and at some point it rubbed against the back of the pulley, but the warpage was not more than 0.100" by my estimate; not enough to close the gap.

i cannot find a reason why your MD141461 bolts on flush with the oil pan flange and mine doesnt.
it's clear i will have to come up with a kluge to close that gap rather than trying to figure out which MD### timing belt cover was originally intended for my specific block.

needless to say, mitsubishi is known for quality and thus there had to be compelling reasons why mitsu had several versions of the timing belt cover. i am aware that the 1991 models were slightly different than the previous 1990 models and then some time in 1992 more changes came into effect hence i am speculating that there were timing covers specifically molded for specific blocks... but i could be wrong if some of the changes did not involve the size of the oil pan flange, ... or the bolt on aluminum tray/housing behind which the oil pump gears are installed, for example.
Since you're installing a new belt, I would remove items under the cover and put the cover back on to eliminate the cause. Last thing you want is something rubbing/melting the cover and a piece fall under the tbelt. This happened to me when my harmonic balancer came apart. Are there any witness marks on the inside of the cover?
 
My old (original?) cover made contact with the belts and got all cut up. I don’t recall if there was a gap with that one. I replaced it with the tbelt and from what I can see (yes, still a little oil leak somewhere- I’ll get to it!) there is no gap. I bought the cover from one of the vendors, and it came in a legit Mitsubishi box with part no MD141454 -COVER TIMIN. The part itself was molded with MD141459 S and right under that MD142461 B. It fits snugly from what I can recall. I’d need to lift the car and remove the cover to get a better photo. These were the best I could suffice at this moment.

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MD141456 and MD141454 do not have a gap that I have ever noticed. There is also a rubber seal around the cover. Are you missing this?
Guessing you have the wrong cover for your engine.
You have no profile so I'm not sure.
the rubber seal was dried out but not enough to eliminated the gap. i also have a gap b/w the cover and timing face for some reason on my talon... but not as large as the gap on the laser.


Are there any witness marks on the inside of the cover?
yes, there were abrasion marks on the timing cover, right behind the oil pump sprocket where the clearance appears to be around 2mm. so,... if a broken off rib got stuck on the sprocket, it would lift the belt and make it rub against the cover.

My old (original?) cover made contact with the belts and got all cut up. I don’t recall if there was a gap with that one. I replaced it with the tbelt and from what I can see (yes, still a little oil leak somewhere- I’ll get to it!) there is no gap. I bought the cover from one of the vendors, and it came in a legit Mitsubishi box with part no MD141454 -COVER TIMIN. The part itself was molded with MD141459 S and right under that MD142461 B. It fits snugly from what I can recall. I’d need to lift the car and remove the cover to get a better photo. These were the best I could suffice at this moment.

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from what i can see from your pics, you have the same gap there as the one i am obsessing about.. see what i got below:

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