I personally will never use a blue gates timing belt after I saw what happened to my cousin's built evo using one. Belt broke when doing a pull, had probably 10k miles on it. About $8-10k down the drain. I only use OEM when it comes to timing components moving forward.

for everyday driving I will go with gates, later down the line if you decide to mod the snot out of your car I will suggest to use oem parts.

Bringing this thread back only to chime in on my experience with a gates timing tensioner. I bought the gates kit last year, installed it and upon start up the gates tensioner failed. It only idled for a few minutes before failure. After investigating what happened I found fluid had leaked from the tensioner. BUT it might have been my fault, I had to compress the tensioner because I goofed up and pulled the pin at the wrong time. So I compressed it...maybe I didn't compress it slow enough but for what ever reason it failed. So now that I have a new motor I'm too scared to give gates tensioner another go so OEM it is.

I use a gates kit but oem tensioner also. Been using them for 10 years.

Gates tensioners work fine, people. Install it correctly and it will last forever. Speaking from my personal experience.

But how do you install it CORRECTLY .... That's the biggest question. Im bout to do mine soon , just bought a dsm so i gotta go over everything on the car since the previous owner didnt know jack shit. I used to own a Z33 and everything on it was really easy to work on, its my first dsm so its a whole new ball game to me

Get the timing tools and make life easier!

I have about 20k miles on the gates kit and tensioner is fine. I have compressed it at least 7 times over the 20k and have had no problem with it. The water pump that came with the kit only lasted 18k and then Started leaking bad.

I've been running the gates timing belt for several years now with nothing but great things to say. I'm using the oem tensioner. Timing kit tools make everything easier and safer not to mess up the tensioner. U can easily ruin one. Ask me how I know

So the car has about 90k on it. Should i just go and replace the belt or everything belts and pulleys , water pump ? How hard of a job is it ? I've been looking at vids and they seem pretty complicated especially for a 4cyl
Any tip is appreciated

If you don't know the mileage on it than I would. And look up jafro's vids and use vfaq. It's not hard just takes time and patience and following the right steps all the info is on this site. Just get the timing tools from jnz, extreme psi or stm and get a quality kit.

It looks complicated that's for sure. First time I popped the hood on my dsm it looked complicated as well. Now I see it and am proud of what I've built along the journey and all the experience and knowledge I attained all these years. Just follow everything step by step. Take your time with it. Buy oem parts. Use zip lock bags to save the bolts and organize everything. The right tools make the job easier.

I had a gate belt on for awhile and the belt is fine, i only used the oem tensioner though

Terrj said:

So the car has about 90k on it. Should i just go and replace the belt or everything belts and pulleys , water pump ? How hard of a job is it ? I've been looking at vids and they seem pretty complicated especially for a 4cyl
Any tip is appreciated

Click to expand...

Study up on the vfaq and write ups. After you do a timing belt and tensioner correctly on a DSM you can consider yourself a mechanic

On a scale of one to ten, it's a ten. Because of the precise measurements required and the special tools needed, it is not something you should expect to knock out in 6 hours if this is your first time doing a timing belt and water pump

You should also replace the cam seals and crank seal.

Belt doesn't typically matter on brand, but you should use an OEM hydraulic tensioner assembly

chrysler kid said:

Study up on the vfaq and write ups. After you do a timing belt and tensioner correctly on a DSM you can consider yourself a mechanic

On a scale of one to ten, it's a ten. Because of the precise measurements required and the special tools needed, it is not something you should expect to knock out in 6 hours if this is your first time doing a timing belt and water pump

You should also replace the cam seals and crank seal.

Belt doesn't typically matter on brand, but you should use an OEM hydraulic tensioner assembly

Click to expand...

Yea its just hard to torque everything to spec thats all. Ive done numerous job on my Z33 so im not exactly a noob , im just trying to do everything at once so i dont have to reopen it up again later on. Should i change my cam gears and cam shaft while im at it too ?

First time I did my timing belt it took me at least 9 hours and I was praying to god for no bent valves. But everything worked out lot of research and good tools.

Terrj said:

But how do you install it CORRECTLY .... That's the biggest question. Im bout to do mine soon , just bought a dsm so i gotta go over everything on the car since the previous owner didnt know jack sh**. I used to own a Z33 and everything on it was really easy to work on, its my first dsm so its a whole new ball game to me

Click to expand...

http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/go...he-timing-belt-on-4g63.505483/#post-153602885

Terrj said:

Yea its just hard to torque everything to spec thats all. Ive done numerous job on my Z33 so im not exactly a noob , im just trying to do everything at once so i dont have to reopen it up again later on. Should i change my cam gears and cam shaft while im at it too ?

Click to expand...

Not really, if you have already upgraded your fuel system and your engine management system you can do them at the same time.

However I recommend staying stock at this time as the timing belt tensioner water pump and all seals are a tedious task.

For me the biggest pain was trying to understand how to set the hydraulic tensioner gap, and what that gap ment and why it was needed.

If you have dabbled and don't cut corners I would set aside two days to do the job. It's not back breaking, it's not terrible, but it is tedious doing it the first time. Really the biggest pain in the ass was getting the ac belt tensioner and pulley back installed on the motor. It was hell reaching back there and trying to find the bolt holes from the top and bottom.

I set my engine to true top dead center, I marked my old timing belt and the cam and crank gears, and counted the teeth between the markings on the new belt. So when the new belt went on I knew it was not off a tooth, it was exactly how the car was when last running

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

Terrj said:

Yea its just hard to torque everything to spec thats all. Ive done numerous job on my Z33 so im not exactly a noob , im just trying to do everything at once so i dont have to reopen it up again later on. Should i change my cam gears and cam shaft while im at it too ?

Click to expand...

It is not necessary to change out cam gears/cams while performing this job. You should, however, inspect all of the seals. It is much easier to replace them now.

2gmitsueclipse said:

It is not necessary to change out cam gears/cams while performing this job. You should, however, inspect all of the seals. It is much easier to replace them now.

Click to expand...

Im putting on a new big 16 Evo lll so i might as well change them. Time wont be a problem since i got a spare car, i just hope nothing goes wrong thats all

Terrj said:

Im putting on a new big 16 Evo lll so i might as well change them. Time wont be a problem since i got a spare car, i just hope nothing goes wrong thats all

Click to expand...

Unless you already have a fuel setup to support over 20 psi on a 16g I would not skip steps and get ahead of yourself. That money for caMs and gears would be better spent on dsmlink

chrysler kid said:

Unless you already have a fuel setup to support over 20 psi on a 16g I would not skip steps and get ahead of yourself. That money for caMs and gears would be better spent on dsmlink

Click to expand...

Nah im just putting it on since i got time, im not even planning on pushing over 15psi , i just like to get everything done at once and i dont beat on my car. Im keeping the car for good after all, cant hurt this baby