1G 1g timing belt condition

[Bounty]

Hello I picked up a 91 talon n/t 2.0L. It has sat for about a year before the guy I got it from replaced the brake booster, new clutch,new oil sensors and pump, new master slave, new brakes and maybe a new timing belt fairly recent? What is your guy's opinion?

 

[silvreclips]

If you don't have proof that it was replaced. Then I wouldn't take a chance.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

ME TOO!!! Very important and isnt THAT hard of a job on both motor types, turbo or not.

 

[Bounty]

I plan on doing it but there's a few smaller issues I'd like to take care of first, regarding the idle the guy said it's the tps but I am not convinced. I believe it could just be bad plugs, wires and dirty maf. Idles at 2.5k on cold start then idles really rough when warm but not erratic and feels like it's just lacking power you can tell it wants to go but something's holding it back. I only drive about 8 miles both ways to work so I was trying to get some opinions on the condition of the belt itself to see if I could wait a bit.

 

[silvreclips]

Check the underside of the belt. If you don't see any cracking between the teeth you may be ok to drive it some. You have 0 warning before the belt actually fails and that's when the repair bill can get expensive

 

[motomattx]

If your used to a turbo car then the n/t will feel like its lacking power obviously, you can check that the now 30 year old catalytic converter is not clogged though, even partially clogged will bring the power down enough to make it a slug, I would plan on a replacement belt at some point soon enough though, even if the belt wont fail, it could have a cheapo timing belt dampener or idler pulley that's ready to let go or leaking in the case of the dampener, when a person plans to sell a car they don't always use the highest quality parts when doing basic maintenance.

 

[Mech Addict]

Agreed on the last point. I believe I bought a fine example of that. I also am concerned about my timing belt, and ballancer belt. Factory interval is rather short. My 06 Subi was 105k change. Seems like t-belt is one of those classic “as long as you’ve got it appart” deals, when water pump, bunch of pulleys and what not are also replaced on the grounds of having done much of the work already. Starts to drive up both cost and time, though, even if it does make some sense.

 

[motomattx]

For the fuel mileage that the n/t will get you, it will more than pay for the replacement parts of higher quality honestly, plus it should be super reliable, mine was after 300k!

 

[Bounty]

Check the underside of the belt. If you don't see any cracking between the teeth you may be ok to drive it some. You have 0 warning before the belt actually fails and that's when the repair bill can get expensive

Okay I'll check it out tomorrow, thanks for the advice.

 

[Bounty]

If your used to a turbo car then the n/t will feel like its lacking power obviously, you can check that the now 30 year old catalytic converter is not clogged though, even partially clogged will bring the power down enough to make it a slug, I would plan on a replacement belt at some point soon enough though, even if the belt wont fail, it could have a cheapo timing belt dampener or idler pulley that's ready to let go or leaking in the case of the dampener, when a person plans to sell a car they don't always use the highest quality parts when doing basic maintenance.

I mean I've been daily driving a 95 n/a Volvo 850 wagon and that thing had more get up and go... which that thing was a turd I know a non turbo talon is faster than that. My Volvo kept up basically even in a 2002 dodge with the v6, the Talon cannot keep up at all.

 

[pauleyman]

I plan on doing it but there's a few smaller issues I'd like to take care of first, regarding the idle the guy said it's the tps but I am not convinced. I believe it could just be bad plugs, wires and dirty maf. Idles at 2.5k on cold start then idles really rough when warm but not erratic and feels like it's just lacking power you can tell it wants to go but something's holding it back. I only drive about 8 miles both ways to work so I was trying to get some opinions on the condition of the belt itself to see if I could wait a bit.

Do not clean the maf. These cars do not use a wire sensor maf it's a karman vortex type sensor and they do not require cleaning

 

[Bounty]

Do not clean the maf. These cars do not use a wire sensor maf it's a karman vortex type sensor and they do not require cleaning

Okay I did not clean it, I changed plugs and wires seemed to have helped the idle surge/rough idle

 

[Mech Addict]

How did the plugs look? Obvious problems. If it fixed it, that's great, but sometimes just a short term deal if something else is the cause, and plug fouling just a symptom.