mattasi
15+ Year Contributor
- 838
- 5
- Feb 22, 2008
-
Springfield,
Oregon
Hello fellow DSM'ers. So 3 months ago my fully built English Racing long block snapped its timing belt after only 20k miles.
So with no help coming from English (I tried), I had the head rebuilt with new valves by Garage 808 (local shop) and did the rest of the work myself. (for more on that subject and why I think English should have stood up and helped me fix this, see my build journal and feel free to comment after reading post #226. http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/97-gsx-build.419169/page-10)
Anyways,... during disassembly I inspected the timing belt cover and you can see how the timing belt walked over and into the timing cover. (pics below) Oh and what looks like dirt is actually plastic/belt particles (only 20k miles ago this cover was brand new and installed by English Racing.)
This next picture is the part of the cover that goes over the oil pump sprocket.
When inspecting the snapped belt it has three other spots where it was starting to rip across the belt, all of these spots are on the timing belt cover side, the engine side of the belt looked great with no wear.
So here I am at this point where I have the car back together and running well again and have put 50 miles on the car and am loving having my car back! (haven't hit boost yet thou I'm scared ). I am worried about this timing belt snapping again as I don't really know why it happened in the first place, and also I don't want this one to snap resulting in a head rebuilt or worse, again haha...
So last night I investigated,... I took the timing cover off just to take a close look at all the timing components. Everything looked fine except I did notice that the belt is riding on the very outside edge of the idler pulley. Looking at the picture below you can clearly see where the belt rides on the idler pulley.
So then I looked down at the oil pump sprocket... It has a big metal washer thing to guide the belt? Well I think that the belt is rubbing on that metal guide washer as you can see some of the oil sprocket gear on the engine side but not on the other side as the belt is right up against the "washer guide". The belt is centered nicely on the cam gears, the tensioner pulley, and the crank sprocket. It's just not centered on the idler pulley and oil pump sprocket...The idler pulley, tensioner pulley, hydraulic tensioner, timing belt and even the arm that the hydraulic tensioner pushes onto that has the pivot point on the motor mount bracket are all brand new OEM Mitsubishi parts. From this detailed post I would really appreciate any help/advise/experience you can give me on why this belt is not centered on the idler and oil pump sprockets. Thanks for your time, -Matthew
-Also looking at the damage on the timing belt cover I can't see how the belt was able to hit the cover that much unless the belt actually went over that metal washer lip edge!? that has me very worried. Please any help would help me big time.
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So with no help coming from English (I tried), I had the head rebuilt with new valves by Garage 808 (local shop) and did the rest of the work myself. (for more on that subject and why I think English should have stood up and helped me fix this, see my build journal and feel free to comment after reading post #226. http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/97-gsx-build.419169/page-10)
Anyways,... during disassembly I inspected the timing belt cover and you can see how the timing belt walked over and into the timing cover. (pics below) Oh and what looks like dirt is actually plastic/belt particles (only 20k miles ago this cover was brand new and installed by English Racing.)
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
This next picture is the part of the cover that goes over the oil pump sprocket.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
When inspecting the snapped belt it has three other spots where it was starting to rip across the belt, all of these spots are on the timing belt cover side, the engine side of the belt looked great with no wear.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
So here I am at this point where I have the car back together and running well again and have put 50 miles on the car and am loving having my car back! (haven't hit boost yet thou I'm scared ). I am worried about this timing belt snapping again as I don't really know why it happened in the first place, and also I don't want this one to snap resulting in a head rebuilt or worse, again haha...
So last night I investigated,... I took the timing cover off just to take a close look at all the timing components. Everything looked fine except I did notice that the belt is riding on the very outside edge of the idler pulley. Looking at the picture below you can clearly see where the belt rides on the idler pulley.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
So then I looked down at the oil pump sprocket... It has a big metal washer thing to guide the belt? Well I think that the belt is rubbing on that metal guide washer as you can see some of the oil sprocket gear on the engine side but not on the other side as the belt is right up against the "washer guide". The belt is centered nicely on the cam gears, the tensioner pulley, and the crank sprocket. It's just not centered on the idler pulley and oil pump sprocket...The idler pulley, tensioner pulley, hydraulic tensioner, timing belt and even the arm that the hydraulic tensioner pushes onto that has the pivot point on the motor mount bracket are all brand new OEM Mitsubishi parts. From this detailed post I would really appreciate any help/advise/experience you can give me on why this belt is not centered on the idler and oil pump sprockets. Thanks for your time, -Matthew
-Also looking at the damage on the timing belt cover I can't see how the belt was able to hit the cover that much unless the belt actually went over that metal washer lip edge!? that has me very worried. Please any help would help me big time.