Weird Sound From Timing Belt Area?

[Driveway Ornament]

Ok so I was driving my car (1991 plymouth Laser RS Stock) home last night and she decided that the coolant looked better on the floor rather than in the motor so she cracked my turbo coolant feed line. I was only around 5 mins out from my house so I filled up what I could and limped the car home, making sure that the temperature gauge on the car never got into the red. This morning I swapped out the line and filled her back up with coolant. When i tried to start the car again it was hesitant but started after a couple of cranks, and then this started happening:

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The timing belt and water pump were replaced around 3k miles ago. The sound also goes away when the car is revved, but a small puff of smoke comes out of the front of the timing belt right by the power steering pump. Any advice on what this could be? Im guessing the belt is dragging on something but what correlation could this have with the overheating? Did my water pump die from running low? I wanted a second opinion before I started pulling things apart again.

Thanks, Chris

 

[jimsgsx]

That timing belt looks like it is hitting something.

 

[Dsmkauai]

Is there any coolant leaking around the water pump area? It's possible if the water pump is dripping its going all over the timing tensioner. This could have caused it to slip or the tensioner itself to fail. Try to pin point the noise!

 

[Driveway Ornament]

It's not leaking anything from the timing belt area but after a second look (thanks jimsgsx) it looks like the belt is dragging on something on the motor side. Looks like I gotta pull the covers again

 

[Dsmkauai]

Belt seems kinda loose. Sounds like the timing cover is rubing somewhere.

 

[Driveway Ornament]

Could it still be the covers if its rubbing on the motor side? And the belt feels pretty tight, but I'll take a look at the tensioner when I pull the covers

 

[eclipse012]

Remove the top timing belt cover. Then take off your driver side front wheel and rotate the engine over by hand and inspect the belt thoroughly. If you are rubbing the timing cover it should show a bit of wear on the belts edge.

 

[DSM1G90]

Is that you on throttle trying to keep it running, or have you got some serious idle issues with that oscillating idle? Bet the cover got warped due to excessive heat.

Little tip though when doing fone videos: flip the fone 90* to the side and create nice widescreen videos where one can see a lot more than being in a pillar window.

 

[Driveway Ornament]

The belt has a tiny bit of wear on the motor side but its not frayed or anything yet as I haven't been driving the car since the noise started. And no that not me, I have serious idle issues that also started at the same time the noise did after the car lost coolant and sorry about the video, I took it to show my friend what it sounded like it wasn't really meant for visuals.

 

[Dsmkauai]

Did you put the wrong bolts in the oil pan? There's 2 shorter bolts that go in front by the timing Cover, if you use the longer ones they can hit the timing belt.

 

[Driveway Ornament]

Last people to touch the oil pan were boostin' performance so I'm guessing they did it correctly, but you never know, ill check that too. How long should the bolts on the timing belt side be?

 

[Dsmkauai]

They (2bolts) are just alittle shorter than all the other pan bolts.

 

[jimsgsx]

So whats going on did you find whats rubbing on there? Make sure when you do find the problem to change that timing belt, tensioner etc. Then check for a bad maf and isc for the idle problem. Do a tuneup plugs, wires, etc. Normal maintenance goes a long way.

 

[Driveway Ornament]

So it turns out that the tensioner has gone bad. After talking to my friend who did the timing job for me he told me that he replaced the belt and water pump but not the tensioner as "they do not need replacing" ... and the idle problem arose the same time as the timing belt issue but I'm gonna forget about that for now until I replace the tensioner. Ill be doing the work this time because you know what they say, If you want something done right, do it yourself.

Plugs and wires are pretty new as I do try to stay as up to date as possible on maintenance. The better the engine runs the more power

 

[jimsgsx]

Nice. It's a good feeling when you find the problem.

 

[Dsmkauai]

I knew it was something with that tensioner!! Lol JJ glad you found the issue bro! Now you can fix and boost away safely, get yourself the j-racing timing tool kit, makes life so much easier for a timing job or even to replace the temsioner!

 

[Driveway Ornament]

Thanks guys I appreciate the help! and finally its gonna be back on the road again, well not really because its sitting in the garage for winter but when summer rolls around and hopefully ill be able to put some money back and make some good power with it next year. If i could run a 12.4 like your gst ill be pretty happy!! I read over you mod list and it doesn't seem too difficult what tires were you running? Radials or Slicks?

 

[Dsmkauai]

Ya bro done with all used parts for the most part . It's all about having the right mods to support what your doing, and a good tune. And knowing how to drive/handle your car! And I'm running the hoosier qtp's at the track. Good for low 1.7 60' with my gst! All done on a maxed out hrc s16g at 19.5-20psi flowing 37lb/min! I think the setup had high 11's in it. If my stupid balance shaft belt hadn't taken out my motor. I porbably would have found out!

 

[DSM1G90]

"they do not need replacing"

Take it that he's never did a 4G63 belt, nor never done belts in general since he thinks that sealed roller bearings last a lifetime. ..

Think I'd stay totally clear from this guy.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

So what did you replace, and did it solve the problem? Was it the hydraulic plunger part of the tensioner? I have had a similar noise from some of my engines that goes away when the engine warms up.