[Dodo]

Question for all you crxers out there, what are the signs that say your Timing belt is going?

My engine has been acting wierd lately and a mech told me its most likely the timing belt but i thought id ask the people that know the car best.

 

[jfrolang]

I don't know of any specific symptoms, but if it's been more than 60,000 miles since it was changed, get a new one in there. If you don't know how old it is, get a new one in there. A broken t-belt can make your whole engine dead weight.

 

[rex2nr]

I didn't know you could feel a timing belt going bad... check the ribbing on the belt for cracking, but if there is any doubt, change it.

 

[toxiclows]

If you have to ask, just change it out. . . . that is the thing with those darn t belts. . . . . they just go on you. . . . with no real pre warnings.. . . if you are lucky if your waterpump goes bad and starts makin noise as now you have an excuse to go in there. . . . . and chenge the belt as welll but i would just go ahead and change it.. . . . not worth risking t he whole engine

 

[rex2nr]

yea mine popped with no warning. I was luckily coasting to a stop sign when it went... had the engine in a week.

 

[Eric_Draven]

For me the belt was sqealing as I was driving and when I took it in it had cracked half way across then up and down making a T in the belt. I lucked out not having it break on me.

 

[Dodo]

Well since i dont know how many miles are on the belt, so i'll change it just to be safe.
But that means that there's still a problem with her. She seems to skip every so offen. What would case it to skip?

 

[dohcrxl]

What do you mean by skip?... like a misfire followed by a slight stumble?

My engine has been acting wierd lately and a mech told me its most likely the timing belt

Whatever mechanic it is that tells you the cause of an engine acting weird is "most likely a timing belt" is most likely just taking out his you know what. There are no symptoms of a timing belt is going bad. When they decide to go they will just go. If the car has over 100k on it and you do not have a record of when the belt was changed, best bet to do so.

 

['9445]

Some of the belts have what looks like a date code on them which may give you some idea if it's been changed. But yeah if you don't know it's been changed, better do it or you may end up with a broken motor in the middle of nowhere. All the ones I've changed over the years look "just fine" after 90k miles, so there is really no way to tell how old they are by looking.

I've never heard of a transient symptom of a bad timing belt. If it's skipped a tooth or two, you're going to notice that all the time because the valve timing is way off.

And while you're in there, put in a new water pump. They're cheap, it only takes about 5 minutes more to do that just the timing belt, and it's the one thing that can break a perfectly good timing belt for you if it seizes up.

 

[Dodo]

If there's one thing i dont cheap out on, its my car. When i do the timing belt, im doing it right. water pump and idle puller will be changed as well.

The skip is hard to explain. It idles smooth, expect for the valve lash chatter, something else that i need to fix, then every once in a while the engine will skip but contine to idle fine. I only notice it at idle.