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Ugh! Timing belt woes


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Timing belt broke on Ned tonight in mid-drive...

 

Sisters account (she was driving him)

- heard what sounded like a fuse blew

- engine stopped

- tries to turn over but wont fire (no spark)

 

So I went, tried to start him with key, again, no avail. Sounded like compression test does so that told me it wasnt getting spark.

 

Looked under hood, didnt suspect timing belts as they have less than 20k on them.

 

10 minutes later (and several push start attempts) nothing. So lifted hood again and sister said something was dangling below front bumper... it was my driver side timing belt... LOOKS half cut and half torn (think somebody is $&^2ing with my car)

 

Now, weird things:

Why would timing belt break at 1/3 of its life (yes I am coverless)

Why dont my power door locks work right now?

HID headlights, only left one turns on and the right one is hissing now (was working before car shut off)

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Wont happen. :clap: I love this car. I have so many plans...

 

I guess Im gonna have to get a *good* alarm system and stuff...

 

I just cant understand why some stuff stopped working right now... battery is still hooked up and stuff... its not dead or anything :/

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Look at the hid bulb it self, this rarely happens (it happened to me tho) the bulb filament things on the top broke so it didn't work and my other side was working but didn't sound right.

 

Also you could raise the hood lever things so its harder to open your hood, that might deter some one if they are messing with your car.

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belt likely broke due to contamination or the pulley bearings.

 

replace all the bearings and tensioner, if they're not new or like new then they'll generate more heat and possibly fail too - degrading the belt material.

 

when you replace the belt it would be wise to replace all the idler pulleys as well.

 

also - any coolant or oil in the belt will cause it to fail. i installed a complete timing belt kit - belt, all new pulleys, on my buddies EA82. the crank seal leaked a month later and i took it apart to replace the crank seal. wiped the oil off the belt and reinstalled it. it only lasted a couple months and broke - oils and fluids cause the belt material to separate.

 

that being said - older EA82 timing belt set ups are not nearly as robust as newer timing belts. so take extra precaution replacing them on time, replacing all the pulleys, and not getting any fluids on them at all.

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Got him running :banana:

 

Everything seemed fine, he runs really well now... but time will tell, last belt lasted <10k hopefully this lasts longer.

 

I know you mentioned that you don't run timing belt covers... I would think that the road grime/weather could effect the bearings on the pulleys.

 

I know there are plenty of people who don't run the covers... just curious.

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It is a risk... but the way to see it...

 

Without timing covers a timing belt job takes 30-45 minutes... and if you (like I shouldve) had spares, its something that can be done on the side of the highway if the belt should break. Ive gone offroading and puddle jumping with no issues until the other night (about 10k miles after the new belts were on) and since I wont be doing anymore offroading, I think my belts will be safe for awhile... The EJ22T install will definitely have timing belts though.

 

Its not really a big deal that it broke because my friend had a brand new spare set, it was just weird because the belt went and I lost my right-side headlight (didnt work) and then when I got the car started with the new belt, it came on, but hes running great now... I got the timing spot on :)

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