Timing belt tensioner failure cause?

[joe5]

Hey everyone I am relatively new to the forum, glad this is here you are all awesome resources for a new DIYer.

 

I pulled the motor from my 92 loyale after it was making a weird clicking/grinding sound (now realizing I probably didn't need to pull it but whatever), after taking the timing covers off, I see that drivers side tensioner pulley is destroyed while the passenger side looks great. I don't know the detailed history of the car, but the timing belts aren't cracked or frayed which suggests to me they are not that old. The drivers side belt is noticeably worn probably because of the bad tensioner pulley. So I plan on doing the timing belts and replacing the tensioner pulleys on both sides just for good measure but my question is this. Assuming the timing belts were done in the not so distant past, is there an underlying cause for this pulley failing prematurely that I should address before repairing it? Or could it just be a cheap part that failed because its cheap? Secondly, I have found little shards of metal which scrapped out of the pulley and were sitting at the bottom of the timing covers. Is there anything else that could have been damaged because of this that I should take care to inspect closely before everything gets put back together?

 

 

Picture of timing belts, with the one on the right in visibly bad condition relative to the one on the right

 

 

 

Close up of the good one...

 

 

 

Close up of the bad one...

 

 

And the weird little metal shards...yikes!

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

 

[idosubaru]

totally normal, no big deal - there's no additional damage, just replace the timing belt components and you're done. 

 

the bearings loose grease over time, the bearings get hotter due to lack of grease, things start to snowball out of control until the pulleys either wear and fall apart or seize and the belt slides over them. 

 

the $60 - $80 ebay kits are the way to go - you get all new pulleys (3 of them) and the timing belts.  replace them all every time, it's cheap insurance.  if you're a penny pinching high mileage type you could replace the pulleys every other timing belt.

 

the pieces you found are the grease seal for the face of the bearings in the pulley.  as the bearings were compromised the seal came out of place and was shredded.

[wagonist]

I'd say cheap mechanic/DIYer who couldn't be bothered spending money on something for a car they were going to get rid of...

 

As said above, just replace the pulleys and you should be all sweet.

[joe5]

Cool guys thanks for the quick feedback. So regarding the "$60-$80 ebay kits".

 

The first one I see on the list is

http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-94-1-8L-SUBARU-1800-GL-Loyale-RX-XT-NON-TUR-TURBO-TIMING-BELT-KIT-EA82T-/400176384460?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Make%3ASubaru%7CModel%3ALoyale&hash=item5d2c5f09cc&vxp=mtr

 

 

So for timing belts its not critical to get the pricey ones? The price difference is huge between the cheap ebay ones and others that are sometimes double that. I'd just hate to have a cheap one fail prematurely but if you guys have good experience with cheaper ones its an easy sell. Are there any brands I should straight up avoid?

[rdweninger]

yes, that one will do.  All timing belts will eventually fail.  I'm not sure how many manufacturers there are... but there are several brands.   Like batteries, there are 2 manufacturers, but 100 brands.

Funny, the kit says 1 crank seal and 1 cam seal.   If you are replacing the cam seals, you will need two.

After the job is completed... throw those covers in the trash.  Most everyone does.  It will make your next timing belt job a lot easier.

Go Beavs !