Author Topic: Timing belt condition (Read 2620 times)

rob76 · « **on:** October 05, 2007, 07:27:54 pm »

Hey all, anybody here have experience seeing lots of timing belts on these 1.6 Diesels? I'm wondering what a belt would look like if it had 140 000km on it. Could it look normal? Or would it be cracked, ugly and frayed?

I saw one once on a 91 Toyota corola which had 120K km on it and it was quite nasty looking. But maybe that was just an isolated case?

Thanks

jtanguay · « **Reply #1 on:** October 05, 2007, 07:57:45 pm »

if in doubt, or you dont have any previous history on last belt change... just do it and go from there. why risk having it go while on a long trip and destroy an otherwise good running motor?

rob76 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 05, 2007, 08:00:37 pm »

That's not really the issue. I'm trying to determine if I've been lied to. PO said he never changed the belt which would mean it has 140K on it. But the mechanic who did work on it recently said it was good plus he has a record for it showing it was done 20K ago. PO denies ever having done the belt. Something's fishy anyway.

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #3 on:** October 05, 2007, 10:01:12 pm »

IMHO an ounce of prevention is probably worth 10 pounds of cure... when in doubt, yank it out. The belt is inexpensive unless it is already broken... at which points you are likely replacing much more than a belt.

80K is plenty... if the PO thinks it was never touched and it might have 140K... well... in the immortal words of Clint Eastwood:

"Do you feel lucky, punk

Well, do ya ??"

Vince

rob76 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 05, 2007, 10:05:13 pm »

you're missing the point. I know belts should be changed at 96K. I just want to know if it's possible for a belt with 140K to look like a new belt.

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #5 on:** October 05, 2007, 10:20:22 pm »

Ok, well, the answer to your original question is "YES".

My first diesel had 150K on the timing belt when I bought it according to the PO: "looks fine so I have never changed it".

It did look fine, no missing teeth, no obvious wear, the rubber was still flexible and didn't show any aging cracks.

rob76 · « **Reply #6 on:** October 05, 2007, 10:21:38 pm »

Ahh excellent that's the kind of info I'm looking for! Thanks.
Anybody else out there with similar experience?

burn_your_money · « **Reply #7 on:** October 06, 2007, 12:17:39 am »

I bought a car with 450xxx kms on it and drove it for about another 20k. I checked the timing once and it was good. That may have been the original belt for all I know. I never bothered to change it. I ended up writing the car off so I never really had to worry about it. It did look to be in good shape though.
I did not care about this car one bit though, if it had snapped a belt I had 3 or 4 engines ready to take it's place. If its a car I care about and I have any bit of doubt I would do it myself so I knew it was done right. It's honestly cheap insurance.

mk2diesel · « **Reply #8 on:** October 06, 2007, 11:38:40 am »

as everyone is saying ...... just change the belt AND tensioner ....

record the milage ... repeat every 80,000 KM after that ....

forget what you've been told by anyone about when it was changed last