THIS is why you DO NOT WAIT to change your timing belt !!

[jeffnhiscars]

Smooth...agreed. If its bad outside its certainly worse inside.

Nando...also agreed although Im sure a good "jack rabbit" will hasten a weak belts demise.

[Cletonius]

I was glad when I did mine too, my kid (3 year old) picked it up off the garage floor and tore it in half without much trouble. Best $100 ever spent.

[jeffnhiscars]

I was glad when I did mine too, my kid (3 year old) picked it up off the garage floor and tore it in half without much trouble. Best $100 ever spent.

Strong kid !! :D

[Cletonius]

Strong kid !! :D

She's a handful for sure, I think it was more weak belt though. It broke twice when I was trying to squeeze it out from between the crank and the guard or whatever it's called, that big aluminum cover that's bolted around everything down there. I'm just glad it didn't snap while driving.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Similar problem OP had is why I have my e30 now.

A bolt on the tensioner backed out, letting the tensioner pulley cock to the side, and cut the belt down to a tiny sliver before it simply failed.

Bad for my brother, good for me. ;)

[jeffnhiscars]

Similar problem OP had is why I have my e30 now.

A bolt on the tensioner backed out, letting the tensioner pulley cock to the side, and cut the belt down to a tiny sliver before it simply failed.

Bad for my brother, good for me. ;)

I havent taken the belt off yet as Im waiting for my crank holding tool so I can do ALL the front seals. The tensioner has a good wobble in it which Im thinking is what walked the belt out to the gear edges so it could get chewed on by a cover. Hard to understand why anyone would ignore this for so long. Im justglad I caught it.

[iwantspeed]

my timing belt also looked worn on one side, it wasnt centered on the pulley and was rubbing on the timing cover.
thanks previous owner.

[mikeb23ft]

Ughhh this is making me paranoid...

[idanity]

preaching to the choir. :)

i bought my red sedan with the owner not even knowing what a t.b.was..and said the battery was dead, (for a fucking year!!!) and he was "gunna jump it, and make her run" ..

long story short, i said dont, and bought it outright, towed it home, did all the work (all belts, and all hoses ($about $200 in hoses) and found the last time the t.b. was done was over 12 years ago... w/out the water pump, and it had the old tensioner... so, i think, the dead battery actually saved an m20 too. (that, and a really lazy owner who parks a car for over a year b/c of a bad alt.)...


nice work btw.
and i thought, most t.b. failures were at startup, and not while driving .

[jeffnhiscars]

Ughhh this is making me paranoid...

Good !! that was my not so subtle intention:twisted:

[Exodus_2pt0]

Ughhh this is making me paranoid...

I actually modified my cover to leave a "window" that I can peek through and see the whole timing belt.

I make it a point to glance at it every other time I have the hood open... Which is every couple days. I found these heads are getting hard to find so keep a good one going.

[jeffnhiscars]

I actually modified my cover to leave a "window" that I can peek through and see the whole timing belt.

I make it a point to glance at it every other time I have the hood open... Which is every couple days. I found these heads are getting hard to find so keep a good one going.

hah !! I like this..but what happens every time you look through the "window" and see something that makes you curious ? Do you tear it apart...lol

I think I'd sleep better with a sticker that says "see me in 4yrs or 60k" :)

[Kershaw]

driving it easy isn't neccesarily going to "save" an old timing belt. lots of stories of timing belts letting go (due to neglect 99.999999% of the time) while sitting at a traffic light or at a low RPM.

yep. my ex's e30's timing belt snapped when she was crossing an intersection. 15mph and maybe 2000rpm. i told her about 2 years prior (when we were still together) that she needed to replace it. she didnt listen. so much like our relationship. lawlz.

[Exodus_2pt0]

yep. my ex's e30's timing belt snapped when she was crossing an intersection. 15mph and maybe 2000rpm. i told her about 2 years prior (when we were still together) that she needed to replace it. she didnt listen. so much like our relationship. lawlz.

My brother was leaving work, backed out of his parking space and put it into first. He said as soon as he started moving forward he heard a "pop" and then a fat lady singing.

[BergerNJ]

so what would a good window of time before replacement be on an e30 that is garaged for winter?