ALMOST BLEW UP ENGINE, but how!?

[Jdub]

SOMEHOW, this tiny little piece got caught in between my timing belt cover, and my timing belt. The result was my

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/picture.php?albumid=2443&pictureid=15953

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/picture.php?albumid=2443&pictureid=15955

My question is: Do those tiny little nicks on the camshaft gear look like something that would force me to have to get a new camshaft gear? They aren't sharp or anything.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/picture.php?albumid=2443&pictureid=15954

I'd rather get a new $16 belt and call it a day rather than wait for that special order part which is going to take about a week before it even ships!

(this is a view of the side, there is no apparent disfiguration)

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/picture.php?albumid=2443&pictureid=15952

[Matt-B]

I dont see any pictures

[Jdub]

I dont see any pictures

Thats weird, hopefully those links will work instead of the actual pictures?

[Lodsin]

[Jdub]

Thank you

[AndrewBird]

I wouldn't worry about the nicks. Just hit them with a bit of sandpaper to remove any sharp edges and it will be fine.

[george graves]

^good idea.

[Cabriolet]

there should be a rubber cover over the back upper cover. if you are missing that, FOD can get in and cause this to happen.

[bangn]

looks like a dowel

[RobDog]

Its Hard to tell by the pic, but it looks like you have the older recalled stamped camshaft sprocket. If you take off the plastic cover behind the rotor and take another pic we will be able to tell you if it is or not. If it is than I would replace the sprocket.

[AndrewBird]

That's one of the cast ones, not stamped. Stamped ones look like this:



Note the gaps between the teeth.

[gath]

By the look of that last picture, that piece looks like one of the dowels that hold the engine hoist bracket. It seems like you are missing it on the cylinder head.

[Jdub]

By the look of that last picture, that piece looks like one of the dowels that hold the engine hoist bracket. It seems like you are missing it on the cylinder head.

I think you're right, is that something I need to replace, or am I ok with leaving that out for now?

ALSO: when the mark on the camshaft gear is lined up with the timing mark on the head, the timing mark on the lower timing apparatus, I forgot what it's called, is just barely off. Could this be causing the throttle response issues I have? How significant could this issue be for timing even if it's just very slightly off? If this is the issue can I just manually readjust it before putting back the timing belt? That's what I plan on doing as of now

[mbonder]

If it's only slightly off you shouldn't be having any noticeable issues. Just move the crank gear back into alignment and you should be good to go. Throttle response issues seem to point to something related to vacuum, not timing, but it's kind of hard to tell without actually hearing the engine run.

[djjerme]

As stated above, that looks like the locating dowel for the engine housing bracket and the front timing cover.

If the dowel came out (bolt back out, feel out) it's possible the timing cover slid down and was running against the timing belt. Replace the dowel, the bolt, the timing belt and torque that bolt to factory.

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