So...I have been driving my Tech 2 for a little over a year now. I have done tons of work to it over that time. oil pan, suspension....you name it. Anyway, one of the items on my list that I hadn't gotten around to was the timing belt. It has been in the back of my mind for a really long time. every time i decided to get to work on it, there was alway some other project that demanded my attention instead.
fast forward a year or so: today was finally the day.
as i pulled the upper belt cover off, i noticed that the belt was actually pretty loose. i also noticed that the belt was running on the outer edge of the pulleys. it appeared that the cover was actually holding it in place. after looking even closer, i saw that the tensioner pulley was actually crooked!
In this pic, you can see that the weld/crimp had cracked about 80% through.
i pulled on it with my fingers and broke it completely off.
apparently, it had been like this for some time. you can see in these two pics how the belt was flopping around on the inside of the cover:
its hard to say, but i would assume this would have come unglued on me in the next 100 miles or so. i can't honestly say why i decided to pick today to change it out. i have noticed over the last few weeks the engine seemed to idle a little erratically. i wonder if there may have been some subliminal message from being in tune with this vehicle i love so much? maybe in the back of my head, i started thinking how she was just a teeny bit under the weather.
btw, this is the substandard tensioner part that the bently manual says needs to be changed out with the w126 version. my guess is that this is the reason why.
for me personally, this is the last time i'm going to be playing timing belt roulette. for those of you that have purchased or are driving a car where you have not changed your belt, hopefully this will be a reminder to do so.
fast forward a year or so: today was finally the day.
as i pulled the upper belt cover off, i noticed that the belt was actually pretty loose. i also noticed that the belt was running on the outer edge of the pulleys. it appeared that the cover was actually holding it in place. after looking even closer, i saw that the tensioner pulley was actually crooked!
In this pic, you can see that the weld/crimp had cracked about 80% through.
i pulled on it with my fingers and broke it completely off.
apparently, it had been like this for some time. you can see in these two pics how the belt was flopping around on the inside of the cover:
its hard to say, but i would assume this would have come unglued on me in the next 100 miles or so. i can't honestly say why i decided to pick today to change it out. i have noticed over the last few weeks the engine seemed to idle a little erratically. i wonder if there may have been some subliminal message from being in tune with this vehicle i love so much? maybe in the back of my head, i started thinking how she was just a teeny bit under the weather.
btw, this is the substandard tensioner part that the bently manual says needs to be changed out with the w126 version. my guess is that this is the reason why.
for me personally, this is the last time i'm going to be playing timing belt roulette. for those of you that have purchased or are driving a car where you have not changed your belt, hopefully this will be a reminder to do so.
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