Timing belt broken, I think...

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Gary Gilbert

Gary Gilbert

Member
Posts
78
Location
Germany
Hi all,

Well I replaced my timing belt and the motor ran smooth as ever, but as we were driving from a beach in Costa Rica to our next destination I suddenly noticed a stage noise that I cpoldnonly attribute to the timing belt slapping in the housing. On our way to a service station the engine stalled and would not start again. I figured the timing belt broke. Or slipped bad enough that the timing went completely out. Later I attempted to turn the crank by hand (with help of a rachet wrench and a #27 socket) but it wouldn't budge.

Has anyone else had this problem? What am I looking at here? I'm looking for advice as I don't have the tools to pull the motor out. How do I go about assessing the damage what are my first steps? I am totally out of my depth here and in the middle of no where in Costa Rica with a panicked wife who thinks our trip is f**ked.

Any help (advice, contacts in Costa Rica ) would be very welcome!

Cheers and thanks in advance
Gary
 
I'm just on my way to work but have messaged MHM who will hopefully be along soon.

Apart from contacts (not sure about Costa Rica ) the threads probably better here for advice.

There's a inspection cover on the timing belt case you can remove to check

At the least there'll be bent push rods which can be replaced in situ and a belt/tensioner will be needed and the engine retimed.
 
Gary Gilbert said:
Hi all,

Well I replaced my timing belt and the motor ran smooth as ever, but as we were driving from a beach in Costa Rica to our next destination I suddenly noticed a stage noise that I cpoldnonly attribute to the timing belt slapping in the housing. On our way to a service station the engine stalled and would not start again. I figured the timing belt broke. Or slipped bad enough that the timing went completely out. Later I attempted to turn the crank by hand (with help of a rachet wrench and a #27 socket) but it wouldn't budge.

Has anyone else had this problem? What am I looking at here? I'm looking for advice as I don't have the tools to pull the motor out. How do I go about assessing the damage what are my first steps? I am totally out of my depth here and in the middle of no where in Costa Rica with a panicked wife who thinks our trip is f**ked.

Any help (advice, contacts in Costa Rica ) would be very welcome!

Cheers and thanks in advance
Gary
Click to expand...

wife who thinks our trip is f**ked.
She is correct.
 
The Mad Hat Man said:
Not sure that is particularly helpful. Surely a man of your detailed mechanical knowledge would be able to help him in a detailed and practical manner, such that he can continue on his way?
Click to expand...

As it is i am afraid. He needs someone who can untangle the valves from the pistons. If the belt has snapped, unlikely with a new one, or the tensioner has not been secured properly and the belt has slipped, there can really only be one consequence. There will be rocker damage at the very least depending on engine speed at time of problem. He will have to get to a garage, then he will need parts, cannot see that nothing will be damaged. Unfortunate for the lad but he has to take what comes no other way round it.
 
No need for it to wreck the trip. It's basic mechanics and a few hours providing you haven't got stuffed valves.

Fingers crossed a handful of pushrods, a timing kit and a half sensible mechanic will see you back on the road
 
When my timing belt snapped it wrapped itself around the crank pulley and that was what stopped the engine turning, I'd even got a four foot breaker bar and it wouldn't budge. Have a look through the wading plug on the timing case but either way I'd say the front cover has got to come off. Take the rocker cover off whilst you're at it cos usually you get bent pushrods but you can also get damaged rocker arms and damaged pushrod seats. The pushrod seats are brass and can deform easily so any where and they'll need replacing which can only be done by removing the head
DSC_0247_zpsckyi1l6b.jpg
 
I had a 300 belt snap away from home. Its a diy job with minimal tools. If you've had the crank dampener off recently, you're half was there with the difficult bits. The rest is just sockets and a couple of suitable drill shanks.

Mine just did the pushrods, still driving on the same rockers and valves 3 years later.


Problem area are the bolts that hold the IP locking plate in place. Easy to round with a 12point. Only use a 6 point on them, or be very carefull.

People say you need to remove the rad, but that seems like a lot of extra work to me - I leave it in place, and am just careful not to whack it.
 
julianf said:
I had a 300 belt snap away from home. Its a diy job with minimal tools. If you've had the crank dampener off recently, you're half was there with the difficult bits. The rest is just sockets and a couple of suitable drill shanks.

Mine just did the pushrods, still driving on the same rockers and valves 3 years later.


Problem area are the bolts that hold the IP locking plate in place. Easy to round with a 12point. Only use a 6 point on them, or be very carefull.

People say you need to remove the rad, but that seems like a lot of extra work to me - I leave it in place, and am just careful not to whack it.
Click to expand...

I replaced the timing belt myself (may have been the cause to begin with) bur as I mentioned above it was running smoothly and then all of a sudden the strange noise and the engine stalls... it was a new belt with tensioner. The only thing I can think of (without having taken the cover off) is that I didn't tighten the tensioner enough and it worked it's way loose as we did about 200 km of rainy season dirt roads which are quite rough.

Never the less we are stuck here for the voseeable future in a village with no campground...
 
Remove timing cover access plate and check state of belt first, then take off rocker cover and rocker arm. Check all pushrods ( keeping a note of the order) and report back.
 
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