PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: mrmellowgold on December 02, 2013, 10:25:26 AM
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So I took off my timing belt cover to repaint it. I noticed after driving it without a cover for a week or so, that the timing belt has a small sort of tear or rip on one little portion of the belt.
My step father was telling me that he was not sure if it snapped while I was driving if it would cause the pistons and rods to violently clash into one another, resulting in a bad motor and a sad driver.
I was wondering if I should be concerned by the little tear and replace it. And also what happens when the belt breaks on the 2.0 1973 engine I have. Oh, and one more thing. Is it okay to drive without the timing belt cover on? It does not really have a place to screw in and mount to anymore.
Thanks to all!
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i believe it is a free spin motor .. meaning you can break the cam belt and not bend the valves but i could be wrong .. i never had to pull a head on any i broke belts on .. and no it does`nt hurt to not run the cover unless you drive a lot of gravel roads ..look at the condition of the teeth on the belt .. if they look freash i would`nt be concerned with a tiny tear .. i`ve actually rarely had a belt break .. they strip the teeth off first ...
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Isn't breaking a belt the same as breaking a timing chain??, I've broken chains before and that's nasty..
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The 2.0 and 2.3 are not interference engines. This means that no valve damage occurs, but yes, you're walking.......
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The timing belt cover protects from foreign objects getting into the belt area causing damage to the belt such as a tear. It also reduces contamination by fluids, dirt and grease. So bottom line is the belt should last longer with the cover installed
I would replace the belt and install the cover if it was mine.
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The 2.0 and 2.3 are not interference engines. This means that no valve damage occurs, but yes, you're walking.......
That's good to know.
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replacing it is relatively cheap and super easy, put the number 1 piston at TDC before you loosen bolts you'll be done in a half hour and know you won't need to change it again for 50000 to 80000 more miles, Timmy
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I know for sure 2.3 won't hit valves, I lost two belts at 70 mph on the highway. New belt and back up and running there. But mill head or change pistons or cam and all that can go out the window.
You absolutely cannot look at a belt and tell what kind of shape it's in either, they can shed teeth and look perfect ten seconds before doing so. ANY visible tear or flaw is reason to change one unless you like to walk.
Don't know if any of these engines made after around 97-98 but if so the belts on them should be good for 120K miles. All timing belts went to elastomer with hypalon in them around then and the belt change interval went WAY up. The problem will be the teeth also changed and to rounded where earlier are square, you must run the same type belt as your sprocket teeth are. If one rounded up later sprockets to match could have a real long lasting belt there though. I change my Focus car belts at 120K and no trouble at all before then.
One might inquire of belt maker to find out if later belts are hypalon anyway, they may have changed belt material on everything.
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But mill head or change pistons or cam and all that can go out the window.
How much V/P clearance is there on a stock motor??..
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I for one have never had the need to measure on one of these, and two different thing there anyway, there is total running clearance or how much it takes to clear any lift the cam provides with piston at TDC, and then there is clearance at running with everything in proper order and timed correctly, in that case things go fine until the belt breaks. Two different numbers there.
Even on a stock motor there would be variances based on +- error in belt timing and the stackup of parts variables. That variable alone just guessing would be maybe .020".
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Guess I should have worded it better,lol, I meant the least clearance you would have, .020 is cutting it close anything but bone stock would be a disaster, I have to replace the valve seals on mine think I'll do some checking..
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The .020" is a VARIABLE, not the actual clearance there. What I meant was that different rods, piston heights, deck variance, even the side to side placing of the combustion chamber in head casting to alter location of piston valve cutouts all added together will affect the number by that much to alter it one way or the other, and just a guess. You can only get exact figure by measuring YOUR engine, no others will be exactly the same as yours.
One could use light race checking springs and run piston to TDC and then rotate cam around to check the space there using a dial indicator. Save old head gasket as a fitting shim to space head correctly away from block.
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Got that right every motor is different, when I put the valve seals on I figured I'd pop the belt and do a check. Oh BTW, old FE rocker shaft springs make the perfect checking springs, been using them for ever..
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Hey yeah, there's an idea!