[Engine] AUXILLARY BELT

[THE BADGE]

Hello chaps,
has anyone experienced antyhing like this ?
I'd just completed my delivery round & making my way home, when I get a strange noise like when you pass a bus & they make that horrible loud hissing shrieking sound, this happened a couple of times in a matter of 20 or so seconds, then the engine died completely, i managed to coast into a 'safe' place & opened the bonnet, straight away i noticed the auxillary belt was shredded & bits of wire were everywhere, i cut all the loose bits off & tried starting it again, after a couple of attempts it started, but was really noisy, like half the exhaust had come off, i was only half a mile away from home so decided to 'nurse' it back, when i turned into my road all the noise stopped & it was just like normal again !
I parked on the drive & turned it off, ok the belts had it, but why would this happen, i sat there a couple of minutes trying to think what's what, 
i tried starting it up again but now it's just making a strange noise again & won't start !  Any ideas ?
Any info greatly appreciated, I've got to sort it & have ready for work again on Wednesday.

[jj9]

Bad news I'm afraid.

When an auxiliary belt shreds parts of it often find there way into the timing belt  cover and cause the belt to jump teeth and you loose the engine timing which normally causes engine damage in the shape of bent valves, your problem sounds a typical example of this.


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[THE BADGE]

Thanks jj9,
yes I was suspecting this, I think I might be lucky concerning the valves, I did get it running again last night, and it sounded fine, anyway, it obviously needs a new timing belt which i will be fitting myself, I done one many years ago, so a refresh with the Haynes manual & I'll get started, any tips you know of ?
Thanks for replying, I'll let you know how it goes.

[jj9]

That sound promising, if it was running and sounding ok.

The best tip I could give you is to change the timing belt now, don't run the engine.

My mate had a Aux belt shred on him, he replaced the belt but later that day he said the car seemed to be running a bit rougher than normal with a bit of a different sound, an hour later the timing belt had snapped.
With the timing belt covers removed there were pieces of the AUX belt found that had caused the failure of the timing belt.

If pieces of the AUX belt get into the timing belt area they can cause the timing belt to jump teeth so the engine timing will be out. To establish if this has happened the engine will need to be timed up using the setting pins / timing marks just the same as it would be when fitting a new timing belt.


* Post edited as I described a general fitting tip which in this case could cause confusion.


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[cancunia]

Just a thought, if you find pieces of the aux belt in & around the timing belt, your timing belt may have jumped a tooth. If so, marking the old belt may not be the best approach in this case but that can be double checked by the other alignment methods such as timing pins.

[jj9]

Yes, that is a very good point which I neglected to mention in my post above. 

If the belt has jumped teeth the timing pins won't line up so that would be a clue that all is not well and then you would not use the marking the belt method.

I'll amend my above post. 



* Post above edited to save any confusion.





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[THE BADGE]

Many many thanks,
I won't run the engine anymore until i have fitted the new belt, I have purchased a Gates Powergrip kit, which comes complete with water pump and idlers, hopefully all will be ok when done, thanks for mentioning about marking of thr timing belt, I'll lock the crank, cam & injector pump, & count the teeth on belt when positioning.

[brodfather11]

Sorry to butt  in but this is really just to try to see if any posts from me are displayed , ( or have I been blackballed )

 PS I have seen timing belts destroyed by the aux . belt shredding and getting behind the timing belt cover ( was a Ford Escort I believe )
Cant see my last post to "Missing Posts " its gone missing !!!!!!

[THE BADGE]

Hi Brodfather 11
I'm recieving your posts.   

[jj9]

Many many thanks,
I won't run the engine anymore until i have fitted the new belt, I have purchased a Gates Powergrip kit, which comes complete with water pump and idlers, hopefully all will be ok when done, thanks for mentioning about marking of thr timing belt, I'll lock the crank, cam & injector pump, & count the teeth on belt when positioning.

You must have read my post before I edited it.

As cancunia mentioned, marking the belt / pulleys is no good if the belt has jumped teeth as you will be marking it wrong, so don't mark it unless the setting pins all line up!



@ brodfarther,  I can see your post.


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