Timing Belt Tension

sleepydsm · 04-05-2005

1992 Talon Tsi AWD 5 spd 6 bolt 135k

I just bought this car maybe a month ago. Asked the owner when he last did timing belt, he said a year prior. Of course he had no documents to back it up. I visually inspected it before buying, belt looked new, and deflected very little. The other day before I took the car out for a drive, and I took the timing belt cover off and saw oil on the belt. It looked to be coming from the valve cover gasket. Put the cover back on and drove. Today, I took the VC and timing cover off (for a new gasket) and I notice the timing belt seems unusally loose. Deflects maybe 1/2" and some of the teeth arent even seated in the grooves. Also can be easily slid on the cam gears. I checked the dowel pins, they seem to be parallel like they should. What could have happened? Tensioner falure? It looks like if I tried starting the car the belt would skip over the cam gear teeth. Is it possible I got lucky and didnt break anything (the cams are lined up as they should be). The car ran fine when I last drove it...

TheBlizzard · 04-05-2005

You should not be able to move the belt on the cam gears that much. If I was to take a guess I would say that whomever did the timing belt job prior to you buying it didnt' do it right. And the fact that it didn't skip any teeth by now is just luck. The belt should be fairly stiff when you press in the middle of the cam gears.

CRAIG

Wizard · 04-05-2005

Not true....you cannot check tention of the belt by pressing the middle area between the cam gears. Sometimes during shutdown, or depending on where the motor stops, the tension can be loose/tight. The only way to properly check tension is to remove the lower cover and check it. If it is actually loose enough that you can pull it off the gears, then it is def. too loose and needs to be fixed immediately. If not, chances are you are just fine and should plan on replacing your belt at the regular interval. Especially if it has been over a year since the belt change and it hasn't skipped teeth. However, oil saturation takes its toll on a rubber belt too. Fix the leak soon.

Wiz

A//// Guy · 04-05-2005

Actually Craig the tension relieves itself after you shut the car off. The tension is adjusted automatically, that is why the manuals say there is no spec for timing belt deflection.

All dsms have a pretty loose timing belt when the car is off. Sure there is excessive play but 1/2 doesnt sound bad. You shouldnt really be able to move it off the gears though, is it really easy to move or does it resist at all?

You will know when the car skips a tooth or to. You will either hear it or the car will not run right. Belts ussually skip on startup.

sleepydsm · 04-05-2005

Ok thank you all for the replies! I will get the new gasket and and cringe while I start it. I do have a spare head if nessicary, and I have a beater car I can still drive.