Timing Belt

[weasel]

Hello Everyone!

This seems to be a great page and it is already on my fav list.

When is a good time to replace the timing belt? I have 80000 on mine and I was thinking about it the other day.

If the timing belt brakes does the valves bang up the pistons or the other way around?

In my kia the belt broke but it did not damage the engine because the valve travel is recessed into the top.

Any other things that should be considered soon?

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

-Fred

[Heraclid]

Welcome! Use this site's search feature for more on the belt - I think it's well overdue for you (replace at about 50-60K) but that's just a hunch. It's something I need to be looking into as well...

Saw you list yourself as a pilot in your profile - what do you fly? I'm a wannabe fling-wing pilot myself. :-)

Hey, I have an idea for a site T-shirt we could get made. I saw this done on some Ford shirt of something... we could have some printed up that read as follows:

"I don't drive too fast, I just fly real low... VehiCross"

[geshaw30]

Greetings....Looking forward to meeting up with you the next time we have the gang in for another Houston meet. It's overdue. By the way, if you're looking for a quality Isuzu dealership try McKinzey Bond on the Katy Freeway just east of Katy. Do great work and have always treated us VX'ers well.
________
Fuc Tube (http://www.****tube.com/)

[weasel]

Hey!

That is a good one. We should have a t-shirt contest with the best logo or phrase; like two winners.

Your's is good, I like it.

I fly a variety of aircraft both in work and for fun. The coolest one I think is the L39.

It is almost as fun as driving a vehicross.

I will be ordering a T-belt.

-Fred


Houston Meet? When and Where? How about one down to the beach when it warms up?

[Tone]

Engine is non interference - if the belt goes, it will just leave you stranded. Manual calls for change at 100K normal service, or 75K for severe use.

[SPAZZ]

do we have just a timing belt....or is he talking about the serpentine belt???

[VX_PA]

"Timing Belt" operates Cam pulleys inside engine.

"Serpentine Belt" operates alternator, power steering pump, water pump, and a/c compressor.

Two different belts and we have both.

[Heraclid]

Hey weasel,

I know Joe_Black here does some flying too. I've always been interested in helicopters, and I took some lessons but it was more like testing the waters than anything else because I can't afford $165/hr for flight instruction right now. But I can keep a R-22 in a straight line at altitude. And I did one whole perfect approach. LOL! Down low, all the points of reference screwed me up because I over-reacted to any little twitch... it would yaw to one side and I'd give it some pedal to compensate - enough to spin it a 3/4 turn in place. :-) My dream would be to enroll at HAI a few hours south in Titusville and train there in both the Schweizer 300CB and R-22. The Robbie I flew in was sold soon afterward and crashed off Marathon Key on the very same night I got engaged. Student and instructor were okay - went down about 100 yds off the shore.

[weasel]

Hello There!

Helicopters are cool but I stay away from them because I have lost a good share of friends in them. Planes are safer, not so many rotating and moving parts that can fail.

I saw a mitsubishi concept car when I was in college. It has a 350 hp engine about the size of a shoe-box. How did they do it?

-Gasturbine.

I wonder where I can get one of thoose. It sounded like a space ship swooshing by.

-Fred

[Heraclid]

I'm sorry about your friends. :-( It does seem like it's not if, but when you'll have a good scare in 'em. I think a lot of it is the particular type of flying too, which increases the risk for wire strikes, etc. Also the pressure a lot of them are under to fly in bad conditions for EMS and ENG missions, for example...

I remember a pilot saying that he had a passenger once who saw a wire and, somewhat startled, the pilot confirmed that he then also saw it below them. Then the passenger said no, it was above them. ;eekr;

[Leah]

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who longs to take chopper lessons. Titusville is definitely the place to be for that. I'm sure you've also done your research and know that's the best school for helicopter training in the country, possibly the world. If I had the money, I would take the lessons too. Then I could fly AirHeart helicopters for our rescue work. I could also fly birds for chem dumps on forest fires. One day. I won't give up hope. I never thought about taking a few lessons to see if real life actually measured up to my dreams. That's a great idea. I'll look into that.

[Heraclid]

Leah,

Sorry my reply wasn't sooner...

Yep, Helicopter Adventures Inc. is one of, if not THE, best helicopter school(s) in the country. Sierra Academy (Concord, CA, I believe) is also outstanding, and the benefit of going there is the altitude training, more varied topography, and exposure to very heavy air traffic. Quantum in Chandler, AZ is said to be very good too.

I had flown in helicopters a few times prior as a passenger but my first actual instruction was in a Robinson R-22 Beta with the doors off (kind of unnerving at first but that quickly goes away). It was late afternoon and we landed when it was dark. The water at the beach was gorgeous, we buzzed boats and waved, got to see the place all lit up at night... it was spectacular. Even if I was struggling to keep it in the air. :-) I have to get in the air every now and then - it's good for the soul. And there is simply nothing like a helicopter for that.

If you ever get a chance, catch a ride in a EC130-B4. Just a really nice ship! And if you're ever on Kauai, you've just gotta see it by air. ;eeko;

Some pics:
http://home.comcast.net/~heraclid/
Sorry the pics aren't of a better quality, but you'll get the idea.

[Randy]

I just did this job... When you do it, be sure to also change the water-pump, timing belt belt tension plunger, radiator hoses, radiator cap, and serpentine belt. The labor is much more valuable than the parts involved. At 140,000 miles, my timing belt looked surprisingly unworn.

Look up my complete story on this site.

Good Luck,

[AREA 51]

Change the thermostat too, under the intake manifold.

[Chopper]

An old radial engined, open cockpit,Stearman (tail dragger) did it for me. I understand the emotion. :coolr:

[Heraclid]

I got a rush out of seeing a F-14 go over today, in the process of the wings sweeping in. Woo hoo! What's cool is that every year the Blue Angels come to town (originally founded here) and they come right over my parents' house lots of times practicing the week before the show. Just about don't need to go see it at the base. :-)

Last year when we had the annual airshow at NAS Jax, a few days later I was at work and I swear I saw a Su-27 go over very slowly. I pointed and told one of the women I work with that it was Russian, and her eyes got big and I think she thought we were under attack or something. LOL! I'm sure someone brought it in for the show and was taking it back to wherever.

What got me into helicopters was the slick Bell 222 in "Airwolf". I used to get in trouble for drawing it in class. Then I took a ride in a JetRanger over the Smokey Mountains and we were going along and came over a ridge, just over the trees, and wham - it dropped off beneath us and we went from just over trees to having nothing beneath for a long ways down. Very cool, especially with the clear floor panels. That really hooked me. Now I do it any time I get a chance. Most recently NYC with Liberty Helicopters - that was real cool by air. Poignant too, seeing the WTC site and all. Next time I'm there visiting my bro, I want to fly at night. That must be something to see. Would love to see Las Vegas that way too. Heck, any excuse to get in the air works for me... I don't care where. :-)

Ever seen Showcopters perform? They take a R-44 (not exactly the fastest helicopter around) and race it against a nice and fast Walter Extra 300S stunt plane flown by aerobatics star Patty Wagstaff, a Jacksonville area resident. The helicopter wins every year.

[kpaske]

Originally posted by Randy
I just did this job... When you do it, be sure to also change the water-pump, timing belt belt tension plunger, radiator hoses, radiator cap, and serpentine belt.

Whoa, I thought the serpentine belt was the same thing as the timing belt. This sounds like a pretty involved job. Is there a decent HOWTO around anywhere?

[Francesco Rizzo]

I'm in NE US and everyone here wants to change the plugs and timing belt at 60K but I wouldn't let them.. Ithought they were just trying to drive the price of the tune-up up. I'm at 75K now and will be getting it done, do you think it might help the gas milage?... I also am suspecting the fuel filter to be bad.

fixed wing all the way, a second engine is always nice to help you reach your crash sight.

[kpaske]

Yeah, they do that in Maryland also. Fortunately when I lived there I had a mechanic who would only replace the parts that were worn, usually cutting the cost of my maintenance in half.

The manual says the plugs and timing belt should be changed at 100k under normal driving conditions, but doesn't mention the fuel filter. Plugs and fuel filters are cheap and easy to replace, so I change mine at 60k and 30k, respectively. I'm at around 90k now and getting ready to replace my timing belt.

When I changed my plugs at 60k, I noticed some improvement in performance, but the improvement in gas mileage was minimal. Supposedly belt slippage can also cause modest losses in gas mileage, though I suspect the amount is negligable. I've never noticed any difference changing my fuel filter, but it just gives me piece of mind.

[Tone]

Fuel filters are scheduled much more frequently see manual - about 10-15K miles at the very most IMHO.

Serpentines typically can NOT slip due to the constant pressure the tensioner keeps on them and was one of the main reasons manufacturers switched from the old slippign v-belts of old.

Timing belt can't slip since it is cogged or if it did, you wouldn't be driving! Engine is NON-INTERFERENCE so if you put it off and it goes, it won't trash engine but again you won't be driving. Water pump and timing belt tensioner are must replacements when doing the timing belt. Oil pump can also be replaced at this time I believe and is a good investment.

Replacement procedure is documented on the Workshop CD (downloadable from my site) but is more than I would be willing to do - a LOT of things have to come off the front of the engine and an another member has already found out the hard way, it the belt is not put on correctly (even ONE tooth off), everything will have to be dissassembled AGAIN to resolve it. If you have replaced timing belts before, should not be a problem, but definitely NOT for the new do it yourselfer.

[Rooster]

Thanks for that CD BTW Tone!

Just to clear something up though, the CD says Timing belt replacement is 100k, I see people posting 60k. Whats the real deal?


BTW, is their a 2001 CD? Or will the '00 work just fine..?

[kpaske]

Tone -

I've scoured the manual and the CD and can't find anything about a recommended fuel filter change interval. I've been going with 30k to be on the safe side, but if you think 10-15k is more reasonable, I'll go with that. Hell, it's cheap and easy, so why not?

As for the oil pump, do you mean the power steering oil pump or is there another one?

Rooster -

The recommended interval for timing belt replacement is 100k under normal driving conditions, or 75k under severe conditions (as defined in the manual - heavy offroad use, towing, frequent short trips, etc). I believe 60k is premature for such a labor intensive procedure.

The '00 and '01 VXes are exactly the same, so the manual is for both model years. The only mechanical difference with the '99, to the best of my knowledge, was with the climate control system and perhaps some accompanying A/C parts, so the CD manual really applies to all VX models.

[Rooster]

Thanks for the info. Guess I have to call the dealer (as I bought the vehicle at 58,900 miles) to see f they repacked the front wheel bearings. If not, looks like a job I'll have to do in the spring as it is currently -8* F here...

[cascabel3]

My manual shows that fuel filter gets changed at 60k service which I had just done by Isuzu, and they did change it along with all fluids and pcv valve etc.