Timing Belt went today... TURNS OUT MY HEAD IS OK!!!!!

[Shane Sawatzki]

throw a belt on it and set the timing, and crank it by hand, if it feels okay, try and start it. if it starts and doesnt knock then do a compression test. if thats good then u fluked out like Taylor did.

whats mind blowing is....when he called me freaking out...i went to look at it and he started the car and said "SEE THATS THE SOUND ITS MAKING!" and i was like omg, because it was definetly valve/piston contact....a knocking sound...so after checking a few things, I then decided to check the valve timing, lined everything up...but the cams were off...and i was like shit man you need a head job...but my dad said just throw a belt on and cross your figers, wheres the harm in doing so?

so thats what i did...the engine purrs, has good compression and doesnt make a knocking sound whatso ever. FLUKE!

[John Hartman]

So his skipped a couple of teeth did it?  Did you guys change the tensioner?  Or find out why it skipped?

Chads has been cranked with the belt off, so thats different, but I guess it can't hurt, but for the time and effort involved.

[Shane Sawatzki]

well what i did...is since you gotta take it all apart now no matter what...throw a belt on it..but dont put it all back togethor...just leave the motor mount, the pulleys, and all the belts off and just turn it over by hand, then hook the battery up and try to run it...cuz if u do that and its still screwed..alll you gotta do is pull the belt off again...didnt take long...

his skipped more!!!! than a couple i counted up like 6 teeth...i was shocked. it didnt register for awhile i was confused. lol but we put a new tensioner on it and tensioner pulley.

[Chad Giffen]

Weel I sure hope I am lucky. We will see. I definately will doe that Shane...   Ill carry on as normal....   replace the balance shaft, timing bels and the tensioner pulleys and idler bearings and waterpump...   get it all timied and crank her over and see if she will start. Then I will do a compression test. If all is good, put it all back together...   otherwise pull the head.

[John Hartman]

yea not a lot of labour lost if you do it that way Chad.

In fact all you would have to do was detension the timing belt and pull it off and let it sit to the side.  Then pull the head.  The rest can stay there.

[patrickWoo]

or you can zip tie the cam pulleys as well as the crank pulley to the belt, undo the pulleys and later just slap it back on.

just make sure you get the balancer shaft right (or do the manly thing and delete it)

[CamWeiss]

I know that the balance shaft elimination raises oil pressure... But does it make a big difference in vibrations in the motor, or is it noticeable at all?

It's coming time to think about my timing belt as well (~50k on it now, it'll be at 60 or 70 when summer hits) for this summer and might remove the balance shaft while I'm down there.

(Also... I did everything when I last did the belt - tensioner, pulleys, water pump. Should I do everything again, or can I get away with just the belt?)

[Nathan Friess]

I dont run balance shafts... it vibrates a little inside the car but not too bad, I also have poly motor mounts too which cant help much with the vibrations.  Definitely worth the saved time on timing belt jobs though.

[Jon Rabeneck]

I dont run balance shafts... it vibrates a little inside the car but not too bad, I also have poly motor mounts too which cant help much with the vibrations.  Definitely worth the saved time on timing belt jobs though.

jobS!? how long have you had it?

[John Hartman]

some of us have had multiple cars for many years. I have had my Talon for at least 6 years now, probably a bit more.

As well, if you have a leaky water pump, leaky cam seals, broken balance shaft belt, a bit of crap fall into the works or any other reason, you will have to change the belt again.  I have probably done the timing belt on my Talon 4 times if you include the one I will put on when I put on the new rebuilt head.  1.  when I bought the car, a second one because the flat rate tech that did it frigged up the tension on the balance belt and it broke, damaging the tbelt.  A 3rd one when the water pump puked on it and soaked it in coolant and the intake cam seal was also leaking on it.  And now, putting on a newly rebuilt stainless valved titanium retained ported etc head, I'm going to put a new on on again.

[daniel Dee]

Lowell told me either cover it (timing belt area) up completely
or leave the lower timing cover off and inspect regularly.

PS ...I have my the old valves from my head available for sale...

[Matt Mann]

(Also... I did everything when I last did the belt - tensioner, pulleys, water pump. Should I do everything again, or can I get away with just the belt?)

I would inspect the components VERY well if you plan on doing that..sometimes its better to just replace them all for peace of mind..spend $300 or so on the components or run the risk of them failing on you and spend $800 on rebuilding the head + the components

[Josh Letkeman]

Yah deffs just do it all.  When mine went I ended up replacing EVERYTHING.  Spent a little more but it was worth it.  Until I rolled it but w/e.  I'm wanting another one though . 

[Matt Mann]

These are the prices I got when mine when the 2nd time b/c I was lazy and didn't change to t-belt tensioner 
The t-belt tensioner is $160
the tensioner and idler pulleys are $80 for both
The OEM belt was $70
B-belt is $15
b-belt pulley is $25
add in some camshaft seals for $8.00
and the valves are $8.00 ea and stem seals are $0.50
And then Chad if you take the head in to JB its $500-800 depending on what you get...

[Brett Haviland]

or if the valves are bent you can just throw a used head on there instead of trying to rebuild the one you have with bent valves.  Easier and MUCH cheaper in my opinion.  Anytime i have had to deal with bent valves (on friends cars) i just replaced the whole head with a used unit.  Usually from a hyundai.  Last one that i threw on my talon was $45 from pick a part for a complete head from a Elantra 1.6L.  bumped my compression up to 8.3:1 as well   I like the added compression.  Can definalty feel the difference.