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Hey Crew,Got a quick question.I got a Mazda MX3 with a 2001 Longneck KLDE not a KLG4.It started making a Ticking noise around the belt side of the engine.The closest sound i can explain to you,its like a noisy lifter tick thu i know my lifters are sweet.The question i have can i couse any damage to the engine driving it around with a worn Timing belt tensioner.Im just short on founds at the moment and rather swap all the belts and tensinoers in one hit when i get my cash up.Also what brand of belts do you guys recommend i use.Thank you for any help you give me.

as far as damage NO the belt could snap or the tensioner can fail and you would just be stranded. If a mechanic tells you the pistons hit the valves and now its no good they are lying the V6 is a non interference engine....if it was the tensioner it would fail and not tick then your belt would have slipped off leaving you stranded. If it happens only in the first 10/15 minutes and goes away it is without a doubt the HLA's regardless of how old the engine is. Which is no big deal at all. Pulleys make a screech before they need replacing.......hhmmmm........did you take the timing cover off and look? or are you just guessing its coming from there? maybe something is stuck in there?

I drove around with a worn out tensioner for a while. Eventually the belt may slip and you'll be all out of time. Definitely not the rear friction gear spring?

^ I agree with marcdh - likely friction gear spring issue. Sounds just like HLA ticking but sharper metallic sound and does not go away - or if it is intermittent will come and go at various rpms.

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It can be done without removing the timing belt, but you are more likely to end up with some front of engine oil leaks.

check the nut on the pulley tension to see if its tight or not, This happen to actually to me. The pulley came lose and was on a angle rubing against the plate causing a ticking sound. I thought the same thing until the belt sheared from the pulley being miss aligned. All i did was put some blue locktight, so it wont come off again. Make sure your dont use red locktight or you will never get it off!