HELP: DE Timing belt just broke!

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » February 24th, 2005, 5:41 pm

My boyfriend was on his way to work earlier when he called to tell me that the timing belt on my DE broke! He said when he pulled the cover back to make sure that was the problem he discovered that the belt was covered in oil and was shredded.
I think I remember reading somewhere that when the timing belt breaks on the DE that it has some sort of safety that keeps it from jumping time...is this true?

I don't know much about what happened right now, like I said, he was on his way to work and had to just pull over and call a friend for a ride.
I should know more tonight or tomorrow so I'll update then.

Thanks for any advice!

fry_81 · Post by **fry_81** » February 24th, 2005, 5:45 pm

ya they have non-interference heads(i believe thats what they are called) and that will avoid the engine from self destructing when the belt breaks. so it should be ok.

mazdubber · Post by **mazdubber** » February 24th, 2005, 5:49 pm

The timing belt is the only thing used to keep the timing right so the timing will be off for sure. But that doesn't matter anyways because it'll have to be aligned when the new belt goes on anyways.

It also sounds like the valve cover gasket is leaking. That would be why the belt was covered in oil.

93-Spec-Edn · Post by **93-Spec-Edn** » February 24th, 2005, 6:26 pm

looks like the reason the belt broke was cause it had oil on it from a leak from the front seal or vcg. the oil eat the belt away over time causing it to snap.

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » February 24th, 2005, 6:33 pm

It didn't have oil on it this morning. I drove it to the store and it was fine. When I got home my boyfriend left for work and that's when it happened.

I was going to take it next week to have the timing belt changed but I was waiting on my hub assemblies to get here from Mazda. (So it wouldn't have to make two trips to the shop.) I should've just taken it instead of putting it off.

Thanks for the replies guys! Like I said I'll keep you updated.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » February 25th, 2005, 2:43 am

wow a girl that knows her mx3..thats awesome! ok as in the oil..u cant tell because it is inside the cover..so u cant tell if it had oil in there. make sure u check that the seals arent leaking and replace ur valve cover gaskets.

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » February 25th, 2005, 2:55 am

My timing belt cover is missing a screw so you can pull it back to see the timing belt. I'd just checked it this morning to make sure it was still in ok shape and there was no oil on it then.
Anyway, I had the car towed home and we're gonna take a look at it tomorrow. I'll let you guys know what's up.

kiwi_MX3 · Post by **kiwi_MX3** » February 25th, 2005, 3:02 am

pulled back a screw but did you shine a light in there....

Its dark in there and oil is black........
Oil does'nt eat belts over night but at least the De
is a non interferance motor, on a 4age or 4g63 it would
be bye bye pistons and cams and vavles.......

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » February 25th, 2005, 3:10 am

No offense but I'm not a "stupid girl." There was no oil on the belt this morning. (It was flat black color and dry, now it's all shiny and wet

)
Like I said it was a bad belt and I should have changed it A LOT sooner but I was putting it off to get it done cheaper.

kiwi_MX3 · Post by **kiwi_MX3** » February 25th, 2005, 3:15 am

Im not getting into a pissing contest here ok....
oplogises if offended........

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » February 25th, 2005, 3:20 am

Haha...It's ok, I didn't mean to snap at you. I get the "stupid, helpless girl" thing a lot so I get kinda defensive sometimes. I'm sorry.

kiwi_MX3 · Post by **kiwi_MX3** » February 25th, 2005, 3:27 am

Well if your going to pull the covers off for a closer look
to get the bottom cover off without cranking the damm thing
you need to rattle gun the crank pulley nut and and use the
threads in the pulley to push if off the shaft....

A lot of oil means a seal has gone, sometimes the belt takes a
seal out when it goes....

What km's or miles is your engine up to? as if its getting pretty
high its not a bad idea to do the ilder and tensioner pulley as well
and water pump if they are a resonable cost to replace.

Kenzie · Post by **Kenzie** » February 25th, 2005, 3:41 am

I just bought the car and I was told the motor has around 150,000 miles on it.
A local shop, Dyno & Performance, does all my work and he was going to charge me around $500 US to change the timing belt, replace the hub assemblies, and replace a lot of the small things that commonly break with age. (such as the water pump.)

kiwi_MX3 · Post by **kiwi_MX3** » February 25th, 2005, 4:05 am

One hopes that for US500 that includes parts and labour....

One thing to insit on is thay bag all the old parts for you to
take, the company i work for does this for the simple reason
you can't charge me for a replacement part unless i can see the
old one in my hand......good insurance policy

One thing i would get done is a leakdown test, this gives you a idea
what your vavle seat's are like and if they need a freshen up while
the engine is in a semi dismantled state.. 150,000miles is getting up
there on these engines..

lakersfan1 · Post by **lakersfan1** » February 25th, 2005, 9:33 am

kiwi_MX3 wrote:One hopes that for US500 that includes parts and labour....

If it's done right, that sounds more like just the labor, as I paid about $400 in just parts to do mine, and I shopped around before doing mine.

$145 - Mazda timing belt tensioner
$150 - Timing belt kit from http://www.partsdinosaur.com
$10 - two bearings for the accesory tensioners from Autozone
$70 - water pump with lifetime warranty from Autozone
$15 - both accesory belts from Autozone
_________
$390