Timing Belt Help

[PsychoX]

Ok I have 102k miles on my 1995 monte Z34. I dont know if the guy before me beat on this engine alot or if he ever changed the belt. but is there a way to tell if the belt is going to snap suddenly? like what to look for. i looked at it and it had small little itty bitty cracks going along the side of it. there is very little shreddage of it on the inside of the cover too. i have to wait about 2 weeks before the mechanic can change it though. he only wants 300 bucks to do it, plus the belt. is it worth it to take it to a chevy dealer/service center to have them do it for 700 bucks? but chevy will do it right away. i need this car for going back and forth from school, home and work. i dont want to have to pay mass amount for an overhaul.

[SappySE107]

Can you take a picture of these cracks on the side of the belt? I would look at the teeth of the belt, and the top of the belt as I have never seen the sides crack. You will want the idler pullies, tensioner, and tensioner pulley replaced at the same time. Best to just get all the parts from gmpartsdirect.com and pay the guy 300 to put all those in. Its not any more difficult to do the belt and change those since they all come out anyway.

Make sure your mechanic knows what he is doing...as it seems most don't have any idea how to actually time the engine properly.

[PsychoX]

yeah i can take a picture, ill post it 2morrow as it is dark now. i dont know if i want the mechanic to do it cause he probably has never done it before. and i am not about to have my car fucked up. he says he gaurantees his work but i dont know. im thinking about going to the dealer to have them do it. how much are the idler pullies, tensioner and tensioner pulley? plus the belt is like 90 bucks from GM. i guess better pay alot now instead of alot more later.

[SappySE107]

Belt is only 50-60, unless it went up recently. The part numbers are on the site, under DOHC maintenance, timing belt. I think its 200-250 for all the parts. Oh, and even GM dealers fuck up the timing belts, but its a lot less common for them to do it wrong.

[PsychoX]

here are some pictures:


the belt with the cracks.


shreddage of the belt inside the inspection cover.


the cam gears on the side. there is a little bit of metal showing on odd places on the side of the belt. the teeth look fine they are all there and not really moving around. these pictures arent the best but my camera has a hard time focusing in on things like that.

[rockync7]

lucky you, if i took pics, you'd see half a belt, about 1 inch wide....i need to change mine right this time with new pulleys and all.....someone give me a heads up on this please...my problem is understanding how the cam gears will freewheel....if thats possible, i'm all set...id also like ot retard the timing, anyone have any pics of where the hell 13 degrees is, or even 10 degrees, thanks

[PsychoX]

check under DOHC> DOHC Maintenance> cam timing belt w/e. it should have a picture(s) of the timing mark and one with the cam retarded.

[SappySE107]

That belt looks normal. Shavings are also normal...i had some after 500 miles. It doesn't appear to be in dire need of a change, but then again, sometimes they don't show signs of it, as the teeth could shear off anyway and you wouldn't see it coming. I think you have time though for the mechanic to do it. If you want, just print off the directions on this site and that should take care of any questions.

Pics of the timing marks for 91-93, i don't believe 94+ have this nice timing mark setup but I could be wrong.

http://www.60degreev6.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=DOHC&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=9&page=1

Cam timing picture walkthrough

http://www.60degreev6.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=DOHC&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=12&page=1

[goatman]

I just got a new timing belt from autozone: $42 for a goodyear gatorback, and the tensioner from them is $82

[SappySE107]

I have heard the non gates (stock) timing belts are junk and don't last very long. I have had good luck with the stock belt so I wouldn't risk using anything else.

[Lyle's GTP]

I've had a Dayco on for three years now and it is fine.

Lyle