Has anyone ever broken a timing belt on an FS engine?

[thestone11]

I changed mine at 130000km~! still looks good when I took it out~! not really that worn down~!

 

[YoGeorge]

Sincere thanks....

I have, ive been through a motor (not my own), plus xelderx has done about 5 built motors and confirmed it. its not interference despite how its documented.

I will now be able to sleep a bit easier if I push the belt change...as I said, I had an Acura 2.5TL (5 cyl) which did have an interference engine and that was getting scary approaching 100k miles....likely a ton more money than the P5 motor if I did break it...

I still prefer timing chains, but am enjoying the P5....and am very pleased to have been wrong about the FS being an interference motor.

ps--man, this is a nice, busy forum--good guys for info, etc. (I've been on guitar, other car forums, for well over 12 years now)

George

 

[latinkings49]

Well....

one day was driving from home to work and then BAM@@@!!! at the moment i did not know what happened so i kind pulled over and everything seemed fine. car was on no noise so yeah and it was not jerky or anything... so i drive a block so i overheat... so i pull over and turn car off.. and pop the hood an wow... no belt just pieces everywhere.

so i towed it home and put a new belt.

Now i dont know how it happened and i asked greasemonkeys and they said have never heard of such a thing. blah blah .. so i gave up and forgot about.

03' auto at roughly 45k

 

[terbow]

no prob. just like any forum you have inaccuracies that everyone will argue over. eventually you find the answer.

im at 72k but im not changing mine for a while cause im thinkin about headwork one day so ill just do it all at once.

I will now be able to sleep a bit easier if I push the belt change...as I said, I had an Acura 2.5TL (5 cyl) which did have an interference engine and that was getting scary approaching 100k miles....likely a ton more money than the P5 motor if I did break it...

I still prefer timing chains, but am enjoying the P5....and am very pleased to have been wrong about the FS being an interference motor.

ps--man, this is a nice, busy forum--good guys for info, etc. (I've been on guitar, other car forums, for well over 12 years now)

George

 

[cougar10agREDUX]

if you're going to clay a motor you need to install the cams you will be using. pushing the valve all the way it will go won't give you an accurate reading since the cams max lift is what determines how far the valve will protrude into the combustion chamber

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

Well....

one day was driving from home to work and then BAM@@@!!! at the moment i did not know what happened so i kind pulled over and everything seemed fine. car was on no noise so yeah and it was not jerky or anything... so i drive a block so i overheat... so i pull over and turn car off.. and pop the hood an wow... no belt just pieces everywhere.

so i towed it home and put a new belt.

Now i dont know how it happened and i asked greasemonkeys and they said have never heard of such a thing. blah blah .. so i gave up and forgot about.

03' auto at roughly 45k

That would've been the water pump belt. That's why the car still ran fine. That's why it overheated, because the water pump wasn't turning. That is not the timing belt, it's a drive belt or accessory belt. The car WILL NOT run with a broken timing belt.

 

[Purrfectangel]

I'm going on 112k (manual) with original belt and she still looks and sounds good. (fingers crossed). If you are worried about it then change it at the specified intervals but before you do, just take the cover off and have a look. If it looks frayed, thin, overly worn then change it but if it still looks good let it go awhile longer. Usually your pump will go first in which case do both even if it doesn't need to be done just for good measure. Manuals usually don't get as good mileage per belt as auto's but each car and enviromental habitat is different so ya never know.

 

[RABID_MP5]

Another factor in all this is temperature. I once saw a spec on some Mazda that said 60K change, but 100K miles in California. I thought, well CA cars are sometimes different for emissions etc. But no, it was due to whether or not the car was to be operated under say zero degrees. It makes sense that the belt would be stiff & brittle, plus try turning over those TWO -15 degree temp camshafts, pushing on 16 springs, all coated in syrup (0W30 anyone?) So, since the original poster was in MI, I'd say think hard about keeping the belt past next fall. What I also wondered was if using a belt day after day in real cold weather expedites its ultimate demise due to the stresses - i.e. after 50K in Manitoba, a move to Key West might not ensure a 100K life.

 

[YoGeorge]

That is a good point...

Another factor in all this is temperature. I once saw a spec on some Mazda that said 60K change, but 100K miles in California. I thought, well CA cars are sometimes different for emissions etc. But no, it was due to whether or not the car was to be operated under say zero degrees. It makes sense that the belt would be stiff & brittle, plus try turning over those TWO -15 degree temp camshafts, pushing on 16 springs, all coated in syrup (0W30 anyone?) So, since the original poster was in MI, I'd say think hard about keeping the belt past next fall. What I also wondered was if using a belt day after day in real cold weather expedites its ultimate demise due to the stresses - i.e. after 50K in Manitoba, a move to Key West might not ensure a 100K life.

I believe the car has spent its life in Michigan, although I'll note that in searching the Internet, I have yet to find anyone who has actually broken a belt on an FS motor. With 200k on your car in IL, have you been changing the belt at 60k intervals?

As I said in my original post, I broke a timing belt on an '86 Escort GT at 57k (was going to change it at 60k), but that car had a stick and my wife did like to rev it a bit (I taught her about redline shifting in that car--she'd been driving sticks almost exclusively but didn't get the rev thing till then.) My P5 is an auto which I'd expect to generally rev less and have less wild RPM cycling--like downshifts, etc....hell, the P5 runs in 4th gear at 25 mph, whereas in a stick I'd have it in 2nd or 3rd gear. I have a '91 BMW 318is which has a really short first gear, and I noted that I usually shift out of first at 4000 RPM just driving around the city.

I may, at the 60k plug change which I will do myself, pull the valve cover and take a look at the belt for any signs of stress or wear....the official interval per my manual is an inspection at 60k, change at 105k. At 90 or 100k, it'll make more sense to change the water pump as well...I had my Acura 2.5TL belt changed at 100k (recommendation 105k) and had the water pump on that changed at the same time. I can't imagine that the timing belt materials or stresses were much different on that car than on the P5--it was a single cam, but pushing 20 valves on the 5 cyl motor. And as I said, my Ford service guy said I'd be fine going 100k--and he's seen a lot of Probes with the FS motor in his time at the Ford dealer, all in Michigan.

Thanks,
George

 

[YoGeorge]

193k....

I was poking around the regular Protege forum, and there was a guy in Virginia who had 193k miles on the original timing belt on an FS motor(!?)

Then again, I've got a Ford van and in one of the Ford truck forums, there was a link to www.millionmilevan.com about a guy who has a million miles on a '97 Ford van. He went over a half million on the original serpentine belt, and still has the original radiator hoses on the thing...rubber parts are sure better than they used to be...

George

 

[autoxes]

I was poking around the regular Protege forum, and there was a guy in Virginia who had 193k miles on the original timing belt on an FS motor(!?)

Then again, I've got a Ford van and in one of the Ford truck forums, there was a link to www.millionmilevan.com about a guy who has a million miles on a '97 Ford van. He went over a half million on the original serpentine belt, and still has the original radiator hoses on the thing...rubber parts are sure better than they used to be...

George

Lame website, but that's freaking amazing.