Damn Belt!

[SmokesGTP]

Well today I decided to check my timing belt and lo and behold its half gone! It looks to have been scraping against the cover which I had no knowledge of. its half gone and tons of little hairs. It's weird considering the car runs fine, you would think its performance would suffer. What steams me most is I have the receipt from the previous owner doing the belt at 113,247k and I now only have 130,000k. I think the belt should last longer than 17 thousand miles considering it cost 500 bucks and I baby this car, its seen 6k rpms maybe 5 times. It was done at the Pontiac dealer too so go figure. I'm thinkin about going and bitching to make myself feel better. Anyway sorry to take out my frustration but i'm thinkin of doin this myself, anyone who has done it do you think its worth the trouble and possible screw ups? Maybe i'll just go somewhere else to get it done screw the dealer. Someone please say somethin to make me feel slightly better about this shit before I sell the goddamn thing. :verymad:

[Heza]

NOOOOOOOOO! DON'T SELL IT! you can't sell your car! you have one of the nicest Grand Prixs made (94-96 GTPs). TGPs are sweet too. the '97 and up GPs still haven't grown on me as the 94-96s have. personally, i'd go back to the dealer with the invoice and stir a ruckus. someone did something shady at the dealership and it needs to be brought up to them. as for replacing the timing belt, i've never done it on a LQ1, but have heard it's a process. i'd just take it to a local mechanic because they usually do stuff right for a lot less than the dealership would charge.

[SmokesGTP]

Yeah thanks for the encouragement but I am gonna go down there and cause a minor scene. At very least this won't happen to someone else. I'm still torn on whether to sell or not. Surprisingly on the invoice they only charged 450 bucks including parts, thats pretty cheap. They probly didn't replace the pulleys.

[GrandPrix34]

how can you check the timing belt without having to tear down the whole engine (pull plenum, disconnect almost everything, etc.)

[Guest Anonymous]

Pull the timing cover off. There are some 8mm (I think) screws that hold it on.

[SmokesGTP]

yeah 3 8mm bolts

[lukee1982]

I have the gm training video for the timing belt and it talks about if the bearings bo bad in the idler pully from even dust in the timing cover getting on the bearing the pully will tend to tip and make a side wear condtion on the belt on possibly stop working (idler pullies) or the belt will get to thin and break.

If the previous owner turned down new idler pullies that could be the problem.

If anyone needs help with the timing i have some copies of the video to help out. here is the site

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=34232&item=2413904270

also for writeups on the complete tear down visit 60degreev6.com

[GnatGoSplat]

Yep. Not replacing the idler pulleys can lead to that problem. Sounds like the previous owners or maybe the dealership skimped.

You definitely need a new belt! Better hurry before it goes snappo.

[SmokesGTP]

Yeah I know but I don't have the cash so I'll just have to drive it around town and if it breaks then I'll have it towed. I'll have to drive my moms car if I'm going very far. I figure as long as I don't rev over 3500 rpms and avoid big hills I'll be good for a few weeks till I can afford it.

[lukee1982]

what does the receipt say was replaced?

[GnatGoSplat]

Be careful... although the DOHC is supposed to be a non-interference engine, the tolerances are so close that sometimes a broken belt DOES result in pistons contacting valves.

I don't think this happens often, but it has happened to an unlucky few.

[SmokesGTP]

Yeah I will be careful, it says just the timing belt per customers request and it was original at 113k. Doesnt say anything about pulleys, the tensioner or actuator.