Hey yall I got a 1997 2.3 5 speed with 202k miles now. When I first bought it It shredded the timing belt that was at 170k we replaced the water pump and thermostat while we were at it along with the timing belt pulley. I was driving down the road last week and she died doing 70. The belt was the first thing I checked and sure enough the belt ripped again. Now theres a few things I can think as to why it ripped again. 1. I had a bad coolant leak coming out of the thermostat housing which I am replacing before we put everything back together. Im thinkin all the coolant and oil mixture built up in there could make the belt slip at least? When we removed the cover it was caked with oil and grime. My other thought was I had a broken motor mount. The motor shook like crazy. Never got around to fixing It, could that cause the belt to walk off the gear? Seems odd that after 30k miles it ripped again. Also after we fixed the timing belt the first time the motor whined like crazy but it ran just fine better than ever actually. Could that be a bad timing belt pulley or tensioner? If any of you have any clue as to why it would have ripped after 30k miles please let me know if you’ve heard of any of those things to cause the belt to slip

 

There is a timing belt guide that often gets left off

It could be by you or the guy before you

It goes on the crank shaft between the gear and pulley, looks like a big washer with a key way

Seen in this drawing: https://ww2-secure.justanswer.com/up..._015956_23.gif

That's the only thing I can think of

Was the outside edge shredded or the inside edge?

And was it a Motorcraft belt(Ford) or 3rd party, we have been having a bit more issues with 3rd part parts either not working out of the box or failing early

 

Oooh gosh I cant remember if we remembered to put that guide on last time. I will check this go round. And I wanna say it was the inside. That belt got pretty tore up. I just figured it was all the crap leaking out of my engine but yea I have heard about that guide not being put on and it slips. Luckily its a non interference motor :)

 

Another thing I wanted to ask yall, how would I set the time then if the belt ripped? Last time I think we pulled spark plug 1 and turned the motor till the piston was at the top. But ive heard if the belt rips you have to do things differently? Like turn each gear individually. What we did last time worked but I just wanna make sure im not doing more work then I have to

 

You use the timing marks on the 3 gears
Cam use triangle at 4:00, on case
AUX/oil pump uses diamond at 12:00, on case

Crank has a Dot and a mark on case at about 12:30

Seen here: https://www.2carpros.com/images/ques...6/original.gif

You are correct it is a non-interference engine, so turn any of the gears to line marks up, and in either direction, can't hurt anything, then put belt on

The Cam and AUX gears are exactly the same and interchangeable so will have BOTH marks, a triangle and a diamond, so make sure you use the right symbol/mark

 

Thanks youve been really helpful. One more stupid question i know but do I turn it by hand (like literally grab the gear with my hand and spin it) or do I have to put a socket on the nut on the gear and spin it? Its been 2 years and Im just trying to do everything right this time

 

Only if you're strong enough

 

Yeah I was able to turn the oil pump and cam gear by hand so just wondering what you guys do

 

You are very strong if you can turn the cam gear by hand, lol

But thats fine, I would use a socket wrench
Turning crank is easier with one spark plug removed from each cylinder

 

thanks ron you’ve been real helpful. People like you make this forum great