94 V6 Lebaron - Timing Belt

Follow-up question - apparently the front bearings are sealed, but the rear bearings need to be repacked each 30k miles?

change them both and be done with it. cheap insurance. even if the belt is ok, the tensioner is most likely getting tired.

depending on what engine it is, it might be an interference engine or it might not.

Just a shot in the dark here, but the only v6 option for the compacts (Lebaron,Spirit, Acclaim) was the Mitsubishi 3.0.

I would never just wait for it to break because sometimes they shear teeth and jump time too. It should have been replaced in '03 IMNSHO just due to age.

And if it's like the 2.5L V6 in our old Stratus ES, when that belt breaks the car's not worth fixing.

Perce

Wow. You really don't drive it much - do you?

Do you really want to be stuck somewhere, looking at an expensive tow to a service garage, where they'll tell you they can't do it until next thursday?

Just based on the age of the belt, combined with the milage, I'd say it's time to replace it. And yes, it's a good time to replace the pump, ider or tensioner, and even a few gaskets or seals in there as well.

I did that all that with my '00 300M a year or two ago.

I have no idea if you engine is an interference type or not. My 3.5L V6 _is_ an interference type - don't know how it differs from your '94 version.

Being a convertible, it's gotten babied over the past ten years. I put the top down in April and it's about to go up in October. When it's sunny, it gets driven primarily around the county. Otherwise, it stays in the garage.

On the other hand, my 00 Accord just passed 200K and my 05 Pilot just passed

Probably should replace it, but now that summer's coming to and end, guess I'll wait til next spring.

Tensioner was replaced about five years ago along with the external belts when the (aged) brake lines were also replaced.

It's actually been a very low maintainence car - almost as good as my Accord (and far superior to any of the GM cars I've owned) and continues to run very well.

Was that an external belt-tensioner?

Or was that the timing-belt tensioner (which you can't see unless you take the timing cover off) ?

My ignorance - I was referring to the serpentine, air conditioner and alternator belts vs. the timing belt.

I'm guessing that was an external tensioner for those belts.

When dealing with the timing belt tensioner, you're going to come across these terms:

- tensioner

- pulley

- hydraulic tensioner

- Timing Belt Hydraulic tensioner

- damper

- timing component kit / roller kit

Some of these terms are just different names for the same thing (ie damper might just be another name for tensioner).

The tensioner might be 2 or 3 different parts (arm, hydraulic part, pulley) and when you start having some parts guy looking it up, you're going to find that the original part number is superceded to another number, which is superceded to another number, etc.

Even with my car (6 years newer than yours) I had that issue about needing a new idler arm to go with a matching pulley or some such nonsense because the original pulley was no longer available.

If you go with non-MoPar parts, I think most timing belts come in the form of a kit (belt + pulley / tensioner) as well as belt alone.

When it comes to the water pump, again you're going to find that the original P/N is superceded to a newer P/N etc etc and then discontinued, so the ultimate replacement is aftermarket brand.

Also, you should have the front-main seal replaced because it's right there and easy to do. It should be cheap ($12) and cost practically no additional labor cost.

Thanks for the advice.

Much appreciated.