timing belt question?

Ask the original owner/ or take off the upper cover and see what it looks like

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Hi Glenn and thanks for taking the time! No original owner that I know of, I got it from an auction! I can take off the cover but I can't really tell if what I m looking at has been replaced or not!! Not much experiance there! I'll take it to the dealer next week and have them take a look! I hope it is not going to be much to do that.

I am just concerend about the timming belt because I read some where that if it breaks in this car, it could do some great damage! The car is in great shape and I got it cheap so I don't have a problem paying for the timing belt if I need it!

Thanks again!

Some timing belts look pretty good, even after many miles of service. Safely tucked away behind the belt covers, they can age gracefully. Unless you know what you are looking for and are good with an inspection mirror, it might be hard to tell.

The service, as you know, is on the expensive side so my guess is that most owners would tend to put it off. Unless the belt under the cover somehow is obviously new, my suggestion would be to not mess around with it. Bite the bullet and get it done. This is especially true for an interference engine such as yours.

Ken

Assuming we are talking about the 3.5 because the 2.7 has a chain....the timing belt is recommended replacing at 100k Federal Emission/105k California Emissions. Iwould also have the water pump and front cover O-rings replaced at that time also

I have not had a timing belt fail in several cars that had them. I have replaced timing belts (especially in newly purchased used cars) that have had quite a few miles on them.

The used belts that I inspected did not show any significant wear on the outside surface. A quick look at the inside (the teeth) of the belt did not reveal anything obvious either. It's only when I took a closer look at the "valleys" of the teeth that I noticed (in a long overdue belt) that the base material (cord) of the belt was showing.

This accounts for why there was "belt dust" on the inside of the covers. I theorized that what happens is that one of the teeth finally breaks loose from the base material, thereby increasing the stress on other engaged teeth. This causes other teeth also fail in the same manner until a section of belt no longer has engaged teeth. Then the belt stops turning and the car stops running. Folks who have had belts fail have told me that this is what they saw when removing the belt. Teeth were missing but the belt did not "snap".

But snap or not, the result is the same. It's inconvenient for non-interference engines and bad news for the other.

Why the big rush to belts vs. chains? Probably cost. Are the auto makers really transitioning back to chains?

Ken

That was going to be my comment. If you have the 2.7, we may have other things of a preventive nature to talk about.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')

Yes it is the 3.2!! Are you sure about the 100K thing, someone here mentioned 60K! Thanks again.

Thanks Ken! I am going to bite the bullet and do it! I was quoted $350 by the dealer yesterday! I think that is fair, at least in case because I got a good deal on the car!!

Why the big rush to belts vs. chains? Probably cost. Are the auto makers really transitioning back to chains?

Noise control.

Richard.

I just got through changing mine, and it was obvious it had been changed because the water pump and idler weren't original. You could also figure it out by finding out the belt is aftermarket (you will be able to read the lettering on it). Those are hit and miss methods, though. Luckily you can see in there without a huge amount of work.

Noise control?!?

It's weight. Remember CAFE. That's also why some of them are going to plastic intake manifolds.

Ted