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Saab Timing Belt / Tensioner Q for the mechanically minded

Hi there

I have a Saab900 2.5v6 with 82,000 miles on the clock, which has recently developed a rather fatal problem.

On 24/03/2005 I had the car seviced at the Saab main dealer in Sheffield (UK) and the timing belt replaced since it was due at 86,000 miles, 2 birds with one stone etc.... On picking up the car I immediately noticed that between the range of 2000-3000 RPM the car sounded like a deisel, lots of noise coming from the engine. I immediately reported this to the dealer, who booked the car in for checking on 08/04/2005. I was told the car would be fine to drive in the meantime.

After taking the car back for the second appointment I was told that the tension on the belt was incorrect, but now it was sorted, which appeared to be the case, no more odd noise from the engine, very quiet and smooth again. I queried whether this might have caused any other problems, but they were confident it wouldn't, apparently it would not have caused a problem, it was merely 'noisey'.

Yesterday (20/09/2005) I had lots of noise coming from the engine, so took the car to the dealers. who have now informed me that the timing belt tensioner has collapsed and the belt has slipped, thus removing large amounts of cash from my wallet (approx 1300 UK pounds).

They're claiming "these things just happen", despite the car being fully dealer serviced by them since it was bought from new specifically to avoid such horrible problems! I've done less than 2000 miles since the chain was replaced/re-tensioned.

Anyway, my question is do these things "just happen"? Should they have picked up on this? And would me driving around for 2 weeks with an incorrectly tensioned belt have contributed to this problem? Obviously I'd love to think that the answer to all these is yes, but since I'm not mechanically minded I really have no idea :( It just seems odd that the last thing they worked on, and incidently didn't fit correctly first time has not gone and crapped itself.

Can anyone enlighten me?

Best Regards Jay

Reply to
Jay
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The short answer is these things don't "just happen". This GM engine is well known for timing belt issues.

If they are a Saab shop, they should have picked up on this. These engines and the problems associated with them have been around for over

10 years - more than enough time for the mechanics to learn through hands on experience. Saab changed the timing belt interval to every 30,000 miles and was doing it under warranty.

Yes, driving for two weeks with a slipping timing belt leads to a very expensive repair job. If you have not gotten the car repaired yet, you may want to consider walking away from it now. The new timing belt may cause the same problem in 30,000 miles or less.

Reply to
ma_twain

If the timing belt was *slipping* it would be very expensive indeed ! :-(

Sounds very much like the belt was overtightened and caused excessive wear.

Having said that, isn't it advised to change the tensioner when replacing the belt anyway ? As in 2 birds with one stone... etc

Sounds like a dealer to avoid to me.

Graham

Reply to
Pooh Bear

In message , Jay writes

I suggest you contact the AA or the RAC after thinking on these ideas:

The dealer had no ability to judge whether or not you were wise to continue to drive the car without having performed an inspection of the engine first.

What is the present mileage? Is it 84,000 ?

You had the car serviced in March at 82k and the timing belt changed then.

"These things just happen" sounds like a poor excuse. How often do "these things just happen"? If "these things just happen" all round the

86k mark then the dealer servicing agent should have advised you to replace them at the same time as you had the belt changed.

If you were told "the tension of the best was incorrect" then all you have to do it to prove negligence on the part of Saab by admitting they did not fit the belt correctly and by advising you to continue driving it. Can one infer that the collapse of the timing belt tensioner was caused or at least exacerbated by this?

I would get on to it like a do with a bone.

Reply to
Peter Watson

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