'96 Platinum Wagon: broken timing belt. 7:18am Topic is solved

splats · Post by **splats** » 27 Jan 2017, 14:05

Driving to work this morning, my timing belt broke. There are a couple of things which make it more complicated than a 'simple' broken timing belt:

- The belt only had about 45k miles on it
- I had a 'low oil event' a couple of weeks ago. No oil light, but I had a fair amount of lifter noise which went away after an oil change.
- Was that other noise I heard a spun bearing? (is that possible on these cars? Did the cam sieze and break the belt?)
- Most puzzling of all, I have oil in my coolant that wasn't there 2 weeks ago. (No coolant in the oil, though).

At any rate, I love this car - I finally got all the coolant leaks, vacuum leaks, and sensors fixed. No CEL for 3 months. Everything was working, so this really blows.

I'm going to pull the head and evaluate the damage.

Are there any non-intuitive things about pulling the head on this car? Like: is it easier to pull the exhaust manifold with the head, or leave it with the car? (I've only done this sort of thing with rear wheel drive cars before (non-turbo, too)).

(I've got a garage and another set of wheels...)

==== Cause: Executive Summary ====

The cause of the broken timing belt was a poor, after market water pump. The water pump's bushing disintegrated, allowing the impeller to gouge into the water pump housing until it seized - which, in turn, chewed 8 teeth off of the timing belt - resulting in bent valves.

The oil in the coolant is (most likely) the grease packing from the water pump bushing.
The noise of a spun bearing, was the water pump giving up the ghost.
The 'low oil event' is not a contributing factor.

Post by **misha** » 27 Jan 2017, 14:15

It had 45k miles on it,but how old it was?Also,what was the brand of timing belt?
Is the car auto or manual?

splats · Post by **splats** » 27 Jan 2017, 14:26

Misha, the belt came with the car (in a box), I don't know how old it is - but it was installed Aug. of 2013. The brand is Continental, and the car is an automatic.

Thanks.

Post by **scot850** » 27 Jan 2017, 14:31

When you take it apart, it would be worth checking the tensioner. I think your car will have the hydraulic tensioner and not the manual one. Was it replaced when the belt was replaced? IT is possible the tensioner failed and took the belt out.

Like you said, the 'low oil' event could be a contributory event and perhaps the engine seized. Does the crank move at all (it may not is a valve has been bent which is likely).

Neil.

Post by **misha** » 27 Jan 2017, 14:48

splats wrote:Misha, the belt came with the car (in a box), I don't know how old it is - but it was installed Aug. of 2013. The brand is Continental, and the car is an automatic.

Ok,the belt brand is ok...what about oil in the coolant?Since the car is auto it could be that radiator failed and let transmission oil in it.
If it's engine oil in coolant....that would be a headgasket.

splats · Post by **splats** » 27 Jan 2017, 15:54

Thanks folks.

- The belt didn't snap, but instead it lost a few teeth.
- The water pump is seized.

When I bought the car, it seemed good to change the timing belt (since it had one that came with the car). It also had some coolant leaks. So I changed out the timing belt, water pump, radiator, heater core, and other stuff as well.

Since then (45k miles ago), I've had to re-replace the intake manifold gasket (dried and cracked - looked a thousand years old), radiator (started leaking past the plastic end caps), and now the water pump has siezed.

I'm learning that after market parts aren't what they use to be...

(...continuing with the head removal. Still puzzled by the oil in the coolant. Coincidence, maybe.)

Post by **misha** » 27 Jan 2017, 16:18

Only 45k on water pump and it seized?
What brand was it?

How many teeth?If it is up to 3 teeth,valves would be ok.

greg850r · Post by **greg850r** » 27 Jan 2017, 16:21

One of mine has oil in the coolant. The cause turned out to be the oil cooler in the radiator ruptured. I only mention it because you had a low oil event first. Did you ever determine where the oil went? Pull the oil lines from the radiator, plug one water hose and pressurize the other, you may see pressure escaping out the oil cooler ports. In my case the trans cooler was fine, by the way.

splats · Post by **splats** » 27 Jan 2017, 16:38

greg850r, The low oil event I *think* was due to the fact that the dipstick handle was broken off before the last oil change I got. I told the folks at the oil change place to use needle nose pliers to get to it. But when I got a new dipstick, I realized that it can get stuffed further down the tube if the handle is broken off. So I suspect the oil change people got a false reading. Just a theory. Although I do have a little oil between the turbo and intercooler - (turbo needs rebuilt).

And the radiator is just a few months old - the one I got in 2013 was failing. But, I suppose it's possible that this one has already failed.

splats · Post by **splats** » 27 Jan 2017, 16:41

Misha, there are 8 teeth missing. I don't recall the brand of water pump. I ordered a bunch of parts from a few different places when I got the car, but I have that info somewhere, it'll just take me a while to dig it up.

Thanks again.