icsmike

I just got my tb/wp done and when I peeked in the peep holes i can see that the belt is "traveling" forward and backwards just a little bit like 3mm. Is this bad ?

AO

1mm I'd say is okay. 3mm is excessive.

Jim_H

Yes.

blau928

Check the play on the cam gears.. It could be that cam gear is getting ready to snap as the woodruff key may have dirt and caused the cam bolt to dislodge.. (I broke a cam a while ago..) Maybe on replacement, the Tensioner washers were put in incorrectly and misaligned the belt..

3mm is A LOT, and I would recheck everything.. This is part of the check you do by hand, crank the engine over before assembling all the covers and ancilliaries etc.. This way, it's all apart, and you can adjust before bolting it all back together..

In any event, take off the covers, and crank the engine by hand.. You should see why the thing is off....

HTH,

Jim R.

Bad. It really should not run off, it should track true roughly centered on the cam gears.

You may have bad tensioner bushings, a bad roller, bad WP bearing......

If it was my car, I would say time to inspect further.

Jim

hinchcliffe

Or it could be the belt itself isn't straight all the way around. If if it the same place over and over I wouldn't think it would matter.

Crank the motor by hand, one turn of the crank is two tuns of the cams. Turn the belt till you see the belt name. Then start from there and go around the belt 2-3 times am dsee if its always the same area. 3mm is about 1/8" which can mean disater.

heinrich

The belt is so flexible that it's less likely that it's not straight BUT there has been someone on-list that had one. Generally a broken cam is very likely with that much play; or a water pump that is running untrue (read: eating your block and failing); ot one of the rolles is about to die.

Bill Ball

If it always happens at the same point in the belt as Curt describes (mark a spot on the belt if the lettering is no longer visible), then you have a belt that is not true. If not, and both sides are mistracking when viewed through the vent holes, that points to the WP. If the passenger side only is mistracking, that points to the tensioner arm bushings. Even if it is just a non-straight belt, I would want to get a very good look at it. I've never seen one, but I believe others have.

The driver side belt cover is easy to remove and with that off you will be able to see the WP pulley. Heinrich will remember the nastiness we saw in an 85 he bought when we removed that cover. Best to remove both covers and survey the situation.

Jim_H

I would bet $100 it's not a broken cam.

heinrich

Good looking avatar there Mr Ball

Bill Ball

Gracias, Heinrich. Way overcast day. Better picture to follow.

icsmike

Thanks Ill take off covers and have a look.

SteveG

Not to be too picky, but the driver's side is a bit of a pain, more so than the pass, got to nearly remove the alternator bracket to get mine off (85). If Mike did it himself, he knows. Last time, I did back those bolts all the way out and I tied the alternator off. Made it easier for me.

FlyingDog

My belt isn't straight. I don't know whether it came that way or it got warped when I installed it with an out of whack cam sprocket. The cam sprocket visibly wobbled, but that has been fixed. Over time the belt has become more centered and moves less.

Hopefully you have a 16V so you can run the car without timing covers. Run the engine and look at all the sprockets to see if they're wobbling. If they're not, stop the engine and hand turn it clockwise watching the belt move. See if the same parts of the belt are always to the front or the back.

Bill Ball

Heh, it seemed easy when we did it with Heinrich car! You are absolutely right; it won't come off with alternator cassette in place. I should have noted that, as I just did it again less than a month ago. Short of doing the Full Monthy, that is the only way I know to get a good look at the WP pulley.