Well the timing belt decided to rip itself apart over the weekend. the belt was less than 2 years old after getting it towed to the mechanic. I got the dreadful call of the a couple valves had a been bent after some piston beating. The car has about 200k miles on it. hopefully this isn't a common problem with these engines at that mileage.


so here I'm spending over $1,000 on head work and labor to fix it.


Im hoping after this the car doesn't grenade itself as after this year the "for sale" upgrade is going on the car.


I hope no one on this forum has gone through this issue.

 

Many people on this forum have gone through this issue, but it's not a matter of mileage. Usually this happens when the timing belt was installed incorrectly. A tensioner bolt comes loose due to improper torque spec, or a foreign object interfered with the belt itself. There are many reasons why this could have happened, but I would blame the last person who installed the belt before mileage.
Hope all gets fixed soon so you can be back on the road enjoying it.

-pal215

 

My tensioner blew its guts at 115k which led to the belt jumping and bending some valves. At 200k miles you should have been on your 4th timing belt? Im guessing that wasn't the case, which is probably why it took a **** on you.

 

the last mechanic to do the repairs replaced the belt, water pump, etc at 150k. which happens to be the one working on the car now. I think the bearing on the tenisor locked up. but all the parts have a 3 yr warranty so they are free but the labor isn't.





this would be the 3rd belt on the car. first was done at 100k , 2nd was done at 150k due to a faulty water pump leak. this will be most likely be the last one.

 

The most common failures are improper tension, due to either improper installation, or using an off-brand belt...yes gates belts are garbage, and so is everything else. get a genuine mitsubishi OEM belt, and genuine tensioners and pulleys, and the belt will last longer than the specified service intervals, you're not saving money with bi-annual top end rebuilds, so spend the extra money and get OEM timing parts...the other cause is neglect, which was said already, but is probably the main reason you'll see a pre 2008 Mitsubishi on a tow truck.

There are a number of other things that can cause a timing belt failure, but they are so uncommon it's not worth discussing "what if"...

 

it was replaced with gates belts and tensioners. The good thing is the gates parts have a lifetime warranty and workmanship and defect. I contacted gates they want to inspect the old parts and it they are at fault will possibly cover some or all of the costs of repair.

if you every question a warranty it always helps to contact the manufacturer 👍

I will I'll keep Everyone updated on what they say. Also the car will be running by Friday 👍

 

Gates belt is the problem, this has been known for years - must use OEM Mitsu belt. Some time ago I posted a thread and link to this.

 

Yeah that's what I heard I got a free gates belt for the time being while the Oem is on order (1 week lead time). Once when I replace the serpentine belt I will replace the gates belt with the oem. Got the heads back all valves were replaced for $600 which is less than I thought it was. Ran by the shop to pay the bill today looks like they were finishing up on the reassembly and just waiting for a new Radiator now.


Any type of part for these cars is always special order. hopefully the car will be back on the road on Monday.

 

Gates may well have a warranty, but unless they're paying for heads, valves and labour, I would not have peace of mind...even if they did cover it, the headache and downtime is not my cup of tea...I'll spend the extra $30 on an OEM belt.

 

well it's worth a shot. Worse come to worse they say no. I ordered a Oem belt but the local dealer is so new here and the next dealer is 100miles away. So I ordered it online.

 

I get a lot of OEM stuff from jnz tuning.

 

Update : picked up the car yesterday. It feels a lot different now perhaps since it has all new and clean vavles ( or it could be my OCD).

Side note: it is making a low whine noise near belt area at idle and when you give it throttle. I'm going to check the power steering fluids tonight and maybe swing it by the shop for them to inspect it. I'm sure they love seeing my car after the 2 weeks they had it. 😂

 

Found the seperatine belt slipped a tooth and was ripped. That belt was also a "gates". Well it runs good now. Hopefully it will get till next summer then "goodbye RA"

 

get a GM, they have timing chains and you can drive them without oil.

 

I have a 2005 Chevy Colorado running strong at 150k. Cost less to Fix also since the parts don't have to come from Japan. 😂