Blue timing belt warning.
I had the same problem. I had a power enterprises belt. a mirage stub shaft.
I drove the car with a jdm motor swap for 1000 miles then did an off highway 4th gear pull and killed the oil pump. the belt was set on the tight side so we changed it put in a new front case looked at the tensioner wasnt leaking still stiff so we reused it. I drove the car for about 1000-1500 miles easy a few pulls but after that amount of time I thought everything was fine.
I did a 4th gear pull killed another oil pump. Both times I used the mitsu stub shaft. we were looking at the tensioner and decided to use a new one. I noticed that when we tried to re-compressed the old one (used on the first 2 pumps) that it popped in the vice like it may have been sticking.
So I used a mirage front case that came off of my stock 1.6 liter and was fine for 7years and had zero wear. so I now have a new tensioner, my 1.6 liter front case, and we used a gates black (normal) belt. I also used my 1.6 pressure relief distribution block in the head. The car is running again but I am afraid to boost on it.
My front case is eaten just like the one in the picture above.
This has been drivin me crazy not knowing what is doing this.
I drove the car with a jdm motor swap for 1000 miles then did an off highway 4th gear pull and killed the oil pump. the belt was set on the tight side so we changed it put in a new front case looked at the tensioner wasnt leaking still stiff so we reused it. I drove the car for about 1000-1500 miles easy a few pulls but after that amount of time I thought everything was fine.
I did a 4th gear pull killed another oil pump. Both times I used the mitsu stub shaft. we were looking at the tensioner and decided to use a new one. I noticed that when we tried to re-compressed the old one (used on the first 2 pumps) that it popped in the vice like it may have been sticking.
So I used a mirage front case that came off of my stock 1.6 liter and was fine for 7years and had zero wear. so I now have a new tensioner, my 1.6 liter front case, and we used a gates black (normal) belt. I also used my 1.6 pressure relief distribution block in the head. The car is running again but I am afraid to boost on it.
My front case is eaten just like the one in the picture above.
This has been drivin me crazy not knowing what is doing this.
I am running the Power Enterprises belt that I'm pretty sure is bullet proof
. It was/is a stiff SOB - Almost feels plastic... It's suposed to be the stiffest belt made and they guarentee it not to stretch. That being said. I set the tensioner per Mitsu's recomendation and it is as quiet as the stock belt. It doesn't make any wierd noises either. I'll bet your whining sound is totally based off how you are setting up the tensioner. What your doing does make sense if your only worried about the belt coming loose, but when the engine excellerates there has to be sufficient travel in the opposite direction (compression)for the tensioner to absorb the extra tension placed on the belt. If the tensioner bottoms out, because of lack of travel, you will end up with a belt that is too tight. It will stay tight until the tensioner has a chance to re-adjust.
This post is not intended to imply that you're not justified in your practices with the hydraulic tensioner, but I don't think you can place the fault on the "blue belt" either. I'd bet that your methods of tensioning are not agreeing with the extra stiffness of these kinds of belts and that is the reason for the problem. Peolpe who follow the recomended guidelines for setting up the tensioner will have zero problems with the extra stiffness provided by a " Blue Belt"
. It was/is a stiff SOB - Almost feels plastic... It's suposed to be the stiffest belt made and they guarentee it not to stretch. That being said. I set the tensioner per Mitsu's recomendation and it is as quiet as the stock belt. It doesn't make any wierd noises either. I'll bet your whining sound is totally based off how you are setting up the tensioner. What your doing does make sense if your only worried about the belt coming loose, but when the engine excellerates there has to be sufficient travel in the opposite direction (compression)for the tensioner to absorb the extra tension placed on the belt. If the tensioner bottoms out, because of lack of travel, you will end up with a belt that is too tight. It will stay tight until the tensioner has a chance to re-adjust. This post is not intended to imply that you're not justified in your practices with the hydraulic tensioner, but I don't think you can place the fault on the "blue belt" either. I'd bet that your methods of tensioning are not agreeing with the extra stiffness of these kinds of belts and that is the reason for the problem. Peolpe who follow the recomended guidelines for setting up the tensioner will have zero problems with the extra stiffness provided by a " Blue Belt"
wrong. the belt gets longer on tensioner side during a pull. not shorter.
and if you were correct I would be having same problems with black stock belts.
Last edited by 94AWDcoupe; Oct 27, 2009 at 02:42 AM.

So let me get this straight.. the person having the problems is 100% correct about everything, and the people that *aren't* having problems are wrong?

You sure you don't work for the Obama administration?
Is there something wrong with the factory belts? I hear of ppl right and left getting aftermarket belts. Was just curious as to why? You're supposed to change them at the same intervals anyway.
I did a motor build on an Evo IX last week. The customer purchased a Gates blue timing belt kit. After about a day of break in, a noise could be heard from under the cover. I removed it to find that the cogs in the belt were making noise in one section of the belt.
I removed it and installed a Power Enterprise blue belt and the noise was gone. I would have put an OEM IX belt on it, but we didn't have on in stock at the time and the car was scheduled to be dyno'd.
I removed it and installed a Power Enterprise blue belt and the noise was gone. I would have put an OEM IX belt on it, but we didn't have on in stock at the time and the car was scheduled to be dyno'd.
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