my '03 evo keeps jumping 1-3 teeth. I had the belt/pulleys/tensioner/water pump/balance shaft belt all changed not even 10K miles ago.

Each time it skips a tooth I pay to have the entire job Re-done and buy a new tensioner. I'm at the end of my rope on this and I'm getting tired of watching the car collect dust. Has this ever happened to anyone before?

my friends claim that It's something im doing wrong... how the hell am I doing something wrong? the first time it jumped tooth it was idling in a parking lot! The second time it was going up hill at cruising speed, the third time.... well yeah, I was doing a pull but STILL! xD I didn't beat up on the car the first 2 times, in fact, I babied it. Only recently have I gone off-roading. Even so, BEFORE I had the belt replaced It was fine for the life of the belt. I do engine brake...ALOT... but that's how I was taught to drive a stick. No other car for the course of my entire life, INCLUDING other mitsubishis, have ever had this issue. Not only that, but I've seen people absolutely abuse,beat-up, and DESTROY their evos and not have a single issue.

One thing I *DID* find out tonight was that the shop where I got the job done didn't use an OEM belt. it's a random aftermarket belt. not HKS or Gates, or Greddy or OEM. Could that be the cause? if it is, what kind of belt should I get? Since the 2nd time it skipped teeth, I've gone up another 100 or so HP going e85 so I'm 375 AWHP right now.

any advice is appreciated!

 

Sounds like you answered your own problem, that belt definitely sounds questionable to me,if everything else is new, tensioner//etc then thats more then likely your problem id check if the part # is even for an evo they could have gotten a Lancer belt.

 

Do you have the special timing belt tool? http://www.3sx.com/store/comersus_vi...dProduct=27500it sounds like your belt was too loose and jumped time you may have bent valves now to go with it I would just buy a kevlar belt and then you dont have to worry about the belt breaking ever again. http://www.wrxevolution.com/store/vi...dProduct=27832

 

Wait you paid for this work how many times? Find a new shop.

 

it was a different place each time.

 

One tooth isnt going to bend any valves, i think i recall it being 4-6 that would end up messing up valves

 

Sounds to me like its not being tensioned correctly.

 

Get an OEM 9 belt (kevlar) and take it to a dealer if you cannot do it yourself. At least they will have the proper timing tools. Just as an FYI, any shop will say that the aftermarket modifications are causing this to happen.

Make sure that all the parts installed are correct. Pulleys, tensioner, etc...

Your driving style should not cause this. If that were the case, every auto X, drag car, rally car, and road race car would have this happen as well.

 

Are you running the timing cover?

 

Yeah, I'm running the timing cover.

now i'm trying to decide, should I get gates/HKS Kevlar or stick with TRUE OEM this time? The oem I have now is like...chepo depo OEM. It doesn't say mitsubishi anywhere on it. Looks like the belt came from Napa.

 

Get a real OEM part...............please.

 

gates/hks are fine, as is Mitsu. I've even used continental belts with no ill effects, even on hard beating road race cars.

Sounds like the tension is being set incorrectly. It can be a tricky process to do alone unless you have done it a few times, especially with bigger cams and such.

 

1 tooth is enough to bend valves. Happened to me. just depends which gear and which way it skips.

 

+1

 

As much as I say to run the OEM, gates, etc belts... That isnt the problem here. If the belt was new and it skipped that soon, there was an installation problem. If the belt was tensioned correctly then the hydraulic tensioner would take up any slack, stretch, etc.

Ideally you should be able to pull the grenade pin on the tensioner and rotate the motor 15+ times and still be able to re-insert the pin. If you cant, your over or under tensioned.