So I'm looking for some advice...best case, worse case scenario. I have a 96 SR 3.5L ~90,000 miles...and driving into the driveway I noticed some smoking under the hood. It looking like it was coming from under the timing belt cover, I popped it off, the belt isn't broke, but it's damaged. Also there is some oil leakage in the compartment (coming from underneath the belt cover somewhere), also there are some metal shavings flying around. The car is difficult to start, and really doesn't run... I cringed when I had to turn it on...

So what's the likely problem..what broke? Tensioner, some pulley? Any suggestions before I rip into it...or should I take it to the lot?

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

Best case scenario, it's merely a siezed bearing for your tensioner pulley. R&R the pulley and belt and you're good to go.

Worst case scenario is your timing belt slipped and your timing is off which can mean you've got bent valves that will need to be r&r'd. Hopefully no head or piston damage occured. If this is the case, I also recomend replacing your valve guide seals.

 

the 3.5 DOHC engine ruined water pumps rather often (usually below 100k).
if the timing has skipped, the engine has severly bent valves.

 

if you engine is beyond repair and you live in new york PM me, i can cut you a deal for my engine....i wrecked my car but the car still runs

 

Thanks for the advice/information...I haven't started pulling things off yet, but I've noticed that their is a significant amount of coolant around...so the oil I mentioned earlier was a negative, just coolant that picked up some crud on the way out... So that fairs well with it being the water pump and not something more... Also, I got lucky where the engine konked out and the timing marks are both visible and it doesn't appear that the belt has slipped (it's still mostly intact, but shreaded on the outer edges).

Additional question: Obviously I'm going to replace the water pump, but what about the tensioner? Is it worth it to go ahead and replace it? Also, at CarQuest, they said I could also get new "Idlers" a left and right... Sorry, but I have no idea what they are/do. I have the factory service manual, but I don't see any mention of them. What do they do, and should I replace them?

Thanks again!!

 

Probably rubbing on something due to either a part failure or improper installation. Was the timing belt done recently? It should be replaced every 90-100K. If you're driving hard miles or agressively (as if your Montero was a car), then I'd say 90K.

Idler Pulley's route the belts. You should either replace the pulleys or (if you're able to extract them) the bearings they ride on.

Think of it this way. You might spend an extra $50-80 to replace those parts. It will take about 4-8 hours to do the job. Do you want to skimp on $80 just to spend another day in the near future doing it all over again? Realize you will have to R&R pretty much the entire front end of your engine including the alternator, AC compressor, various brackets, etc to access your timing belt. Realize there's a VERY GOOD reason they design it to last so long.

 

Good point...thanks again for the advice and information.

 

So yes replace the tensioner : )

There was a member on here that did his timing belt and didnt replace the tensioner, and guess what, it gave out. He was lucky though that it didnt cause any damage

 

Worst case scenario is it gives out and siezes... then the timing belt brakes, and then you bend your valves.

 

So I'm deep enough to verify that it's definately the water pump causing the metal shavings...however it's not as expected. The water pump must have been pushed out slightly and it was rubbing against the assessory mount. Is this a normal way for the pump go out..I was expecting the bearing or something to be loose or something. Is this a sign of a deeper problem? Hope not!

Also,last question (hopefully): I'm going to rig up my own pulley holder and removed the crankshaft pulley. As l am messing around with this is there any danger from turning the crankshaft itself (the timing belt is stlll on)?