T
Turbo
Guest
Last weekend I was away rallying on Saturday at Aghadowey & then racing on Sunday at Bishopscourt . I had went up Friday night & stayed over , car was ok on the way up .
Started car on Saturday morning & there was an awful noise coming from the engine . Removed the LH timing cover & there was the head of a bolt wedged between the cover & the belt . I couldn't see where the bolt came off without taking off the middle cover which was impossible with the tools I had . The belt had a small mark on it but it was still fairly tight so I started the car again . There were no more strange noises so I had to decide what to do - ring the AA or go rallying .
It was only a couple of miles to the stage so I decided to chance the short journey . I wasn't that worried about the belt breaking as I'm planning to fit a pair of Impreza heads & pistons to cure the tappet rattle . If I called the AA they would've got me , the legacy , low-loader & 205 rally car home eventually but I would've missed my day of fun . Made it to the track OK & had great fun throwing the 205 around the tight , slippery stage .
Decided that evening to travel the 90 miles over to the other track ready for the next days racing . Car was 100% & it got me there plus the other 100 miles home on Sunday evening .
Monday afternoon I got all the timing covers off but couldn't see where the bolt head came from . Then I noticed that the tensioner pully was sitting at a slightly odd angle . Gave the pully a pull & got a shock - it wasn't attached to anything ! All 3 bolts securing the tensioner to the block had snapped off ! The only thing holding it in place was a small bolt connecting it to the rear plastic timing cover & the alternator bracket which the tensioner was wedged against !mg:
So I travelled nearly 200 miles towing a 1 tonne load with the timing belt tensioner only held in place by a plastic cover & luck ! Must do the lotto this weekend ! :lol:
Curious as to why the bolts snapped in the first place . They were tightened correctly using a torque wrench when I built the engine but maybe somebody in the past had over-torqued them . That won't be a problem now as I bought 3 new high-tensile steel bolts today !
Got a surprise when I went shopping for a new timing belt . Local motor factors were £86 for a QH belt , could have it in stock next day . Donnelly Subaru in Belfast had it in stock & I could have it delivered to my door next day for £80 . Even without the 10% ISDC discount it's only £2 more for a genuine Subaru part !
Started car on Saturday morning & there was an awful noise coming from the engine . Removed the LH timing cover & there was the head of a bolt wedged between the cover & the belt . I couldn't see where the bolt came off without taking off the middle cover which was impossible with the tools I had . The belt had a small mark on it but it was still fairly tight so I started the car again . There were no more strange noises so I had to decide what to do - ring the AA or go rallying .
It was only a couple of miles to the stage so I decided to chance the short journey . I wasn't that worried about the belt breaking as I'm planning to fit a pair of Impreza heads & pistons to cure the tappet rattle . If I called the AA they would've got me , the legacy , low-loader & 205 rally car home eventually but I would've missed my day of fun . Made it to the track OK & had great fun throwing the 205 around the tight , slippery stage .
Decided that evening to travel the 90 miles over to the other track ready for the next days racing . Car was 100% & it got me there plus the other 100 miles home on Sunday evening .
Monday afternoon I got all the timing covers off but couldn't see where the bolt head came from . Then I noticed that the tensioner pully was sitting at a slightly odd angle . Gave the pully a pull & got a shock - it wasn't attached to anything ! All 3 bolts securing the tensioner to the block had snapped off ! The only thing holding it in place was a small bolt connecting it to the rear plastic timing cover & the alternator bracket which the tensioner was wedged against !
mg:So I travelled nearly 200 miles towing a 1 tonne load with the timing belt tensioner only held in place by a plastic cover & luck ! Must do the lotto this weekend ! :lol:
Curious as to why the bolts snapped in the first place . They were tightened correctly using a torque wrench when I built the engine but maybe somebody in the past had over-torqued them . That won't be a problem now as I bought 3 new high-tensile steel bolts today !
Got a surprise when I went shopping for a new timing belt . Local motor factors were £86 for a QH belt , could have it in stock next day . Donnelly Subaru in Belfast had it in stock & I could have it delivered to my door next day for £80 . Even without the 10% ISDC discount it's only £2 more for a genuine Subaru part !
