Time for a Timing Belt?

Have you taken the time to see if your timing belt is due? Timing belts are very important to the performance and life of your vehicle. The timing belt is a belt designed to keep all components inside your engine running in harmony with the others. Inside of your engine are many moving parts including valves that open and close, pistons which move up and down inside of the cylinders and camshafts and crankshafts that control the movement of these parts. Everything inside the engine has a specific time that it should open or close or compress or ignite, keeping this specific order of movement is vital. To achieve this manufacturers install gears to the ends of these crankshaft, camshafts and idlers and route either a rubber ribbed belt or a metal linked chain around these gears. When the engine is running these gears are turning these shafts keeping the parts attached in perfect "time". Many issues can arise from a timing belt, anything from noise to complete engine failure. Most manufacturers recommend between 50,000 to 75,000 miles for replacing a timing belt, guides, and tensioners. Their are two different classifications to motors in general when referring to timing, they are either an interference engine or a free-running engine. An interference engine usually sustains serious damage when a timing belt goes bad. Here is an illustration to help you understand.
You can see in the picture a piston making contact with an intake or exhaust valve, which in turn would cause the valve to bend, break or damage the piston. This will be a costly repair if this happens. How do I know if my engine is an interference engine or not? Glad you asked...here is a link to the Gate's website where you can enter in your vehicle and find out, http://www.gates.com/part_locator/index.cfm?location_id=3598&go=Interference. How do I know if my timing belt needs to be replaced? The best thing is if your vehicle has over 50,000 miles to check your service records, if you can't find where it has been done then the best thing to do is replace the timing belt by mileage. Once it has been replaced keep your record in your glove box of your vehicle for future reference. Express Oil Change & Service Center is here to help you with any questions you may have. Go to our website for store contact information at www.expressoilchangesouth.com. have a blessed day, and keep in time!