timing belt on Aspire

[cortezit]

I am the second owner of this Aspire which my wife has named the "Smurff Car" because it is blue with white wheel covers.

The original owner was a Navy man who emegrated from China. Tao never changed the timing belt on this car. His ex-wife had the car for a while so I do not know whether or not she changed it, Howerver she was from main land CHina as well. The Chineese are very frugal to say the least. In short the car has 122K without a history of a belt change.

What has your exepirience been with timing belts "snapping?" I am reluctant to change the bet and water pump until the first of the month because this will stretch my budget for this month rather thin. I live on a fixed income.

So as Dirty Harry would say "do I feel luck punk". Risks???

How hard is it to get the cover off of the belt so that I can at least look at it??

cortezit

[htchbck]

Not too hard to get the cover off, just remove the water pump pulley and there are four bolts holding the cover on. The good news is that the worst that can happen is the belt breaks and leaves you stranded on the side of the road needing a tow truck. Fortunately these motors are non-interference so they will not bent/break valves if it snaps. So you can do it now, or later, the repair will be basically the same either way. I've seen plenty of B series engines go past 150k on the original belt, but I've also heard of them snapping at 80k. Bottom line is, if you think it needs a new belt, and have the cash, go for it. If you don't want to or can't afford to, you might have to call a tow truck, but there should not be any long term engine damage done.

[georgeb]

I've been led to believe they are interference motors.

[htchbck]

^^^ hmmm... maybe you need to start following different people? :lol: The entire Mazda B-series, from B1 up through BP are all non-interference.

Ask me how many Mazda B motors I've dealt with that had snapped belts and I had back on the road within the hour Done it on the side of the interstate before, I always keep a spare alt/wp belt and a spare timing belt in the glovebox on long trips. If wifey is with me I have to keep a spare A/C belt too lol.

[Nerd Racing]

timing belt on an aspire is really easy. with those kind of miles I'd recommend a timing belt kit with new tensioner and idler. I'd get a new tension spring too.

[aspiretiger]

AC/Alternator Belt

I've had a problem just like this one. Since buying the car its gone through 2 AC belts and now need another alt belt. I know i fixed the AC problem as there was a washer that was missing from the tensioner pulley, but i have no idea why it keeps chewing up alternator belts...

[Nerd Racing]

check your pulley alignment for the water pump, alternator, and crank pulley. is your aspire a 96 by any chance? I know they have an extra plate with a crank trigger on it that goes behind the crank pulleys. if yours is mixed and matched with different years you might be off alignment.