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Timing Belt Goof[700/1988] posted by Gary DiFrancesco on
Tuesday, 27 April 1999, at 3:20 p.m.
This is one of those goofs that not everyone wants to fess up to, but sharing it could save someone a lot of grief.
Several weeks ago, I replaced the timing belt in my '88 745T. The job seemed to fo normal. A few weeks later I noticed what sounded like a worn bearing squalking away in the area of the tensioning pulley. I did not change the pulley when doing the belt since it seemed to be in good shape, and running smooth. When I removed the timing belt cover to replace the pulley, I found the compartment full of black fuzz. It was apparent the source of the fuzz was near the crank, and evidence of abrasion was visible on the outside edge of the timing belt.
To make a long story short, I reassembled the lower timing belt gear (on the crank) incorrectly. The outside flange for the timing belt gear was put on the shaft backwards. The subtle flare of this flange was pointing in and was rubbing the edge of the timing belt. I lost about 1/16" of the width of the timing belt in less than 400 miles. This error is not hard to do since the flange can go on the crankshaft both ways. Since I was about to go on a 1300 mile trip witht the family, I immediatly replaced the timing belt again and triple checked that the flanges were put on in the proper orientation.
The lession here is obvious; double check your work before covering everything up. It might just save you some grief.
--Gary DiFracnesco