Tick Tock, Tick Tock...

Well, I'm over 60k miles, warranty is out, and Timing Belt time is in.

Unfortunately. I cant afford to get it done anytime soon.

I talked to a few different dealer service depts, and I can at least breath easier...they said I should be ok for a little while longer. They have seen some in the 80k range come in with a broken belt and no chance for a free repair. And in other cases, yet rarely, they've seen 100+ on an original belt. So its still a crap shoot, but I shouldn't worry if I cant get it done in the next few weeks.

I do have a 360 mile trip comming up, we'll see what happens! yikes. :shock:

dont run the AC and keep it under 2k rpm lol, daewoo belts last a while, my lanos made a slapping sound abot 250 miles before I got it changed, should be good for a while. Get the belt and take it to a small town mechanic, should be aboue 300 or 400 max for the job including the belt

your mechanic refers to different manufacturers. an 8 valve timing belt might only have 3 pulleys, so it will last longer. some belts have 4 or 5 pulleys, so they will not last as long.

just check the belt for cracks, mark it and turn the engine over, and make sure you check every area, top and bottom.

if you see anything questionable, change it soon.

I nervously made it to 91000 miles before I changed my timing belt. Here are some pics of the parts changed.

Are our engines an interference design? Will the valves break if the belt snaps? I seriously can't figure out why they still design engines to self-destruct like this these days.

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Originally Posted by MetroAveo

Are our engines an interference design? Will the valves break if the belt snaps? I seriously can't figure out why they still design engines to self-destruct like this these days.

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Yes out engines are an interference design. And such engines are designed to be more compact and produce more power for their relative size, its also bit more inexpensive than other engine designs.

more power (higher compression ratio) and less gas to fill the chamber to make power..

if you want to make the same power and not be interference, from the conversions i understand, making the fully open valve measurement + 1mm as the tdc compression chamber you would be almost tripling the volume of the engine, so our 1.6 liters would need to be around 4.8 liters to make about the same hp with that drop in compression.

thats not factoring in all the other changes possible. but there are a reasons why a straight 8 out of the 30's only made like 50 hp..