blown engine

[bdavis24]

ok so i have a 2005 aveo hatchback...
this one


It has 101032 miles on it and had never done the timing belt service so after talking to my friend that's a master mechanic for Nissan he told me i should do the service. i ordered all the parts from rock auto i got the timing belt kit from DNJ and replaced the belt water pump pulleys and tensioner. Car started and ran fine for 50 miles then yesterday belt slipped off jumped time and now im out a engine.. i can hear the valves talking... it looks like the tensioner didnt hold tension and a bolt from the water pump is totally stripped now. before it was fine as i did the work and made sure ever bolt was double checked ( old army mechanic habit).

the question now is how hard is it to swap a newer gen engine in this car as they are half the price or should i just repair the head and try to get the stripped bolt area repaired. Do newer gen engines have this problem to?

thanks

note: i did the work and have 8 year army light wheel mechanic experience so this job isnt over my head. plus also building a 500hp 3000gt vr4 atm as well.

[avguy]

....yesterday belt slipped off jumped time and now im out a engine.. i can hear the valves talking...

Not sure exactly what you're saying there. Was it still running at the end of all of this? Do you know how many teeth the belt jumped? I'm asking this because 1 or 2 teeth off probably won't bend any valves. But if you're certain the valves are bent, then doing a valve job or new head should be no problem with your experience.

On the WP bolts, it's much more common that someone would leave one or two loose, which eventually causes the belt to jump. And this is because there is sideways pressure on the bolts from the belt, which can give a false sense of how tight they are. When I do the final torque of these with an (inch) torque wrench, I always get more turns than it seems like they should be. That's the reason I'm thinking that maybe one or more of the bolts were too loose (assuming you didn't use a torque wrench on them). And are you certain the bolt is stripped - does it spin in the hole without the WP in place? Not trying to second-guess you or insult your knowledge or ability, but without being able to see your Aveo, there's a lot of guesswork on my part.

[Ronnie Mund]

imo it's not worth the risk of doing a timing belt replacement yourself when you know if it fails your engine is toast. My local mechanic charges me 3 hours at 60 bucks a hour to do a timing belt/pump replacement, plus he runs a warranty on it for 3500miles/3 months. Peace of mind is always greater than saving a few bucks to only cause a giant avoidable problem.

[bdavis24]

yes the bolt just spins in the hole and never gets tight now... the water pump bolt where tighten until they stopped with a extra 1/4 turn and all bolt where done the same. the timing jump at least 5 teeth left cam was at > and the other was pointing v (when in time they should of been >< not >v ). car wasnt running i just put old stuff back on and see if it was totally messed up and and when i tried to start it i could hear the valves knocking. wouldnt start.

also i have done many timing belts and didnt think this would be a issue.. but when a part fails and it a part of this nature you are kind of screwed. DNJ only will replace part not damaged they failed part caused... such bull****.

[Ronnie Mund]

it's a chevy aveo. It's not known to be the best quality car and some of the aftermarket replacement parts are horrible.

[Ronnie Mund]

IMO best to go with genuine replacement parts from the dealerships parts department (if your mechanic lets you buy/supply parts). I try to only replace with the factory original parts. So far nearing 175k, no problems, no blown parts, nothing. One time I used an AutoZone special Serp belt, shredded it 6k after the install.

[avguy]

IMO best to go with genuine replacement parts from the dealerships parts department (if your mechanic lets you buy/supply parts). I try to only replace with the factory original parts. So far nearing 175k, no problems, no blown parts, nothing. One time I used an AutoZone special Serp belt, shredded it 6k after the install.

The run of premature timing belt failures in the 2004, which helped so much with getting the Aveo a bad name, were all caused by genuine defective factory parts. IMO, parts from the dealer are just overpriced versions of what's available aftermarket from the same parts makers. Buying replacement parts is a crapshoot - roll the dice and hope it's a 7. But if buying parts from a dealer makes you feel better, then hey, whatever floats your boat.

[avguy]

... but when a part fails ....

So was it the tensioner spring that broke? From your op, that's what it sounds like, but I'd just like to be know for sure that was the part which failed.

[bdavis24]

it seems like the water pump bolt was the main problem causing the tensioner to fail as well.

[avguy]

it seems like the water pump bolt was the main problem causing the tensioner to fail as well.

Well, he said the bolts were properly torqued the first time. Everyone who's turned a wrench for a while knows when they strip a bolt - it's an unmistakable, unhappy feeling in your fingers. So I'm understanding this to mean that he stripped the bolt when putting it back the second time. And he wrote in his op that the tensioner failed to hold tension, so that's the part I'm thinking failed. But this is all just speculation on my part, which is the reason I asked the question.