# Will a timing belt failure damage a 86 Stanza Wagon engine?



## alank2 (Dec 29, 2006)

Hi,

I have a 86 Stanza with nearly 80K miles on it. I don't know if the timing belt was ever replaced or not. I am about to clean all the pulleys and replace the vbelts in it because I keep getting slipping on the alternator belt so all the belts are coming off anyway.

Here are my questions:

1. I think it has a CA20E engine, if the timing belt were to break, will it just die or will it cause lots of engine damage?

2. Is there an easy way to inspect it?

3. I found info on how to change it here:
http://tinyurl.com/2hy7ks

4. Is this something very difficult to do, or not that bad?

Thanks,

Alan


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## bikeman (Dec 26, 2006)

alank2 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I have a 86 Stanza with nearly 80K miles on it. I don't know if the timing belt was ever replaced or not. I am about to clean all the pulleys and replace the vbelts in it because I keep getting slipping on the alternator belt so all the belts are coming off anyway.
> 
> ...


Yes engine damage will occur if belt breaks, I would replace it since you don't know the history. At this point it should be on the third belt anyways, should have been replaced twice by now and if at all it was done maybe once (don't forget time plays a factor in change intervals as well as miles). Do the water pump as well as the tensioner while you're in there. Yes it is a big job, a good day's work for most home mechanics, careful to line everything up properly before re-assembly or it won't start and you'll do the job twice.


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## PapaCap (Dec 8, 2007)

Actually, I have a differing opinion. It won't necessarily damage the motor, but it could. I had an 83 Tercel that wouldn't start. I would crank and crank, it was getting fire and gas, but it wouldn't start. Found out the timing belt stripped out. I put a new one on it, worked beautiful. I cranked on that thing for a while. No damage. It can damage the motor if it's a high compression motor (i.e. tall pistons) or if the valve lift is large (as in valves smacking into the pistons), but in that case, nothing happened. One way to tell if you're belt is broken is by taking the distributor cap off. If the rotor button does not spin when you turn the car over, your belt is damaged. Pretty simple, eh?

pc

Oh, and BTW, the belt did strip out while the car was in operation and we had it towed to the house. So in that case, operating RPM did not damage it. But it's better to be safe than sorry.


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## bikeman (Dec 26, 2006)

The only way to be 100% certain it won't damage is to know whether the motor is interference or not, I'm pretty sure the ca20 is. Why wait until it breaks, just change it, it's not worth the risk. I too had a 1980 Chevy that broke a belt while sitting in traffic and nothing happened just had to replace belt, it was not an interferance but newer models are.
BTW if it is interference and it breaks you're looking at at least $1500 damage to upper motor.


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## alank2 (Dec 29, 2006)

Hi,

Looking at some pictures from the autozone repair guide, it looks like the timing belt covers offer a little distance between them so you can see the belt. Is this true? Might I be able to inspect it without tearing it apart? I'd look at it right now, but it is outside in the cold...

Thanks,

Alan


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## bikeman (Dec 26, 2006)

It's very hard to inspect through that little bit of opening and you're never really going to get a good enough view of the entire belt to properly inspect.


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## alank2 (Dec 29, 2006)

Hi,

Yeah, I looked at it today and there really is no window area, the top timing belt cover goes right up to the bottom one. It doesn't look hard to remove however so I'm going to remove it and take a look to see how the belt looks.

Thanks,

Alan


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