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Need help - Timing components

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DasPirate

New CEG'er
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
6
Hello people. While I admittedly do not own a Contour, I am an active member of the Saturn tuning community. So I'm no stranger to working on cars. My girlfriend owns a contour and it's that very car that brought me here. I figured that few people know more about a car than the community of people who love and modify them, so this had to be the place to go for advice.

Allow me to first provide some basic information: It's a '99 contour with a 2.0L DOHC engine with around 120k on the clock. Last weekend, upon starting the car in 10º weather, she noticed that there was a very noticeable sound coming from the engine, which resembles exactly that of a chain-link fence being rattled.

So I drove down to her dorm and had a look at it, and initially I thought it was the idler pulley. Just to be sure, I pulled off the serpentine belt and started the engine, and lo it still made the sound. After pulling the timing belt cover, the noise became noticeably louder, and seemed to be coming from one of the timing belt pulleys.

My question is, is this a common noise made by these pulleys when they're ready to go? I'd hate to go through all the trouble (not to mention money!) of replacing her timing components to find out that that's not what was wrong.

Also, if I do end up replacing the timing components, which I'm sure are original and need replacing anyway, how would I set the timing? Are there marks on the belt and pulleys that need to be aligned? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
 
DasPirate said:
... it doesn't help me troubleshoot this problem. I would like to know if you folks think that it's actually the timing components that are bad.
Click to expand...
I can't draw you a picture but this will have to do.

First title on the second link.
Timing belt slapping again(s)t plastic housing

Post no. 6 in the second link.
BrApple said:
i like the old idea of using a few washers to raise the cover so the belt wouldnt hit anymore ...
Click to expand...

Post if you have anymore questions.
 
Tony2005 said:
I can't draw you a picture but this will have to do.

First title on the second link.
Timing belt slapping again(s)t plastic housing

Post no. 6 in the second link.


Post if you have anymore questions.
Click to expand...

I don't see where you're going with that post. The noise I described is not the timing belt slapping the housing. I'd imagine that that would make a noise similar to somebody thumping a piece of ABS plastic, where as her car literally sounds like a chain link fence. Furthermore, it continued to make the noise with the timing belt cover completely off, so that eliminates that as a possibility.

I hate to be so persistent, but I'd really like to know some more of the opinions of the members here as to what the problem may actually be.
 
if its loud and its coming from under where the cover once was, i would think it had to be the bearings in a idler pulley. honestly, i would grab one from the junk yard if your worried about the cash flow situation. if you (or yoru girl since its her car) CAN afford to buy new, its definately time to change the belt anyways and grab a new tensioner in the process.

good luck!! =)
 
Your next step is to remove the belt and check the various bearings (idler pulley, tensioner pulley, etc) for noise, looseness, sloppyness, wear, etc.

If you're brave, try running the engine with the cover off and get a listening device down onto the non moving part of the pulleys and see if you can tell which one. Be really careful when you are probing about moving parts.
 
DasPirate said:
...Furthermore, it continued to make the noise with the timing belt cover completely off, so that eliminates that as a possibility.

I hate to be so persistent, but I'd really like to know some more of the opinions of the members here as to what the problem may actually be.
Click to expand...
ROTFL. :laugh: Lo siento. I apologize. I missed the part in your original post where you said you pulled the timing belt cover and it was still there. :o
Yes, per the better suggestions given by other CEGers, do take out the timing covers and try to locate the sound better.
 
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