okai was looking round the engine bay and noticed that one of my belts is on the verge of breaking, its got rips all through it and at one point theres a rip halfway across the width of the belt.

Now with the timing belt there are 3 gears, and on one of those gears (the one furthurst away from you) theres another belt attached to it, and this is the one with all the rips.

So its not the timing belt (unless theirs 2 timing belts) its the one behind it.

Whats this called? is it that hard to replace yourself? where can i get this part, and how much is a good price for getting it fixed at the mechanics? thank you.

not the alternator belt/ac belt ? other than that i have no idea

yeah i think it is, because the top of this belt goes up near with the distributor is.
Still not an expert with cars yet lol

Anyways, is it hard to change yourself? how much will the part cost/ how much will i get charged from a mechanic to fix it?

Thanks again.

had my alternator sieze and it burnt out the belt, powersteering failed but lucky it wasnt the engines main supentine belt, if its the engine belt that controls the cams etc then get it replaced immediately, otherwise major engine problems, ie valves say hello to mr piston.

Or conversly if you one day decide to rev your sar to the $hithouse for some reason, you might hear a sudden *snap* and well, many problems can arise form that....so im telling you to either buy a haynes manual and do it yourself or get a mechanic to do it REAL quick.

What price range should i be looking at?
Since i dont know which belt ive been looking at, give me examples of the different belts that could need replacing and the price it should cost.

That way when i talk to the mechanic and he tells me its this belt that needs fixing ill have a rough idea of how much it should cost.

Hopefully i can get it to the mechanic tomorrow.

QYou know the belt that has the mark on it when you use the timing light,
Question 1. Is this the timing belt right?
Question 2. Also is this belt connected to the alternator?

Its NOT that belt by the way, its another belt just behind it.
Q3. Whats the other belt called? thanks.

No its not called a timing belt. The technical term is its a drive belt. But most people still call it a fan belt. Then there are sub names for it, like V-belt, serpentine belt...etc.

Now do you have a 4cyl or a V6? If its a 4cyl, it doesn't use a timing belt, so there are only three belts, one is the water pump, another is the A/C and the other is the alternator/power steering belt.

Alternator is that one with fins on it, towards the radiator. If it is this belt that is buggered, then its a V-belt.

Actually I think there might be another belt, i cant remember, too tired.

Question 2: Well you will need to answer it, trace where that belt goes!

Its a 4 cyl.
The other day when we were checking the timing, and were shining the light on that belt with the white notch on it, what belt was that?

Thanks, with this info ill be able to work out which belt of myne is buggered tomorrow.

Also still asking, whats a decent price to get these belts fixed?

The belts you are talking about are not timing belts, they are just the drive belts (fan belts). One drives the alternator and power steering, the other drives the air conditioning. I wouldn't expect either belt would cost more than about $20-30 each. There is a small risk of damage to the bits around the belts if it breaks. They take no more than about 20mins to change assuming you know what you are doing.

You can not visably see your timing belt / chain at all! Since you have a 4cly, you will have a timing chain, not a timing belt. Only V6's have a timing belt! Both the timing belt and chain is behind a plastic cover (i think) so you won't be able to see it! The belt you are looking at is drive belts, like everyone has said.
Just go to a mechanic to get it replaced if you don't know how to do it, then you know it is done right and won't fail!

Okai i had another look this morning, Now their are two belts that are visible.
The first belt (with fins), is connected to the alternator by one gear, the power steering by another gear, and their is a third gear at the back.
The belt that is broken is connected to this third gear.
So all i know for sure is that its NOT the alternator/power steering belt.

If i take my car to the mechanic how much would be a good price for me to get charged?
(i think its the 4th time ive asked this :p)
I need to ring the mechanic now so a price range would be good :) thanks.

As gst74 said, probably $20-$30 each

Check your service history, has there been any records of previous belts being replaced? My A/C belt keeps tearing, suppose to last a year or so but have had to replace it 3 times in the last 3 servies. Get a mechanic to check it out, it could be rubbing on something which is what i think my belt is doing. Does your car ever make a screeching noise coming from the belt? Mine does this sometimes also. I say just get it checked out at your next service, see if the mechanic can fix the problem.

Arh okai, i thought the 30 bucks was if i do it myself.
Not sure bout the service history, didnt get one with the car.
Only a 2 grand car, only other noises it makes is tappets (or whatever their called, but they seemed to die down with thicker oil change)
And lately a new noise which im pretty sure is this belt.
Okai thanks for all your help :)
cheers.

My A/C belt keeps tearing, suppose to last a year or so but have had to replace it 3 times in the last 3 servies. .


thats shocking. I have had my car 4 years and done 130000 kms in it and never had any belt trouble.

thats shocking. I have had my car 4 years and done 130000 kms in it and never had any belt trouble.
Yeh tell me about it!
Though they were differnet mechanics, family mech is looking at it next service, thinks it's just an alignment issue.

ay man it could be the harmonic balance belt?

but thats roughly where i ****ed up my harmonics.... just not sure if there is a belt for it...

well we replaced the belt and while we were at it we replaced the v-belt, Theirs been a huge oil leak problem with the car aswell and it was the cam shaft seal, oil was leaking like no tomorrow, so replaced the seal aswell.
Then gave the engine a steam clean.

Then the car wouldnt start, after bout an hour of playing with it found out one of the connectors in the resistor on the side of the coil was nearly snapped off.
So going to wreckers tomorrow to pick one.

Now if only we cold solve the problem of the stupid thing shaking the car would be good as new :)

Okai i had another look this morning, Now their are two belts that are visible.
The first belt (with fins), is connected to the alternator by one gear, the power steering by another gear, and their is a third gear at the back.
The belt that is broken is connected to this third gear.
So all i know for sure is that its NOT the alternator/power steering belt.

If i take my car to the mechanic how much would be a good price for me to get charged?
(i think its the 4th time ive asked this :p)
I need to ring the mechanic now so a price range would be good :) thanks.
You've lost your aircon belt. Try your aircon... it won't be cold. :P
Aircon compressor sits between engine and firewall, driven by a v-belt.
This has a little idler pulley that allows you to adjust tension.

Alternator & power steering uses a 4-rib belt.
If your alternator is not driving, your battery would be dead pretty quick.
You'd also know pretty easily if your power steering is not functional.


Water pump is driven by a little belt off the camshaft on the other side of the engine.
Its worth checking this belt too.



Belts would cost me about $15-20 each.

Once any belt is looking bad, CHANGE ALL BELTS!

To replace the belts, just back off the tensioners to get the belts off.
(aircon tensioner is little idler by itself; whole alternator moves to tension its belt)
Put new belts on and re-tension it to the correct tightness.
Drive for a few days then check tension again.


Very simple job, only made difficult by TN's lack of space - had only 10mm clearance
between engine pulleys and bay side to work with. Lots of swearing is the norm.
Hopefully 2nd gen has a bit more room for the mechanic.

ay man it could be the harmonic balance belt?

but thats roughly where i ****ed up my harmonics.... just not sure if there is a belt for it...
Balance shaft is driven off the timing chain I believe.