Hey all.. Not sure if this would be of any use to anyone, but I may have found a possible solution to the dead spot found in most 3rd gen magnas.

I just got my car back from the mechanics... $700 later, it had the timing belt done, major service, drive belts, seals etc...

Before I had the service, I had a major flat spot between 1500 ad 2500 revs... while the car was being serviced, the mechanics called me in, to point out a few other things that needed to be replaced while they were doing the timing belt... The mechanic also noticed that the timing belt was loose... not enough to slip off all the pulleys, but enough to be throwing out the cam timing and causing problems...((namely, that pesky dead spot))

Got the car back, new timing belt, flat spot gone... car goes like a rocket. keeping in mind that all the previous services done on my car failed to remove that dreaded flat spot...

Hope this helps :)

Excellent advice. And glad you found a solution to that troublesome flat spot.

I wonder if the timing belt is tensioned by a snub pulley, and if this wasn't as easily checked or done? I believe one of the standard checks of any car service is to tick the box to check for appropriate tension of all belts. it seems so simple that it's not surprising that it can be easily overlooked.

Hey all.. Not sure if this would be of any use to anyone, but I may have found a possible solution to the dead spot found in most 3rd gen magnas.

I just got my car back from the mechanics... $700 later, it had the timing belt done, major service, drive belts, seals etc...

Before I had the service, I had a major flat spot between 1500 ad 2500 revs... while the car was being serviced, the mechanics called me in, to point out a few other things that needed to be replaced while they were doing the timing belt... The mechanic also noticed that the timing belt was loose... not enough to slip off all the pulleys, but enough to be throwing out the cam timing and causing problems...((namely, that pesky dead spot))

Got the car back, new timing belt, flat spot gone... car goes like a rocket. keeping in mind that all the previous services done on my car failed to remove that dreaded flat spot...

Hope this helps :)


Hi Black_

Can you give us more info, like how many Km's were on the belt, which scheduled service was it in for, etc.

It could have been the hydraulic belt tensioner not taking up the slack on the belt.

They require a special method in setting up, described in the workshop manual.

Then, if it is close to a scheduled belt change, they do that as well

Cheers, Barry

i have the same prob but my cam seals are leaking and i think the belt is conteminated so hopfully that wen i get it fixed with a new belt it should be better mines only got 160k

in reply to Barry... my car has currently done 171000 k's. the first timing belt was done at 103000 k's.... i decided to get it changed when i had the money because it was coming up and i was already getting most of its 180000k mojor service... As for the hydraulic belt tensioner, if that was adjusted when they did the timing belt, i wouldn't know, as nothing was mentioned to me by the mechanic...

I will admit... i still have a small flatspot when the car is cold... but have been informed that my fuel injectors are dirty/clogged... and the flatspot now, is nothing compared to what is used to be like.

in reply to Joukowski... I'm sure checking belt tensions is done... but for a mechanic with a clipboard in hand, who would do the labour to pull off the plastic timing belt cover and have a look in there and check for correct tension... with some mechanics you cant help but feel that it was, to some extent, deliberately overlooked...

In reply to Knight_... my cam seals were also leaking/pouring out oil... inside the cover and the belt was literally dripping with oil... previous mechanic was an idiot and never found why my car was losing oil, and kept saying my rocker cover gasket was the problem :nuts: .

I'd have a stab and say if anyone is mechanically minded and can get the plastic timing belt cover off, to just have a little push and pull of the timing belt itself... mine, when it was shown to me had a good 1-2 inches worth of slack... and if you have a flatspot and your timing belt is loose, get it looked into.. it may fix your problem too.

sorry for the long post.

another thing that is over looked is whe using a oil type airfilter k/n you should clean the airflow meter with some C O cleaner as the sensor gets a coating of oil over it and throws the siginal out

After just doing a timing belt change on a 2g Diamante at my shop (3g Magna) i can let yous all know that both the tensioner pulley AND the auto tensioner should be replaced on the second tune up (first at 60,000 miles, second at 120,000 miles, dont know how that converts to Km's).

The auto tensioner is just a small hydraulic piston with a constant pressure against the pulley bracket, it will eventually go bad over time and allow too much slack in the belt, this wont cause the cams to be 'out of time', thats just a mechaincs way of scaring you into buying it, trust me if the cams were out of time you'd be buying a new motor as its an interface engine. Being just 2 teeth out of time can cause the valve to meet pistions which doesnt doesnt turn out good for all involved.

Baiscally if you remove the auto tension and can compress the small piston with less the 22lbs of force then its bad (brand new they require 44lbs of force which shows you how much play there is with these things to last 120,000 miles). The only reason you'd experience a loss of power because of this would be the engine overworking itself to pick up the slack in the belt (but we're talking millimeters here guys, you'd have to be real special to notice this) its more so the fact your plugs and wires were going bad causing shorter spark length meaning you're not get full combustion and running rich, and thats why after this tune up you're experiencing more power and the loss of your 'dead spot'.

And just to clarify, this is no adjustment to be made to this auto-tensioner, hence the fact they're auto and not manual, they either work or they dont.

im a mechanic but i dnt realy know these engines too well but wen i found out my oil leak in the cam seals i felt the belt tension its was ok if you had 1-2 inches of freeplay on the belt the timing would be all over the shop if its a kissing motor which i think they are, pistons and valves will wear it

Now this is interesting.

We have been seeing this a lot - and didn't think a lot about it, but nearly every time we have done a timing belt change on a magna, we have foudn that the timing belt was loose.

A couple of times we have done timing belt changes, and the car has come back with the hydraulic tensioner actually pressed backwards. Re did it using the same correct procedure and the problem went away.

We have been thinking for some time, that there is a problem with the Magna hydraulic tensioners either not holding the tension or not following up properly and keeping the correct tension on the belt.

Because of the long belt and the various pulley arrangement, it can come slightly loose and not fall off, but it will create a retarded timing setup between teh two banks of camshafts in relation to the crankshaft timing, especially as the top dead centre position is run off the camshafts but the crank trigger is off the crank.

Wouldn't be a bad idea for people to check at servicing to see if there belts are loose - it is something i am now going to be double checking on every magna we do here after. Didn't realise it was a larger problem than we had seen here occasionally.

Wouldn't be a bad idea for people to check at servicing to see if there belts are loose - it is something i am now going to be double checking on every magna we do here after. Didn't realise it was a larger problem than we had seen here occasionally.
Well, my car is up for a service so I'll get it looked at.

Just wondering though, your cams seem to do better with a handful of degrees retarded, woudn't this also give a similar result? Booya had 'degreed' his stock cams a little with some gains.

Yes our cams do work better when degreed in around 6 deg retarded but that is still with the camshafts setup properly in relation to the crankshaft. This setup of loose belts is not a good thing for anyone

wouldnt it be better to had the cams advaced slightly

wouldnt it be better to had the cams advaced slightly
Depends on the engine characteristics and cam grind but probably not. Retarding them pretty much means that they are lifting later in their timing which is better for making more power at higher revs.

if u retard the cams wen the belt wears more it will run like a dog but if u have it advanced it will go better but go too far it will kiss