Car died and not starting timing belt problem

[Jhammer739]

Car died while going uphill. It will turn over some but not fully start.Looks intact at first glance but upon inspection noticed small pieces of timing belt teeth had broken off. What happened to cause this? I assume I need to replace the belt but without being broken I don't see why car won't start

[BigRedtheGinger]

Most likely​, it was overdue. Never exceed 100k miles on a belt. If your belt isn't broken, check for the check engine light. The codes will give you an idea of where to start looking.

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[Jhammer739]

Most likely​, it was overdue. Never exceed 100k miles on a belt. If your belt isn't broken, check for the check engine light. The codes will give you an idea of where to start looking.

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Well its my mother's car and I am trying to fix stuff her boyfriend messed up. I already had the alternator/waterpump belt snap . The car seems like it has excessive vibration and the belts squeal a lot. At one point he worked on the car and it required him to take off the timing belt. Not entirely sure what since he is no longer around and mother has limited knowledge. I am starting to think that when putting it back on he either didn't line everything up or overly tightened tensioner. When I changed the one belt I realized the alternator wasn't tightened down all the way and its slider bolt had some give in it. With everything going wrong I am thinking he was just lazy and didn't tighten everything down properly. Thank you for your reply. The check engine light is on, but that's nothing new she says it has been for a while. I wish I just had the computer to hook the thing to and check the error code for the hell of it. She also said leading up to this that it had a rough low idle for a little while.

[BigRedtheGinger]

Ah I see. If he skipped a tooth on the timing, it would run horrible, low idle, low power. If the belt didn't snap, try checking the timing. You can download a service manual for free from this forum, just so a search. Hopefully the belt isn't broken, these are interference engines, so if the belt snaps, it can destroy things. My dad's belt broke a few years ago, but he got real lucky, no damaged internals(2003 ES with 2.4L). Also, if you mess with that timing belt, check the balance shaft belt, as well as the oil pump. The oil pump is geared to one of the balance shafts 3:1. There's a YouTube video that mentions that. If you've got the $30-40, you can pick up a code puller at an auto parts store.

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[Blue3000GTguy]

You had the original timing belt. Whether the belt broke or not you shredded teeth off while the engine was running so unless you got REALLY lucky your valves and pistons got together.
Replace belt and tensioner and see if you got lucky enough to have not bent any valves. If you have bent valves it's a new set for you.

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[Jhammer739]

Thank you both for the advice. I have checked out a few videos on the whole process. I am about to go out start working on it shortly. Hopefully I don't run into problems. I will post an update after a while

[Blue3000GTguy]

Let us know if you need any help. Most of the old guard isn't around anymore but there are still quite a bit of us willing to help.

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[Jhammer739]

Everything is going smoothly for the most part other then rusted and stuck bolts. During this whole thing I am finding a lot of things that were done improperly. For instance the side engine mount that you remove to get to timing belt is missing a nut..... I mean come on what kind of person leaves a bolt without a nut on something like an engine mount....

[Blue3000GTguy]

Welcome to Mitsubishi repair. You'll find yourself wondering "what the f*ck" more than anything

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[BigRedtheGinger]

I had a few WTF experiences with my 03. Front coils were heated and were touching, blown head gasket, had 3/4 crank pulley bolts, other was snapped off. The 17mm bolts on that trans bracket we're ground down because of it being so low too. A lot of fixing other people's mistakes. Oh, one of the fans was wired up to a home light switch, a pigtail from the junkyard and 2 butt connectors fixed it.

Is that timing belt busted on yours?

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[Blue3000GTguy]

I had a few WTF experiences with my 03. Front coils were heated and were touching, blown head gasket, had 3/4 crank pulley bolts, other was snapped off. The 17mm bolts on that trans bracket we're ground down because of it being so low too. A lot of fixing other people's mistakes. Oh, one of the fans was wired up to a home light switch, a pigtail from the junkyard and 2 butt connectors fixed it.

Is that timing belt busted on yours?

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I used to have a Volvo with a light switch and a screwdriver for an ignition switch. Lol.
Repo had a trans leak because the pan was scraping so bad.
And of course 4banger had tan headliner material on grey doors.


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[BigRedtheGinger]

I used to have a Volvo with a light switch and a screwdriver for an ignition switch. Lol.
Repo had a trans leak because the pan was scraping so bad.
And of course 4banger had tan headliner material on grey doors.


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Haha nice!
That trans pan is a new one for me. Felt like I came close a couple time with mine before I installed new quick struts up front. Now the back end just hits.
Thinking about getting rid of my current one and buying a V6 model with my tax returns. I've had so many issues (mainly engine, but lately the trans looses fluid, but fixes itself overnight, might make a post about it), I'm starting to feel like this specific one is bad luck for me. When my dad had his 03 he had few issues.

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[Blue3000GTguy]

Haha nice!
That trans pan is a new one for me. Felt like I came close a couple time with mine before I installed new quick struts up front. Now the back end just hits.
Thinking about getting rid of my current one and buying a V6 model with my tax returns. I've had so many issues (mainly engine, but lately the trans looses fluid, but fixes itself overnight, might make a post about it), I'm starting to feel like this specific one is bad luck for me. When my dad had his 03 he had few issues.

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Honestly the V6 cars aren't much better, and have more shit to break. If you like your car spend a little money and fix its issues. The 4G64 is faster anyway with mods, unless you just want to have that sexy V6 noise.


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[BigRedtheGinger]

Ah damn. For me, that hard part about mods is that I live in California so it's either swap parts to stock before the smog test or pay $250+ to have someone pass it. Granted, I paid to have my 87 Civic pass when I had it(Weber DGV 32/36, all emissions equipment blocked off/removed) Plus, I do like that V6 noise. It's one of very few V6s that actually sounds good to me.

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