cam belt problems

[s13eater]

anyone had a cam belt that has tried to come off ? i put a new one on yesterday and followed the tentioning from the manual, 2 turns of the crank pulley to tention.i did this 3 times but it still tried to come off, so i refitted the old one which, now its fine, the old one has only been a year, but i thought i'd change it before i went on holiday, i think there's something up with the new belt.

[umpkin]

yeah m8, does sound like a duff belt, but have you got any alloy bit in your time area, i.e alloy cam sprocket???? this or other parts may have worn, and the belt stretched with it, so when a new belt is put on, it cant run on the wear without trying to move?? just an idea.

just an idea, coz i used to have a mk2 escort with a full race 1600 OHC sierra lump in, and i had a piper cam and piper alloy cam cog, and after a couple of years it had worn 50% of each tooth, quite a scary thought for an engine that revved happily to 9000rpm.

if all looks ok thou, i would go get another belt to compare with the 1st one you got.

[s13eater]

could be an idea, but its only the center thats made of alloy, unless the steal one has worn , i'll compare a different one in the morning,

[umpkin]

i shouldnt think the steel one has worn tbh. the one i had on my escort was all alloy.

prolly just a defective belt.

[30psi]

Where is it trying to come off?

I can only see the belt being an issue if its the wrong size, ie incorrect number of teeth.

[s13eater]

the belt was trying to come off of the cam pulley martin, the belt has the same part number as the one that is on, i've put the old one back on for the time being, i started the engine with the old one on and let it run for 10 mins whilst i got rid of air in the rad, this seemed to be ok, i'll have to take it a steady run today, i'am sh!ttin it as i'am driving to france next week

[30psi]

It does seem very odd that it tried to pull it off. If it was pushed on properly it shouldn't be an issue at all.

Try once more, take a pic if you can be arsed...

[s13eater]

i think i'd rather jump out of the window than change the cam belt again lol, i was working on it till 11pm last nite, we took it on and off 4 time, then refitted the old one, it just seems that the belt works its way forwards so that the teeth start to show out of the end of the pulley teeth, it does this within seconds of starting, but the old one, if you put it in the center of the pulley then start it, it works forwards and finds its own level flush to the front edge and does'nt move anymore, at one point i thought i'd fecked it good style, as i overtightend the top tentioner and snapped the bolt near enough flush with the block , i managed to get it out and replace it with one off of flexx's old engine.

[30psi]

The only thing I can think of is that the belt is designed to go on one way. It should have markings on it to say which side should be closest to the engine.

[s13eater]

yep it has arrows, i fitted it with the arrows pionting clockwise and the writing facing me.unless the pulley teeth are worn, i'll check against another in a minute.