Timing belt observation

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My 2006 Elantra is due for a timing belt change, but I have not been able to find the time to do it. To assauge my anxiety over a possible belt failure, I have been pulling the upper timing belt cover every few hundred miles. Now I know that this does not reveal the condition of the cogs which are the most likely thing to fail, but it does make me feel better that the belt still looks good. Every time I look at the belt it is at a different position on the camshaft sprocket. Sometimes it is almost all the way back towards the engine, and other times it is as far away from the engine as it can be. At no time has any part of the belt been beyond the edge of the sprocket. Is it normal for the belt to move back and forth on the camshaft sprocket?
 
Caution From An engine shop!
If it is still under warantee have HYUNDAI do the job because if it breaks and destroyes your engine they are responsible...
Hyundai has a 10 year 100,000 loophole warantee and they look for every chance to get out of warantee repairs...
 
Thanks for the caution, but I really do not like anyone else working on my cars. There are a lot of good mechanics, and quite a few bad ones. I seem to be very talented at finding the bad ones.
 
The point here though, is Hyundai is a corporation. As long as you got maintenance records in tow, if something WERE to break after the timing chain adjustment/replacement; THEY would be liable.....now, if you've been completely "DIY" with the car, no records of any type through the dealer, you're kinda stuck "representing yourself" per se....should anything go wrong. To include coughing up your own maintenance receipts.
 
Originally Posted By: ahoier
The point here though, is Hyundai is a corporation. As long as you got maintenance records in tow, if something WERE to break after the timing chain adjustment/replacement; THEY would be liable.....now, if you've been completely "DIY" with the car, no records of any type through the dealer, you're kinda stuck "representing yourself" per se....should anything go wrong. To include coughing up your own maintenance receipts.


This pretty much applies to ALL car companies.
 
ya we cant fault Hyundai for this...a friend of mine bought a Kia from Carmax with the extended warranty...he got a CE light on some emissions related repairs, they refused along with KIa to pay to fix them even though I am pretty sure they are required by EPA law to wanrranty the emissions to 100k. Long story short he left the car there and said he wont be making another payment unless they fix it.
 
Actually, I thought of that and checked for perpendicularity, but the method I used was not very precise, so you could be right. Is a small amount of non-perpendicularity going to cause problems? Should I fix it?
 
Originally Posted By: 4x4chevydude
ya we cant fault Hyundai for this...a friend of mine bought a Kia from Carmax with the extended warranty...he got a CE light on some emissions related repairs, they refused along with KIa to pay to fix them even though I am pretty sure they are required by EPA law to wanrranty the emissions to 100k. Long story short he left the car there and said he wont be making another payment unless they fix it.


Some aspects of the emissions warranty are covered for longer than the basic warranty, but a check engine light by itself doesn't necessarily mean that the problem is caused by a covered emission part. It would depend on what the code was turning on the light. A MAF sensor, for example, is generally not covered under the extended federal emissions warranty. A PCM is. It all depends on the specific problem.
 
Originally Posted By: 4x4chevydude
ya we cant fault Hyundai for this...a friend of mine bought a Kia from Carmax with the extended warranty...he got a CE light on some emissions related repairs, they refused along with KIa to pay to fix them even though I am pretty sure they are required by EPA law to wanrranty the emissions to 100k. Long story short he left the car there and said he wont be making another payment unless they fix it.


That doesn't bode well for his credit score.
 
Originally Posted By: Smoky14
Have you looked at it while it's running? That can tell you a whole lot.


Yes. That's what I meant by a non precise check for perpendicularity.

When running the timing belt does not move sideways on the sprocket. It takes a hundred or so miles to get a displacement. I'm beginning to think that slight movement of the position of the belt on the cam sprocket over hours of running is normal. I sure wish someone would confirm that.
 
They normally stay in place. it should not move all over.
When you change your belt, replace the pulleys and tensioner.
Check the crank ger belt stop guide.
 
Originally Posted By: 4x4chevydude
ya we cant fault Hyundai for this...a friend of mine bought a Kia from Carmax with the extended warranty...he got a CE light on some emissions related repairs, they refused along with KIa to pay to fix them even though I am pretty sure they are required by EPA law to wanrranty the emissions to 100k. Long story short he left the car there and said he wont be making another payment unless they fix it.


Here are the official EPA rules:

http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/warr95fs.txt

Basically, emissions components are warrantied for 8 years/80k miles.

But as another member mentioned, that doesn't necessarily mean your friend's repair should be covered.
 
Originally Posted By: pottymouth
Originally Posted By: 4x4chevydude
ya we cant fault Hyundai for this...a friend of mine bought a Kia from Carmax with the extended warranty...he got a CE light on some emissions related repairs, they refused along with KIa to pay to fix them even though I am pretty sure they are required by EPA law to wanrranty the emissions to 100k. Long story short he left the car there and said he wont be making another payment unless they fix it.


That doesn't bode well for his credit score.


Yeah, and unless the dealer financed the car directly, they already got their money.
 
Sometimes a belt will be okay, but an old tensioner or idler pulley will seize up and then destroy the belt withing seconds. Other times, the water pump fails.

That is why it is often recommended to buy a "Timing component kit" rather than just a timing belt.
 
Originally Posted By: mechtech2
They normally stay in place. it should not move all over.
When you change your belt, replace the pulleys and tensioner.
Check the crank ger belt stop guide.


Thanks for confirming that. I will change all the components, but now I'm curious as to which of the components is causing this. They all look rock steady except for the cam pully, which I see is doing a tiny little dance as it goes around. Is there any chance that the problem is with the camshaft and not the pully? If it's the camshaft I will want to consider possibly having it done under warranty, even though I hate that idea.
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Sometimes a belt will be okay, but an old tensioner or idler pulley will seize up and then destroy the belt withing seconds. Other times, the water pump fails.

That is why it is often recommended to buy a "Timing component kit" rather than just a timing belt.



Thanks. I was going to change only the belt, but now I've reconsidered.
 
How many miles on are the Elantra?

Age is only 7 years which by modern standards is not the end of life if the mileage is not at the limit.

I agree with others here I would spend the extra bucks to have the tensioner and pulley replaced as well, most people overlook these..

However, many times the tensioner and pulley can go easily for at least 150k in most modern applications.

I'd actually go to the dealer for this to keep the warranty in inescapable integrity.
 
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