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Hey everyone.

Just earlier today, was driving up a hill in 4th at 60, and suddenly lost all power. The oil light came on and the motor pretty much just died. So i pulled over, called the racq, and waited. The racq guy said it had most probably broken the timing belt, as the starter motor would turn but there was absolute no inkling as to if the car was going to start.

Dragged it home .

Anyway, my initial thoughts were that it was a belt, as there way a destinctive driveline thud as it went, and then no drive. But when we got home, we were just nosing around and there is absolutely no spark coming from the coil, or in the plug leads, we tested with a timing light then with our fingers. So, unless I am wrong, there is meant to be spark even when cranking the engine, so is it possible this is just an electrical issue, or does the lack of a timing belt stop the engine from sparking when cranking,

In the previous 2 weeks, the engine would make a squeaky noise when cold.. The RACQ guy said that this could have been the belt slipping, though the engine while idleing rough, had not been behaving any differently to previously.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.

*edit L series Ea82. Was stuck on the side of creek road at Carindale, atleast 1 nice brumby and a lifted rx drove past so i may have been spotted.

Andy

no belt = no spark
open her up mate

Andy - take the distributor cap off and crank it. If the rotor button isnt spinning, then its 99% most likely a belt. I saw this on a mate's L Series last year.

Well, thanks for the advice everyone.

It is indeed the belt then, no turning in the rotor. Sigh*

I spose this thread turns into a "Fix or Replace" Thread now.

How difficult to the an EJ conversion for someone with low mechanical knowledge, and a father who has a reasonable amount?

Also..... is it legal?

Does anyone have an approximate pricing on all the parts (including the engine) for an ej20, or 22 conversion? (prolly go with a 20).

ej is a good option, but timing belts is only a half day job! & parts will only be around $100 i think (belts & maybe idlers). check in the tech manual for how too, or buy a haynes / greggories

timmo

EJ conversions are legal in Qld and are done by the BYB team on a case by case quote as somethings may be needed on some that are not required by others. I am just putting the finishing touches to an EJ22 into an L at the moment.

On the subject of the EA82 a belt will set you back around $30 each and can be done quite easily. If you need it done the BYB team also can help you out there.

Suby Wan Kenobi wrote:EJ conversions are legal in Qld and are done by the BYB team on a case by case quote as somethings may be needed on some that are not required by others. I am just putting the finishing touches to an EJ22 into an L at the moment.

On the subject of the EA82 a belt will set you back around $30 each and can be done quite easily. If you need it done the BYB team also can help you out there.

hey thanks,

yeah, it would probably be worth it just to replace the belt, but she's been running lumpy and there is an oil leak (bout 5 drops a day on both sides). Is it possible that the lumpy idle was caused by a slipping timing belt?

theclick wrote:hey thanks,

yeah, it would probably be worth it just to replace the belt, but she's been running lumpy and there is an oil leak (bout 5 drops a day on both sides). Is it possible that the lumpy idle was caused by a slipping timing belt?

i dont think so they usually have ridges on them and unless they have stripped off in some spots (which wuld cause more than just a lumpy idle imo) it wuld be something else

oil leaks are nothing to be afraid of lol they always are there. maybe ur rocker covers jsut need a bit of tightening (and a bottle of Engine stop leak put in haha)

be aware there is 2 belts on those motors aswell (so it told me in the timing belts book at work lol) so maybe only one was gone. apparently there is usuall no engine damage frmo broken belts on these motors
do replace both when u do it aswell and post up pics of wt the old belt looked like

Matatak wrote:i dont think so they usually have ridges on them and unless they have stripped off in some spots (which wuld cause more than just a lumpy idle imo) it wuld be something else

oil leaks are nothing to be afraid of lol they always are there. maybe ur rocker covers jsut need a bit of tightening (and a bottle of Engine stop leak put in haha)

be aware there is 2 belts on those motors aswell (so it told me in the timing belts book at work lol) so maybe only one was gone. apparently there is usuall no engine damage frmo broken belts on these motors
do replace both when u do it aswell and post up pics of wt the old belt looked like

Will do, thanks.

yeah they are non-interference type so the engine should "in theory", not be damaged by the belt break.

racq person may have meant squeal was a drive belt outside not a timing belt slipping on the inside, as just one slip would be enough to make it not run, normally. Maybe tensioner / idler siezed to make timing belt skid and then squeal.

Follow up:

Well, due to my lack of available time, i towed it to pierce (sp?0 automotive out at capalaba to replace the timing belt. What had happened, is on the last belt change, they didnt replace the bearing or pully or something, so the thing seized up, snapping the crud out of the timing belt.

They also replaced a seal in the process which appears to have stopped the oil leak they did a great job.

Now the engine is running great, no more really lumpy idle *touch wood. He did mention something about teeth being worn or something, so i'm not sure if this was causing the lumpy idle/lack of power. Any suggestions?

Otherwise, the lower end torque is heaps better, idles nicely and so forth. Just need to rid the lifter tick.

they did a great job, cheers everyone for the hints despite the fact i didnt do it myself.

Andy

Well perhaps my opinion on these guys has changed abit.

only 1300km after doing the belt change, the bastard has appeared to have skipped a tooth, and isnt moving anywhere.

Towing it back to the shop for a please explain.

oh tough luck. hopefully its a hassle free fix for you.