I had not noticed this in previous belt change - or maybe I forgot I noticed it. The two intake cam pulleys - one on the front back, one on the rear bank - have what look like retainers on one side of the pulley. On the rear bank (1-4), the retainer is on the outside of the pulley, on the front bank (5-8) it is on the inside - pics attached. Is this normal/correct? Seems odd to me. I would think both would have the retainer on the same side. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Those are called "fences" and they are meant to locate the timing belt position on the pulleys. So one fence guides the belt to the front and one fence guides the belt to the rear and the result is the fence stays put. I am doing timing belts on my Ducati 907 and they have fences on the same side of the both pulleys. It made stretching the belt over the pulley way too hard. One of the posters on Ducati Chat suggested "cutting the fence off with a side cutter" to which I responded effing bogus. I hate it when people suggest bad ideas they never tried.
"I hate it when people suggest bad ideas they never tried." Ah, but it wouldn't be the internet we all know and love if only correct, factual information was presented! Heck, think of oil threads; if real, scientific test data was required, there wouldn't BE any oil threads!
I am not requiring scientific data, just that you have tried it and see how bad of an idea that was "cutting the side fence off with a side cutter." It would leave sharp edges to cut your hand and the belts. And you cannot cut through 20 gauge steel with a side cutter.
Just to let you know, not all car manufacturers uses fence on their cam pulley. For example the later 79 -82 twin cam Lancia Beta engine doesn’t have the fence on both the intake and exhaust cam pullies but it does have one on the bottom auxiliary pulley. Image Unavailable, Please Login
hi mike can i ask when those belts were changed last and how many miles you've put on them, as not sure if camera/light angle but the edges of the belts look worn. just to get an idea. cheers
sorry just noticed your other thread "Removed the old belts. They were 6 years old but only a bit over 6k miles on the car in that time."
