Hi,
I'm thinking about getting an '87 240 wagon that has a problem. The owner says the timing belt "jumps" in cold weather and the car stalls. Is there a way to fix this? I don't mind putting some time/money into this, as my '96 Explorer has been diagnosed with terminal rustitis. Any thoughts - the tensioner beign bad perhaps?
Thanks,
Mike

 

The tensioner could be bad, but the alignment among the pulleys could also be off. The easiest way to tell is to take the upper timng belt cover off and rotate the crankshaft pulley by hand a few times to see if the timing belt starts to slip off the overhead cam pulley.

 

I would say the tensioner is bad,replace the belt and tensioner and you should be good to go.Also I would check the cam,intermediate shaft, and crank seal for seepage.


Dan