I replaced the timing belt and the 2 idler pulleys about 2 weeks ago. All went well and since I have an impact wrench I removed the pully on the crankshaft which made the job 200% easier. While replacing the serp belt yesterday for the second time, (Duralast belts are junk, too stiff resulting in noise on cold startup) I happened to notice what apeared to be a slight whine. While chasing this down I noticed that even a very slight downward pressure in the timing belt cover resulted in the cover touching the belt. Not good, so I pulled off the front TB cover and noticed that there was little clearance on the inside TB cover and the belt near the camshaft pulleys. Seems like age and heat has resulted in a bit of gravity taking over causing the problem. Since it is not a good thing to have the cover rubbing on the belt, I ended up putting 2 .010 spacers (copper washers) between the top of the cylinder head and the TB top cover. a bit of RTV on the copper washer to the engine block to keep them in place and problem is solved. Please note that the 2 10MM bolts go through the washers to hold them in place. It would not be good to have them floating around.

Be sure to check this on your next TB replacement.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

 

Definitely a good tip!

 

Advice noted, thank you.


JPN