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Martian · 08-27-2005, 12:26 PM

A little bit of info here, because dey call me da teacha...

A timing belt connects your crank shaft, which is the shaft that the pistons turn, to your cam shaft (or shafts, as the case may be), which open and close the valves. It can also be a timing chain, but is, in fact, a belt in your engine. It's there so that as the crankshaft turns the cam(s) will turn as well, opening the valves at the right time to let charge in and exhaust out. The belt is designed not to slip, as that would have rather disastrous consequences, but is stressed during running and will eventually snap if not changed regularly. As has been noted, in an interference engine (where the valves stick out into the stroke during intake/exhaust) this can spell disaster, bending valves and punching holes in pistons and generally turning that several thousand dollar highly sophisticated engine under your hood into so much scrap metal. In non-interference type engines it's generally just a break down, not nearly as catastrophic, but still hardly a good thing.

The way I look at it is you're going to have to replace it sooner or later anyway. I'd rather it be sooner and save myself the hassle of ending up on the side of the road (and possibly missing a day of work or school or what have ya). Even if you change it every 60 000 miles, that's a massive once every five years of owning your vehicle. Consider it preventative maintenance, realize that once it's done you won't need to do it again for a long time and just go with it.

As for oil, for the cost of an oil change these days, you might as well get it done every 3000 miles. I was taught very early on that for every car (no matter the duty load) it's best to change the oil at 3000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first. Yeah, you can run it a bit longer and save yourself a bit of money, but for the $20 it takes, it's better to get all the crap that collects in your oil out of the engine where it can do things like score your piston walls and clog up your oil pump. A bad oil pump, incidentally, is what lead to the death of my last car, since without oil circulating the engine tore itself apart very quickly, although I did change my oil regularly (I actually tend to go a little less than 3000, for the simple fact that if I leave it to the last minute I'm not going to get it done on time). Also worth considering is that if you have a warranty of any kind, most of them stipulate that the oil must be changed every 3000 miles or your warranty will be null and void. I doubt you'd have a warranty on a 95, but it's worth considering all the same.

08-27-2005, 12:26 PM	#16 (permalink)
Martian Young Crumudgeon Location: Canada	A little bit of info here, because dey call me da teacha... A timing belt connects your crank shaft, which is the shaft that the pistons turn, to your cam shaft (or shafts, as the case may be), which open and close the valves. It can also be a timing chain, but is, in fact, a belt in your engine. It's there so that as the crankshaft turns the cam(s) will turn as well, opening the valves at the right time to let charge in and exhaust out. The belt is designed not to slip, as that would have rather disastrous consequences, but is stressed during running and will eventually snap if not changed regularly. As has been noted, in an interference engine (where the valves stick out into the stroke during intake/exhaust) this can spell disaster, bending valves and punching holes in pistons and generally turning that several thousand dollar highly sophisticated engine under your hood into so much scrap metal. In non-interference type engines it's generally just a break down, not nearly as catastrophic, but still hardly a good thing. The way I look at it is you're going to have to replace it sooner or later anyway. I'd rather it be sooner and save myself the hassle of ending up on the side of the road (and possibly missing a day of work or school or what have ya). Even if you change it every 60 000 miles, that's a massive once every five years of owning your vehicle. Consider it preventative maintenance, realize that once it's done you won't need to do it again for a long time and just go with it. As for oil, for the cost of an oil change these days, you might as well get it done every 3000 miles. I was taught very early on that for every car (no matter the duty load) it's best to change the oil at 3000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first. Yeah, you can run it a bit longer and save yourself a bit of money, but for the $20 it takes, it's better to get all the crap that collects in your oil out of the engine where it can do things like score your piston walls and clog up your oil pump. A bad oil pump, incidentally, is what lead to the death of my last car, since without oil circulating the engine tore itself apart very quickly, although I did change my oil regularly (I actually tend to go a little less than 3000, for the simple fact that if I leave it to the last minute I'm not going to get it done on time). Also worth considering is that if you have a warranty of any kind, most of them stipulate that the oil must be changed every 3000 miles or your warranty will be null and void. I doubt you'd have a warranty on a 95, but it's worth considering all the same. __________________ I wake up in the morning more tired than before I slept I get through cryin' and I'm sadder than before I wept I get through thinkin' now, and the thoughts have left my head I get through speakin' and I can't remember, not a word that I said - Ben Harper, Show Me A Little Shame Last edited by Martian; 08-27-2005 at 12:29 PM..