Well where to start here - some may have seen the car on the hard shoulder on the slip road just outside Silverstone on Sunday morning - i was cruising along at 70mph and whilst decelerating to enter the slip road the whole thing just shut down, It was clear something was seriously fucked

Big thanks to Andrew (Northants Ford Fan) for towing me off the road and inside the show for it to be worked on

After looking at the car on the stand the belt was shot and oily - so it looks like contamination on the 300 mile journey down, to say i'm shocked is an understatement and never imagined to have issues within 2446 miles but there you go, something i'll be double checking from no on.

The damage
















Big thanks to Dave Pritchard and Co for there super quick cambelt change but unfortunately the damage was done with no compression

Got the car home and stripped down to find this: 16 bent valves





The block appears fine, the valves have clipped the head on the very edges but i'm taking round to the engineers this week as i presume the valve guides will have to come out and the head checked and reskimmed.

16 of these



So the car is currently laid up now ready for some work over the winter.

When stripping down i found that one of the coil leads was broken on the terminal the fit's to the coil pack, if it just snapped when i removed i don't know but it appeared to firing fine prior so thats a job to sort and secondly one of the bolts holding the turbo to the manifold was missing and another loose, this is something i need a little advice with as i want to return to stud and nut but the previous owner must have drilled the holes out for some reason, i think the measurement was around 3/4 of a mm above 10mm so the question is what to plug it with? Time-sert? http://www.timesert.com/

Also i'll be changing a few parts, the cam cover, front cam pulley's, remove the lower pulley's and blast and paint or zinc.

On to the cam cover, what are the best materials to use - as what gasket and what sealer is proven to work best as i don't want to be here again in another 12 months

 

Are chris im gutted for mate,I really am.mike said he seen you having problems on the day.
Hopefully will be back on the road soon.

 

It's a fucking pain in the arse as i've really got to take the bottom end out too and check all the seals to make sure they are all fine as i know it was seeping from the cam cover but it's very oily at the bottom but i'm not sure if that just been thrown around by the belt so it's all new gaskets and seals, i'm going to start collecting the bit's but the job won't be done yet .

I kind of feel like breaking the car and going a different route like an Escos but then i know i'd never be able to find nor build another car like this again (financially) which is why i'm just leaving it tucked away under the cover until i really know.

 

Bummer... real kick in the after all the work you've put into it...

Did see you under the bonnet on Sunday, you looked with it...

 

Exactly the same happed to me, my gates timing belt was just like yours

 

Shit Chris what a twat Did you find what caused it ?

 

Gutted for you Chris after all the hard work and money gone into this beautifull example.
All the best with it
David

 

Bloody hell matey im gutted for you.Such a shame.Hopefully it wont take to much time to get it up and running again.

 

Gutted for you mate.

 

Gutted for u fela same thing happened to mine it's soal destroying, but it can be fixed fela.

 

what condition are your cam pulleys in ?
one of my cam pulleys was badly worn and started to eat my belt something like yours,
I was lucky enough to spot it on time tho
imo you would be mad to break that car after all the hard work you ve put into it mate

 

Gutted for your Chris, I seen you with the belts off and didn't think it would be a good time to come over as I could see you had problems

Don't give up and break it

I've got Gordon's mobile number if you need it

 

I just can't understand how the belt failed in short time, my old engine suffered from seeping cam cover gasket and that belt never failed like this but that was a gen ford item so are gates belts shit or what?

 

gates are best you can buy , so they say ,
something has caused the belt to do that imo

 

hi chris
check pitch of your cam pulleys ,I have seen some were the pitch is out only by 10ths of a degree but at high rpm after a certain amount of revolutions it mean the pitch can be quite a bit out and the belt trys to ride over the top instead of the teeth meshing

mark

 

Oh shit Chris

What number lead is bust, im sure i have a few odd ones kicking about i can send you one up

small help towards the rest of it though
looks like oil on the belt,or tooth angle.

 

Chris, as i said on Sunday when we were chatting, totally gutted for you mate, just put it away now and sort it when your head is fully in it mate, to break it would be such a shame imo BUT i know where you're coming from, this is one thing why i loved my Evo's, just get in them, kick their teeth in and just park it up, no oil leaks, no paranoid thoughts etc
But they're not Cossies that's the trouble ( they're better)

 

Shit news that Chris, I thought I had it bad when my exhaust cam snapped and took out 5 valves. She'll be back up and running in no time mate,still THE best 3dr out there.

 

Gates belts are normaly spot on matey

 

Gutted for you Chris. Cars a cracker still though

 

Chin up Chris, I'm sure you'll get it sorted!

 

Im sure I have 16 valves (used) if you need them Chris

Steve

 

That's shit Chris, unlucky mate hope you will find what caused it

 

Sorry to see this mate!

 

Chris as I said the other day its what fellow ford nuts do is help out others when possible.
and you have done it properly though haven't you know half measures there
And if there is anything i can do from down here to help let me know.

 

Cambelt tension to loose or stud in head starting to pull thread and then tensioner slips.

Mark

 

I'd be checking for any signs of worn pulleys as well

Not just cam ones
Check them all as there looks to be rubber dust

 

From what i have seen and others the tensioner was tight and had decent tension before it was moved, the bar in to the head is tight. The cam pulley's are standard outer gears made by Graham Hathaway so engaging correctly at the top, it really is pointing towards an oily mess thats delaminated the belt.

Some nice offers above

 

As said on Sunday Chris,really gutted for you,I'm sure you will sort it out.
Just chuck a cover over the car for now clear your head and look at it over the winter, sounds like the best solution.
Good luck with it all Chris,stinking luck as I said on Sunday.

CheeRS.Lee.

 

chris wot can i say wot shit news if there is any thing i can do to help just let me no

 

I would look towards the pulleys as mentioned, that belt looks like the pulleys have been eating into it rather than just oil contamination.

 

Ah that's a bummer is the front main sill ok? Tucking it away is a good plan as cars can make you go doolally

 

All gears are standard from top to bottom with new parts, I've spoken to a few professionals on here and they say the Same oil is to blame.

 

Sorry to read this Chris.
Car looks great in previous pics.
Have a break, then get it fixed and on the road again, cracking car

 

Gutted for you ,saw you on the slip road with another car getting a tow

 

Gutted for you mate, as others have said, just sit back for a bit and decide what is best for you to do with it

 

You wouldn't think oil contamination would cause the odd looking tooth wear that looks to be apparent in one of them pics!
But still it's only nuts and bolts better engine damage then body work damage!

 

You wouldn't think but apparently they do, there could be other factors in there so i'll be removing the bottom end too and the whole front is being removed and checked as the lower cogged crack pulley often wear's so thats something to look at, plus the other pulley's will get checked and a new tensioner fitted with the new Gates belt i bought off Matt Lewis on Sunday.

I hope that this happening gets you lads in the garage to check the condition of yours as it's simple fix with no internal damage i just wished i caught mine now, something i'll be check regular in the future.

 

How did you tension it.

Mark

 

Clockwise or anti clockwise.