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CarsTiming belts, the sleeping time bomb
by:
Ralph Hoffmann
Interference Engines: ……..Free Useful informatio
When purchasing a used car always insist on crucial if the vehicle has a rubber timing-belt. Be aware that just about five years ago an International Oil Institution did a follow up on 5,000 cars it had turned back after 3 year leases and copied them to their ultimate
private owners. All the cars had by then passed through wholesale auction markets and likely one or more retail dealers before being oversubscribed to a private owner. The survey disclosed that 50% of the cars had their odometers illicitly turned back.
When purchasing a used car, purportedly
with 40,000 miles for example, and crucial it has a rubber temporal arrangement belt, insist on a written guarantee from the marketer to guarantee in writing to replace the temporal arrangement belt at no charge if it fails inside
another 20,000 miles, a typical suggested total figure (Call any Dealer to get the suggested figure for the particular do of vehicle). After all, the vehicle may in fact already have 55,000 miles on it. If the marketer wish not do that guarantee, then he is admitting that the mileage is probably not accurate and by implication may well have been turned back. If the marketer wish not do that guarantee, consider a compromise, such as $100 maximum cost. If not acceptable, walk away and look elsewhere."
Before purchasing any car, especially 4-cylinder foreign cars, or even as 6-cyl. BMW, be aware of the ineluctable cost of $400-$800 to replace the temporal arrangement belt at anyplace
from 50,000 to 70,000 miles if the car has an 'interference' type of engine. The sales person wish invariably not mention that an 'interference' type engine powers the vehicle and may not even as cognize what one is. If a temporal arrangement belt on an interference engine is not replaced at suggested intervals, the repair cost once
the belt breaks (not gradually, but always catastrophically) could increase to $3,000 to $5,000 due to engine failure because parts have smashed into each another
An 'interference' engine is an engine design that has been avoided by several manufacturers for well over 80 years. General Motors, Chrysler, etc., typically use a metal chain-type temporal arrangement belt on push-rod engines (often called a temporal arrangement chain) to transmit torsion from the engine rotating shaft o the engine rotating shaft that opens the valves that admit air and fuel. (Note: on several new cars the fuel is admitted not through the valves but through injectors in the top of the cylinder. Rather than use a steel temporal arrangement chain, interference engines may use a rubber temporal arrangement belt with its limited life, whereas steel temporal arrangement belts typically last 150,000 to 200,000 miles or more.
Valves open further in an interference engine and project further into the combustion chamber than in a 'free-running' engine. This allows outside air at atmospherical pressure flow quicker
into the combustion chamber through the larger valve opening. The engine can therefore inhale more air, be a little smaller, and still create as more power piece reducing its. factory-made
cost and besides guaranteeing futurity repair business for its dealer. If a rubber temporal arrangement belt breaks by not being replaced shortly enough, several of the valves stuck in their open position wish collide with the top of the pistons, thereby breaking or irreversibly damaging one or the another or both. To do matters worse, it is not possible to measure the wear on such a rubber belt so that it could be replaced once
there is several indication of at hand failure. Failure in these belts is catastrophic, without warning. This wish require a whole new engine be installed. Woe to the owner. Finally, the rubber belt may have to be replaced long before 60,000 miles entirely due to its age. This is actually playing a bad poker hand. Interference engines are like a time bomb waiting to explode unless replacement the temporal arrangement belt at the suggested interval. Be aware of that bonded futurity expense before purchasing a new car, or especially a used car, " with such an engine.
For details on this subject or for suggested mileage to replace rubber temporal arrangement belts on interference engines, connect on the Computer network to http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=2389&location_id=3053, a global
manufacturer of such belts. Once
its web site appears, click on Replacement parts/Automotive. Look for 'Timing belt replacement Guide'.
Visit http://www.AutoTruckData.com for related resources
Copyright 2204-2005 by Beacon Data LLC.
Reprinted with permission
Just just about the author:
Ralph Hoffmann has a major in Applied Mathematics, and became fascinated with the anomalies inherent in automotive leasing. His web site http://www.autotruckdata.comaddresses several of the fascinating results.
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