. broke on my daughters car. searching the web, it seems its a non interference motor, but some say not. Anyone know for sure if it would have done any damage! cheers
a.woodrow,
Mar 8, 10:18pm
They are non-interference, but there is never a guarantee that there won't be damage. put a new belt etc on and see if its ok
robbo36,
Mar 8, 11:21pm
The 3SFE is definitely a non-interference engine. Very much doubt any damage done. Approx cost to replace if you do the cam belt, water pump, tensioner, cam and crank seals, etc, $600 to $700
joanie32,
Mar 8, 11:35pm
Cheers, Ive got it apart and will do belt only. Its a $1000 car and on TMsoon as its going again. Belt from BNT $30! I was rapt.
jason_247,
Mar 8, 11:37pm
Hopfully you wont be saying fresh cambelt change in the auction if you arent doing the bearings etc.
in my experiance most belt breakages are due to bearings giving out rather than the belt aging. would hate to see a new owner lose a belt in 2000kms if a tensioner is slipping
a.woodrow,
Mar 8, 11:42pm
Why did the belt brake! Old age, oil contamination, idler, tensioner etc!
*break
joanie32,
Mar 8, 11:46pm
Everything else looks ok. Theres no oil, tensioner etc look ok.Thinking I will do the lot now though. Like I said parts arent dear at all. No record of ever being done, and definately not done by previous owner who done 80,000ks in it.
intrade,
Mar 9, 12:08am
tensioner are always stuffed they will be making a noise when you spin it with no grease left inside
phillip.weston,
Mar 9, 12:14am
If it's not too late do the oil pump seals while you have it apart. Those S series motors are notorious for leaking from the oil pump housing o-ring and wil ruin a new cambelt in no time.
joanie32,
Mar 9, 12:25am
Yip Ive changed my order to bea full kit. Then as stated above, I can sell it with a bit of faith. Cheers
fish1963,
Mar 9, 7:53am
hi,with rocker cover removed ,slowly turn engine over with a screw driver down number one pot sparkplug hole till all pistons are away from valves. then slowly rotate camshaft one cylinder at a time closing all valves to that cylinder and do compression test. no point going to all the trouble of putting a new belt back on if the cylinderhead has to come off to fix bent valves.
jmma,
Mar 9, 8:18am
Probably start up if you could do a compression test (o: Cyl leak test I think.
franc123,
Mar 9, 8:29am
LOL thats a cylinder leakage test, not a compression test, they aren't the same thing, the belt would have to be installed to do a compression test.Its far easier to either remove the rocker gear, or remove the cam as the case may be and check what the valve spring heights are between all the valves, if any springs are sitting lower than the others because the valve stems are bent and thus valves are still partly open it should be obvious.I've never seen a 3SFE bend valves yet and I've done at least six that have had broken belts.
jason_247,
Mar 9, 8:35am
soo are these engines prone to belt breakages or do people just never do the belt change due to being non interference
franc123,
Mar 9, 8:43am
No not really, it's mostly about neglect on the owners part, ignorance about its past service history and cheapskate belt replacement jobs.What kills the belts prematurely is oil pump leakage as mentioned above, and also not changing the water pumps at the same time as the belt and other bits.I remember two Caldinas I had to fix, one where the pump had failed at 114K and took the original belt out with it, and another where the water pump went at 135K after having a "belt only" replacement done by a dealer at 100K. It's majorly important to do the oil pump housing seal, its a flimsy O ring that shrinks and splits and pumps horrendous amounts of oil out when it goes, it could kill the engine if it wasn't noticed in time.
a.woodrow,
Mar 9, 9:33am
Sorry may be a silly question, but once it's back together, assuming it starts fine which it most likely will, why sell it! If it was just because the cambelt broke, well you've fixed the problem.
joanie32,
Mar 9, 9:22pm
Im dealing with a 16 year old girl here. Shes now decided it wasnt relly what she wants and has her eyes on a familia etc. Logic doesnt really come into it Im afraid.
a.woodrow,
Mar 9, 10:17pm
Ahh yes, they can be funny creatures
kazbanz,
Mar 9, 10:45pm
joanie-if it was me Id buy JUST a belt to start with. maybee you can buy a kit -crank seal cam seal oil pump seal idlers etcbut with the belt itself in a seperate box. My reasoning being that its pretty easy to bung the belt on and fire the car up for a few seconds.-or even just turn the engine over by hand.-Youlll then know for sure if theres bent valves. Go ahead and fit the whole kit and it would suck finding bent valves and having to remove the head
kazbanz,
Mar 9, 10:46pm
OK my reply to that is short and sharp Im afraid.--she doesn't want the car then SHE can fix it /sell it and save up to buy a familia. (yes I have teenage kids)
joanie32,
Mar 9, 11:05pm
Totally agree, and will be the case. Though I feel like this thread may soon be moved to parenting.
phillip.weston,
Mar 10, 12:01am
Not going to bend valves on a 3S-FE - they are definitely non-interference. No point doing the job twice - just replace all parts and be done.
kazbanz,
Mar 10, 12:32am
Hang on a mo mate-the belt broke for a reason. Im thinking 15 minutes to fit and time a belt -VS a bunch of money/time to find the cause of breakage was something internal. You are most likely bang on right and it "just broke" or theres an oil leak that explains it but heck its only 15 minutes to be certain you aint wastin time/money
hrt,
Mar 11, 9:13am
The majority of these that I've seen fail are due to the waterpump falling to bits, which tends to be because they weren't done at the previous cambelt change. Genuine parts aren't overly expensive. They aren't an interference engine, I'm yet to see one do any damage from a belt falling off.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.