Last weekend I changed the cam belt on my Escort RST. I changed it since I was going on the seller's word (from two sellers ago) that the 'belt was done two years ago and the fact that with the previous breather setup it was breathing oil fumes over the belt ; not a great thing to happen. It is also a ZVH where a different tensioner is required ; a 1.3 item due to the taller 'block thus I figured some protection probably would not hurt.
I have gone from a Gates 'belt to a genuine Ford item. However, since fitting it the belt now runs around 1mm from the edge of the camshaft pulley (away from the engine) from previously being sat in the middle of it. Over the past 20 miles it has not got any closer to the edge but it is still a little disconcerting.
At the time I checked the water pump and tensioner ; these are clearly only a couple of years old and have covered around 4,000 miles with no signs of wear on them. The difference between the two belts is that the Gates belt had rounded teeth whereas the Ford one has more squared off teeth, like the Dayco belts if you know what I mean. The Piper vernier pulley is a shiny silver where the previous belt has ran.
This could be me being picky, but the belt (or drivebelt) does whine ever so slightly if you are listening for it, but not as loudly as some with a 944 definitely being a louder setup but maybe the teeth design are causing this?
In your opinion what could be causing the above? Is it something I should rectify or should I continue as normal? As far as I can tell the crank bolt is torqued up to roughly the tightening torque (it's IMHO impossible to check with the engine in the car ; the pulley runs fairly close to the inner wing, but I did do it up very tightly), the belt will just about twist to near enough 90 degrees with firm finger pressure. I was planning to retension the belt in 100 miles just to play it safe (I know a few previous cars I have owned recommned to do this (Pug 205 GTi/Porsche 944).
Here is where the belt ran previously on the cam pulley. I'll see if I can grab a pic of how the belt is running now.
In your opinion what could be causing the above? Is it something I should rectify or should I continue as normal and quit worrying?
I have gone from a Gates 'belt to a genuine Ford item. However, since fitting it the belt now runs around 1mm from the edge of the camshaft pulley (away from the engine) from previously being sat in the middle of it. Over the past 20 miles it has not got any closer to the edge but it is still a little disconcerting.
At the time I checked the water pump and tensioner ; these are clearly only a couple of years old and have covered around 4,000 miles with no signs of wear on them. The difference between the two belts is that the Gates belt had rounded teeth whereas the Ford one has more squared off teeth, like the Dayco belts if you know what I mean. The Piper vernier pulley is a shiny silver where the previous belt has ran.
This could be me being picky, but the belt (or drivebelt) does whine ever so slightly if you are listening for it, but not as loudly as some with a 944 definitely being a louder setup but maybe the teeth design are causing this?
In your opinion what could be causing the above? Is it something I should rectify or should I continue as normal? As far as I can tell the crank bolt is torqued up to roughly the tightening torque (it's IMHO impossible to check with the engine in the car ; the pulley runs fairly close to the inner wing, but I did do it up very tightly), the belt will just about twist to near enough 90 degrees with firm finger pressure. I was planning to retension the belt in 100 miles just to play it safe (I know a few previous cars I have owned recommned to do this (Pug 205 GTi/Porsche 944).
Here is where the belt ran previously on the cam pulley. I'll see if I can grab a pic of how the belt is running now.
In your opinion what could be causing the above? Is it something I should rectify or should I continue as normal and quit worrying?
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