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[Tafty]

Hi fellas,
hopefully some advice will help me out.  After putting my car back together after chickening out doing the cambelt I have just returned from a one hour run down the motorway and the smell of burning rubber was immense - my kids who where in the car where complaining of feeling dizzy - which is really worrying

The work I have done on it prior to rebuild:-
1. Cleaned out breathers - very slight hiss being heard from the "ecotec" part - is this normal as they where blocked prior to work  so not sure??
2. Camcovers - Checked for leaks all around that I can reach - with a paper towel which is coming out clean (car getting to Chopsdad standards )
3. Pipercross air filter fitted
4. Spark Plugs replaced
5. Water pump replaced whilst accessible
6. Oil Pressure switch replaced due to leaking - isn't now
7. Wynns Hydraulic lifter application given to engine though smell does not smell of oil issue but rubber.
8. Aux belt (genuine GM) - really does seem to be here that the smell is coming from - do they have a "bedding in" period of a few miles or so - it was the cars first run upto full running temperature.  Also the Aux Belt Tensioner was regreased due to being dry - exactly like the cambelt dvd!!

Have left it for 2 hours and gone back to it without any conclusive direction as to what is happening - Have noticed that the engine is very hot - though the temp display is within normal.

Am I just being paranoid or is this something to worry about??

Lee

[TheBoy]

Sounds odd. aux belt not rubbing anywhere?

[Tafty]

Sounds odd. aux belt not rubbing anywhere?

Not that I can see but shall go and get my inspection mirror out whilst it's still light - One thing I haven't done just checked where I could see from standing up!!!!.  When I regreased the tensioner pulley I just tightened the cover to fully tight - no torque figure mentioned on dvd - not related by any chance??

Lee

[Tafty]

Nothing touching as regards to the aux belt - is there a certain tension the belt should be and how do you measure it?? - Is it possible it's too tight?

Lee

[Kevin Wood]

The aux belt tensioner is spring loaded so it establishes the correct tension. If the belt is the right length...

There was a spate of belts from autovaux earlier this year which were too short leading to failure of the tensioner because they ran too tight.

Kevin

[Tafty]

The aux belt tensioner is spring loaded so it establishes the correct tension. If the belt is the right length...

There was a spate of belts from autovaux earlier this year which were too short leading to failure of the tensioner because they ran too tight.

Kevin

Hi Kevin, belt from VX dealers so am very confident it's the right one.  

CAn anyone confirm that the temperature in the bonnet is hot - I mean the plastic cover tray above the radiator - which on mine at the moment is nearly untouchable -  engine has been turned off for approx 45 mins!!!

[TheBoy]

The aux belt tensioner is spring loaded so it establishes the correct tension. If the belt is the right length...

There was a spate of belts from autovaux earlier this year which were too short leading to failure of the tensioner because they ran too tight.

Kevin

Hi Kevin, belt from VX dealers so am very confident it's the right one.  

CAn anyone confirm that the temperature in the bonnet is hot - I mean the plastic cover tray above the radiator - which on mine at the moment is nearly untouchable -  engine has been turned off for approx 45 mins!!!

Sounds a bit too hot...  ...even my tractopr with all its cooling issues starts to cool off after that time

[VXL V6]

Might be worth checking the radiator fans are running ok?

[Tafty]

The aux belt tensioner is spring loaded so it establishes the correct tension. If the belt is the right length...

There was a spate of belts from autovaux earlier this year which were too short leading to failure of the tensioner because they ran too tight.

Kevin

Hi Kevin, belt from VX dealers so am very confident it's the right one.  

CAn anyone confirm that the temperature in the bonnet is hot - I mean the plastic cover tray above the radiator - which on mine at the moment is nearly untouchable -  engine has been turned off for approx 45 mins!!!

Sounds a bit too hot...  ...even my tractopr with all its cooling issues starts to cool off after that time

Cheers TB, am going to drop the coolant tomorrow and maybe see if I'm suffering from a blockage/airlock of some sorts.

On another point - while I've had my head in close to the cambelt cover - every now and then (1/2 mins)  I'm hearing a tapping noise coming from within the cambelt cover - now when I had the cover off I never actually dismantled anything other than the water pump which isn't actually inside the cover - am I looking at the early signs of a tensioner failure.  Does the belt "flap" or "slap" in sections that would make this characteristic "normal"

Cheers

Lee

[TheBoy]

no. investigate further.

[Mike Collins]

A few years ago I had what turned out to be a cambelt idler bearing failure, one of the symptoms was a hot rubber smell, the other was knocking noise. I was very lucky, the idler bearing had seized. and was rotating on the securing bolt.
Take the cover and check carefully!

[Tafty]

A few years ago I had what turned out to be a cambelt idler bearing failure, one of the symptoms was a hot rubber smell, the other was knocking noise. I was very lucky, the idler bearing had seized. and was rotating on the securing bolt.
Take the cover and check carefully!

That doesn't sound good

I assume the only way is to strip right back down and crank by hand on the "crank" and look see at all the rollers - so annoyed I never did this anyway before calling it quits on changing the belt.  I notice your's is a 2.6 - have you gone through the experience of the cambelt change on this yourself Mike?

[Kevin Wood]

When is the next cambelt change due? Bear in mind the service interval for cam belt and rollers has been decreased to 40,000 miles / 4 years. Are you confident that it was done when the history says it was done?

IMHO, if you're going to the trouble of taking off the covers to get to the belt, if there's any suspicion of a problem you may as well replace the belt and rollers while you're at it. It will make a real mess of the engine if it fails.

If the belt is slapping around in there it may well have been damaged anyway. If there's a problem it should be obvious but check all runs of the belt are tight, that all tensioner mountings are tight and that the tensioner pully has the alignment marks roughly in the right place.

I wouldn't run the engine until I'd checked this if it were me.

Kevin

[Kevin Wood]

Sorry, just read the post again and realised it's you.

I think it's worth having a look at the belt. If something hasn't gone back together correctly or there's something rattling around in the cam cover that shouldn't be the consequences could be nasty.

Kevin

[RonaldMcBurger]

Is it auto? If so, when you did the cam covers did you disturb the autobox breather pipe so that it now touches the exhasut manifold? Have you changed or disturbed the cramk senor? same problem.

DO NOT LEAVE THIS

1. It is potentially lethal if the kids are geting headaches from the fumes
2. It is likely to catch fire.