Yup, you guys were right, my timing was off a tooth or so. We took the timing belt off and started over. Got the timing all set, and now she finally idles smooth. Throttle response is back, and the car felt overall smoother. Now, for my next problem :( I got the car all back together, and now my timing belt is trying to "walk" off my cam gears. It's moving towards the drivers side. I don't have the plastic cover on anymore, could that be the cause? I thought that there were a few on here that were running with no cover. Anyways, I got to find out what the hell is causing this. The belt walked about 1/3" off the cam gears in about 40miles of driving. We put the correct 20ft.lbs. of tension on the tensioner. If it's not the cover, than what could be causing this? My belt just started to get chewed up by the thermostat housing.....I caught it just in time. Thanks guys.......

cool. glad u found your problem. dont know about the belt movin around though. but i luv your car. it looks so mean. haha



14.7 @ 93mph / 7psi 185hp/180tq

The belt isn't tight enough, or a pulley isn't installed correctly.

I bet you didn't use a new timing belt and tentioner. Your belt may be streched, mabye thats why it skipped a tooth. Use a new belt and tentioner.

The crankshaft sprocket may be on the crankshaft snout too far towards the engine block.

The timing belt was just purchased this year. It only had about 400 miles on it. My tensioner though is a good 2-3 years old. Any more ideas? Thanks for all the info so far :thumbsup

I'm sure Jason hit the nail on the head. If you used an impact wrench when driving on the UDP, that can sometimes force the gear back more without you noticing.

That sounds about right to me as well... the sprocket being on "too far" will cause the belt to move towards the engine. What your clearance between the sprocket and oil pump?

Did you mark the old belt in its original rotation direction? If you are using an older belt that has stretched, putting it back on in the opposite direction it was turning before, can possibly cause this. Was the timing always off, or did it just happen? If the timing belt is jumping a tooth, then something isnt right somewhere. Worn idler/tensioner pullies can cause it too. Unless you have taken off your timing belt gear, that really shouldnt be an issue. I know my gear is like almost touching the oil pump housing. With the AFX pulley, it pushes on the gear to where it needs to be, when the pulley is all the way on there..If the t belt gear was too far to the block, it would be making lots of noise, because it would be contacting the oil pump housing. Just a few ideas for you. I would def check your tensioner pulley and "arm" that puts tension on the belt. The bolt on that arm has been know to fail, come loose, and snap. My t belt gear is like 1 mm away from the pump housing btw..and my belt is pretty much centered on the cams

This is definetly some weird problem. I know the belt was not stretched, because it was brand new. As far as the crank pulley goes, it looks like I have about 1/8" clearence between it and the block. I'm not really sure guys....what should I do? I'm gonna tear this thing down again and get a new blet(again), so I don't want this to happen again. What do you guys suggest?

.....damn I said again a lot there at the end.

Maybe check your idler pulley bracket for wear? (Cracks, bent)

It's the rusty one with a single pulley bolted into it that flops back and forth against the tensioner.

You can't really get to it without removing the motor, but Satan claims that you have to buy the whole idler pulley assembly because the old one breaks after 60k miles.

Your belt tension is not correct, get a more accurate torque wrench and make sure you are reading ft pounds and not nm or inch pounds. Do NOT use a click type torque wrench, you will never get the tension right. The tension to put on the belt is 21 ft lbs. I've been through this many times in the past and tension was always the culprit. And do change the belt, not worth the risk of not changing it when you think about whats at stake.

I used a click torque wrench, you just have to hold it at that torque once it clicks. Im good at that trick. :D

I used a click style wrench as well, and I have no problems. I bet you dollars to doughnuts that it's your tensioner. I bought a new tensioner pulley and put my motor back together then about 400 miles later the bolt that holds the arm to the bracket broke sending my t-belt against the back side of the t-belt cover. I bet you will find a bent tensioner arm or bracket. The part is like 60-70 bucks at a local dodge dealer so call Bob Kise and see what he can do. But remember you want the pulley AND THE BRACKET. My t-belt acctually rides twards the passenger side of my cam gears now. But as far as the timing sprokit on the crank you should know if it is not on far enough or not. If it was too far in and caused the t-belt to walk twards the driver side then it should be hitting the oil pump.