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Well, the R/T went over 105k last week and it's now overdue for a timing belt change. I'm shopping for a kit that has the belt, a water pump and a tensioner.

Here's the thing, prices vary widely. I've seen the ones on E bay that you can get for less than $150 for everything and then all the way up to a Gates high performance belt for about $100 for just the belt. I'm leaning towards a brand name belt like Gates, not the high perf one, just a regular replacement but I'm curious, who here has used the cheap ones and how did they work out? Were you able to go another 105k, did the belt break after 30k or what? I've tried to find out where the cheapos are made and if they're any good but it's a mystery.

Personally I wouldn't cheap out on the timing belt. $100 for a timing belt is only $0.09 per 100 miles.

I will be getting a gates belt when mine comes due.

i'd think the gates performance timing belt would also be a good idea if your running an aftermarket cam+upgraded valve springs.

The standard gates belt is about $40 the high performance one is the $100 one. The standard one should work fine, but if it is worth the extra $60 for the added security and a cool blue belt, then do what makes you happy... and don't forget the other important parts like the water pump and cam seal behind the cam gear and maybe a tesioner for the AC/PS belt, at least a replacement idler pulley, since all this is out of the way to do the change anyway...
Edit: have you found a kit that includes the water pump? Just curious since I didn't see one when I did mine...
Gates Racing Performance
Timing Belts
Tuners want performance AND appearance. They like to display their timing belt,
often removing the top portion of the timing belt cover to expose the belt and the
cam sprocket.
Gates Racing Performance timing belts o er more than just a cool color.
Constructed of HNBR elastomeric composites, these belts provide up to
three times the heat resistance, and feature teeth reinforced with aramid
and nylon ber to minimize wear. And Gates Racing Performance timing
belts are 300 percent stronger than the standard aftermarket belt. The added
strength gives tuners the high performance they demand. They can run their
customized creations with con dence that the timing belt will hold up to the
rigors of the higher horsepower, particularly with interference engines.

http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?broch ... on_id=5061

I am about to take the plunge for my Timing Belt...I have the money and i'm just shopping for the parts. I was going to go with a gates belt as well.

I am not sure where to pick up the Water Pump and the Tensioner...dealer?

occasional demons wrote: Edit: have you found a kit that includes the water pump?

Yeah, I was looking at this one, the price is right $148+ $11 shipping for all. It has the Littens tensioner assembly (made in Canada?) The pump I'm not sure where it's made and the belt is also unknown- to me anyway. I googled that company that brands the belt, PCI and it seems like they sell mainly to professionals. I think people who take their cars in to shops to have their belts done, depending on where they take it, may end up with this one. Pros hate come backs and a timing belt that fails early and wrecks valves will gain a reputation fast. I haven't found anything bad about the brand yet and the seller has a 100% feedback rating in over 11k transactions. I don't know, it's tempting but if it's made in China...

BTW, to anyone who clicks on that link, you may want to adjust your volume, there's some animated character (the owner of the store?) that starts talking when it opens.

Dealer MSRP for the tensioner is: $105 the belt: $104 Cam seal:$7.60 Water pump:$105 The tensioner is the same one DCX sells. Overall it isn't a bad deal. I know PPL on here have used Parts Dinosaur, maybe someone will chime in with their experience. IIRC I got my water pump/belt from Summit and the rest through The DCX dealer as at the time I was getting 25% off list.

Anybody use the Goodyear Gatorback timing belt? I usually use those belts for all my accessories with great luck so far, but I've never used them for timing belts.

I had a Gatorback timing belt on my last car and it was crap.

jonnymopar wrote:Anybody use the Goodyear Gatorback timing belt? I usually use those belts for all my accessories with great luck so far, but I've never used them for timing belts.

I don't know much about belts but from what I hear Gatorback is NOT good.

So I ordered the timing belt kit from Parts Dinosaur 1/29 and here's what I got.

The belt.



The pump.



And the tensioner.



The engine just before all this stuff went on, check out the markings that the factory workers put on it.





So you can see where the parts are made. The tensioner is Canadian and it was a little different from the original in that it didn't have the dowel, and the hole to adjust takes a 1/4 inch drive rather than the 6mm allen. I removed the tensioner from the bracket and put it on my original so I could use the alignment dowel, just remove the nut and the whole deal comes off.

I checked the new belt over and it looked good although you can't really tell much by looking. The pump looked like any other replacement one would buy at the local parts store so I installed them. The car runs fine.

Here is some food for thought. Mopar used Goodyear as their O.E. supplier of belts and hoses. After many complaints and part WRO's, Chrysler switched to Gates. We have had much better luck with Gates than Goodyear. You would think that it wouldn't be hard to make a belt that worked, lasted, and wasn't noisy, but Goodyear couldn't it seemed.

Just some .02 info

I had the timing belt replaced before there was snow on the ground... still going good now with a coupla thousand highway/town miles.

All parts listed below were purchased from dealer and replaced as part of the job:

-Timing belt
-Water pump
-Cam seal
-Crank seal
-Hydraulic tensioner
-PS/AC belt tensioner

The old belt was in very good shape, but everything else needed replacement. You could see where the water pump was seeping very small amounts of coolant.

Well, I'm not too thrilled with Goodyear in the first place, but thats another subject, so it doesn't surprise me that they can't make a good belt. The can't make a safe tire thats for damn sure. (anyone who watches NHRA knows what I'm talking about)

Gates FTW

When I did my r/t's belt a few moths ago I used a Mopar belt. It was the cheapest too. Same thing with the head gasket.

http://www.store.partsdinosaur.com/product1319.html

Parts dinosaur has that timing belt kit for $100...think it's worth it?

That is where he got it from, just through their ebay sales...

04R/T wrote: And the tensioner.

According to some, if you don't transfer the dowel pin (upper left corner of tensioner) to the PD tensioner (which doesn't have it) the tensioner assembly can move slightly, causing the belt to loosen.

Adionik wrote:http://www.store.partsdinosaur.com/product1319.html

Parts dinosaur has that timing belt kit for $100...think it's worth it?

Actually it was $152 shipped that's for the belt, tensioner and the water pump. I went to his online store directly because it's cheaper than his e bay listing. I guess it will be worth it if the belt doesn't break or the water pump doesn't leak before it's due to be changed again. I think I'll change it out earlier next time.

03blackrt wrote:According to some, if you don't transfer the dowel pin (upper left corner of tensioner) to the PD tensioner (which doesn't have it) the tensioner assembly can move slightly, causing the belt to loosen.

The dowel goes through the whole thing and sticks out on the other side also. It locates the tensioner on the block and the other side locates the engine mount. I tried pulling the dowel out to move it to the new tensioner but it's in there good. I just removed the nut and moved the new pulley/tensioner over to the old bracket.

$152 is still a really good price IMO for that. After labor I can probably get it all done for about $350 i'm guessing. I am NOT doing this myself...fuck that. I can make up that money in a few weeks haha. I'm thinking i'll put on a UDP/ODP at the same time.

But my main concern is whether or not that timing belt/water pump/tensioner is worth a damn. Those prices are pretty good. Although Autozone seems to have the same stuff priced similarly.

What if I have a hydraulic tensioner opposed to the mechanic one??

Then put in this mechanical tensioner, and enjoy the less complicated tensioner assembly. If you click on the link 04R/T put up, they talk about the replacement of this tensioner for the hydraulic one. Chrysler has a kit for certain models that have a mechanical tensioner to convert to the hydraulic system...they just tell you "oh, you have to go hydraulic now. Have fun with all this expense." But the are still available from the dealer as well.

The only issue you have with converting from the hydraulic is the back timing cover needs a clearance hole cut in. If you look at the how to's I think in one of them either here or the other .org has a pic of what i'm talking about. It isn't anything complicated. The job looks more intimidating than it really is. But if you have little paitience then you may not want to do it yourself.

Some more information that I have dug up on the tensioner....

It seems that '99 models did not use a dowel pin locater, while the '00 models do use one

Danteneon wrote:Some more information that I have dug up on the tensioner....

It seems that '99 models did not use a dowel pin locater, while the '00 models do use one

I reused the tensioner bracket with the dowel because the block is counter bored to accept accept it. You can see this in the picture of the engine posted above. If 99 and earlier blocks are not machined to accept it, then the tensioner that comes with this kit will cover all years.

I think i'll order all my timing stuff from the dinosaur....god I hope it's not cheap shit

I ordered all my parts. I was quoted $175 for labor at the cheapest place.

Now I need to get a cam seal and crankshaft seal. Will the ones at Autozone suffice

Well, depends on the brand they sell. I believe Mopar uses NOX, but National seals are fine.

I was reading up on this, now I don't feel have the experience or the confidence just yet to work on the replacement of the timing belt and whatnot like i want to.

Now if I were to go to a mechanic, wha ?s should I ask, like what belt they plan on using and whatnot, so that I don't pay that much money for crap.

So far i've been quoted $175 bucks for the guy to do my timing belt, tensioner and water pump. I'm going to just take the seals and hopefully he won't charge me too much extra since they're RIGHT there.

I too don't feel like I have the experience to do it. I've done some PITA stuff with this car, but this seems like something that would kick my ass.

I want to do it myself. I really do, so I can know exactly what's going on. My friend recently did his and he said it's worth it to pay someone.

Yea I bet I've reading through on some of the walkthroughs and specially not having the right tools or lift and whatnot just seems way too much trouble and risk, so I plan on taking it to someone prob. I'm by UCF so the freakin' mechs here charge you an arm and a leg.

I'm looking at

Goodyear
Firestone
Even some other places I just want to some other ppls experience who have taken it to a mechanic to do the job.