Timing Belts - STD vs Aftermarket

[jaik]

Im going to be replacing the Timing belt on the Cefi when it arrives... and just looking around at timing belt options and Im tossing up whether its worth outlaying the extra $$$ on an aftermarket belt compared to a standard Nissan item.

A Greddy Belt landed is around $160-$175.

A Nismo Belt landed is around $210

A Tomei Belt landed is around $200

A Standard Nissan Belt is $75 Trade ($95 retail)

Anyone have any good points to note about aftermarket belts theyve purchased before?

Cheers,

Jai

[Blitz]

I seem to recall some of the aftermarket belts contain kevlar for added strength.

I dont think there will be much of a difference however between the aftermarket brands

[N I B]

Nissan belts are only bando anyway.

[Bass Junky]

If you gave me the exaxt details and/or the number off the timing belt, I could probably get you a replacement for bugger all.

A timing belt is a timing belt. Steel reinforced belting is what you need.

Any power transmission company could supply this belt at a lot less than the aftermarket ones.

Ever heard of a timing belt snapping??

BASS OUT

[jaik]

Im chasing an RB20DET belt - Nissan Part Number is 130285L327.

Yes Ive heard of timing belts snapping

Thanks

JK

[knore]

Just get a GTR timing belt, was about $150, Gavin Woods put it in for me

[LOW25T]

u have a RB26 belt in your RB25? isn't it a bit big?

[Russco]

yes, I have snapped a timing belt!

[Bass Junky]

How?

[owned]

hmm time to get mine done too.... how much is it labour wise??

[PuppaDuck]

A friend of mine had a timing belt snap in a Nissan Exa.

Bent his valves and half the engine needed to be replaced.

A few thousand bucks later, it was fixed.

Suffice to say, its better to change the belt more often with a standard belt than to chase a more expensive belt and hope to use it longer - of which endurance levels are impossible to predict based on price.

[EnricoPalazzo]

i was driving my alfa, then bang, engine stopped, timing belt broke, valves all bent, me broke

Also a guy in adelaide driving his 32 has his timing belt break due to an over tensioned idle pully i think which snapped the belt, and bent valves.

If u r lucky, only the valves bend, but if unlucky, the pistons can get damages aswell which is bigger bucks.

Anyway back on topic, i think it was discussed before that standard belts are the same if not exactly the same as the aftermarket ones, they just come in different packages i think,

[jaik]

i was also of the same thinking, replace more often than trying to get longer duration out of a more expensive belt. i was looking at a more expensive belt as a precaution as i dont want to have to rebuild this motor any time soon, so i have no issue in spending more on a name brand belt. but i guess really, how much can one belt be better than the rest? i guess i would prefer to use 2 belts in a 40,000km period than just 1 belt.

JK

[PuppaDuck]

You wouldn't need to use two belts in the 40K period though.

I reckon they are conservatively rated at 80-100K so if you just change it every 60K you'd be more than cautious.

Just have to make sure its not too tight or loose or else that'll influence its lifetime.

[Ronin 09]

I had a friend snap a timing belt, lucky it was only the belt and no bent valves (just pulled out his driveway).

...otherwise, cam belt goes pop, valves bend, engine dies, wallet goes light

[Sciby]

A mild side subject... does anyone know if any of the RB family are interference/non-interference engines? (non-interference: if the belt snaps, pistons and valves will collide.)

Do we have a definitive source for yes or no on this? Would give us all peace of mind/panic and paranoia about our timing belts... but either way, we need to know for sure.

[Emre]

Non interference : If the belt snaps, pistons and valves will NOT collide.

AFAIK, RB26 is a non interference engine in stock form.

Can't imagine RB20 and 25 being different.

[Sciby]

Whoops! Typo on my behalf, was at work when I did that post. I'm very sure only monkeys would think that non-interference meant that valves and pistons interferred with each other.

I can't imagine why nissan would make an engine like the RB series, put them in cars that they mean to have the poop raced out of them, and make 'interference' engines... imagine the abuse from race teams with snapped belts...

[Sydneykid]

I can't imagine why nissan would make an engine like the RB series, put them in cars that they mean to have the poop raced out of them, and make 'interference' engines... imagine the abuse from race teams with snapped belts...

Nissan could make a non interferance engine easily, but it would have NO power, LOUSY fuel economy and HUGE emmisions. The valve lift would have to be miniscule and the compression ratio very low. I haven't even seen a non interference petrol engine for decades.

Speaking on behalf of our race team, we change belts regularly, so they don't "snap".

[lwells]

The Toyota Supra's 2JZ is non-interference isn't it..?

LW.