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FiST long term Reliability? How many got 80,000+ miles?

felopr

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JD
#25
Kinda long post here, sorry
90k here from new
Apart from the regular maintenance like oil changes, coolant flushes, bleed brake oil from brake lines and the clutch slave cylinder when changing brake pads
Nothing really mayor, only 2 blend doors and that is it. The clutch is the original one still but feels a little bit tired
The only thing weird that happened to me because i bet this hasn't happened to anyone was that for some reason and to this day i don't know how or why, my serpentine belt like jump from his groves by one row so a part of the belt was running outside of the "track" lets say, so while the car is running a part of the belt tore itself but that is not the weird part
By some reason only god knows, a part of the tore belt, i don't know how, enter the seal area where the timing belt is and somehow passed between the timing belt and the tensioner and made the timing belt jump one tooth on the exhaust cam
I wasn't aware of any of that until one day i was driving and while doing a pull it throw a backfire and throw a CEL
When i did the troubleshooting, exhaust cam was running 20 degrees out of timing in correlation with the intake cam and crank
The funny thing was that i ran the car like that for like 10k miles out of time while i was getting all the parts and educated myself to do the job
The car is really smart and it was using the exhaust cam phaser to put the car back on time
The car never had problem with misfires or anything while it was out of time and drove like normal, i just never really floor it or went into high boost while it had the problem
The problem occur around 50k and did this when it was around 60k. took me 2 days on a weekend taking my time but i did it alone. i am not a mechanic by trade but i am mechanically incline individual
I changed the timing belt, timing belt tensioner, water pump, brand new crank bolt, serpentine belt, serpentine tensioner, serpentine idle pulley, and while i was at it, the valve cover gasket
Here are some photos when i did the change
20210325_075522.jpg 20210325_094355.jpg 20210325_075513.jpg
 


dhminer

2000 Post Club
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Burlington, NC, USA
#26
Kinda long post here, sorry
90k here from new
Apart from the regular maintenance like oil changes, coolant flushes, bleed brake oil from brake lines and the clutch slave cylinder when changing brake pads
Nothing really mayor, only 2 blend doors and that is it. The clutch is the original one still but feels a little bit tired
The only thing weird that happened to me because i bet this hasn't happened to anyone was that for some reason and to this day i don't know how or why, my serpentine belt like jump from his groves by one row so a part of the belt was running outside of the "track" lets say, so while the car is running a part of the belt tore itself but that is not the weird part
By some reason only god knows, a part of the tore belt, i don't know how, enter the seal area where the timing belt is and somehow passed between the timing belt and the tensioner and made the timing belt jump one tooth on the exhaust cam
I wasn't aware of any of that until one day i was driving and while doing a pull it throw a backfire and throw a CEL
When i did the troubleshooting, exhaust cam was running 20 degrees out of timing in correlation with the intake cam and crank
The funny thing was that i ran the car like that for like 10k miles out of time while i was getting all the parts and educated myself to do the job
The car is really smart and it was using the exhaust cam phaser to put the car back on time
The car never had problem with misfires or anything while it was out of time and drove like normal, i just never really floor it or went into high boost while it had the problem
The problem occur around 50k and did this when it was around 60k. took me 2 days on a weekend taking my time but i did it alone. i am not a mechanic by trade but i am mechanically incline individual
I changed the timing belt, timing belt tensioner, water pump, brand new crank bolt, serpentine belt, serpentine tensioner, serpentine idle pulley, and while i was at it, the valve cover gasket
Here are some photos when i did the change
View attachment 53875 View attachment 53876 View attachment 53877
That’s a crazy story. Glad you got it sorted
 


XR650R

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Eerie
#27
It's rare for a newish belt to fail, but it happens. I'm sure the new one won't do that.
Y, ¡Vive Boricua!
 


Last edited:

XR650R

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#28
My car probably needs a good tune up before I consider anymore mods.
I'd replace all the fluids and look for a new timing belt. Ford says to replace it at 150,000.
Totally worth it, IMO. You're driving a legend.
It's as practical and reliable as any subcompact, and way more fun to drive.
 


Last edited:

M-Sport fan

9000 Post Club
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Location
Princeton, N.J.
#29
Kinda long post here, sorry
90k here from new
Apart from the regular maintenance like oil changes, coolant flushes, bleed brake oil from brake lines and the clutch slave cylinder when changing brake pads
Nothing really mayor, only 2 blend doors and that is it. The clutch is the original one still but feels a little bit tired
The only thing weird that happened to me because i bet this hasn't happened to anyone was that for some reason and to this day i don't know how or why, my serpentine belt like jump from his groves by one row so a part of the belt was running outside of the "track" lets say, so while the car is running a part of the belt tore itself but that is not the weird part
By some reason only god knows, a part of the tore belt, i don't know how, enter the seal area where the timing belt is and somehow passed between the timing belt and the tensioner and made the timing belt jump one tooth on the exhaust cam
I wasn't aware of any of that until one day i was driving and while doing a pull it throw a backfire and throw a CEL
When i did the troubleshooting, exhaust cam was running 20 degrees out of timing in correlation with the intake cam and crank
The funny thing was that i ran the car like that for like 10k miles out of time while i was getting all the parts and educated myself to do the job
The car is really smart and it was using the exhaust cam phaser to put the car back on time
The car never had problem with misfires or anything while it was out of time and drove like normal, i just never really floor it or went into high boost while it had the problem
The problem occur around 50k and did this when it was around 60k. took me 2 days on a weekend taking my time but i did it alone. i am not a mechanic by trade but i am mechanically incline individual
I changed the timing belt, timing belt tensioner, water pump, brand new crank bolt, serpentine belt, serpentine tensioner, serpentine idle pulley, and while i was at it, the valve cover gasket
Here are some photos when i did the change
View attachment 53875 View attachment 53876 View attachment 53877
Yes, GREAT job there! [twothumb]

I could only DREAM of doing that whole procedure myself, even if I had the (some specialized) tools and facility (i.e.; a place where working on your car for hours/days will NOT get you a BIG fine!) to accomplish it!!
 


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