Defective timing belt blew my engine -wtd

[dcarrb]

Originally Posted by SSSVX

quick questions:

is there any shelf life or expired date for the timing belt?
how do we read and find out?
Or the manufacture date?

thanks!

Rubber goods degrade over time, but folks routinely run timing belts for many years without trouble (in quite an inhospitable environment), so I doubt years on the shelf could be a factor in premature failure. That said, there's certainly a manufacture date encoded somewhere on the belt and/or packaging; the trick would be deciphering it.

I was playing devil's advocate earlier, not suggesting you or your installer did anything wrong. But face it: Unless you have deep pockets, it's going to be hard to demonstrate a defect or recover any sort of damages.

A relatively new PS/alt belt failed on my teal SVX a few years ago (just blew to smithereens) the only accessory belt I've had fail in 35+ years of driving, and I've always wondered if maybe I was sold some crappy counterfeit in Gates packaging.

dcb