Hi, I have a 1992 Isuzu Amigo with a 2.6L i4. Curious if this is normal?


I recently replaced the timing belt because it had been in there over 5 years from previous owner, the teeth could clearly be seen from the back, and it had a groove worn into the center of it.



Found a spot on upper timing cover where I thought belt was rubbing. Sanded down spot, and put red paint on it to see if it rubbed off onto new belt.
[img=left]http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa362/N55J/Amigo/Isuzu%20timing%20cover%20wear%2001_zpsmbg4iald.jpg[/img]
No red paint made it onto new timing belt, so that problem solved. Did not see any marks inside lower timing cover to indicate rubbing there.


Within about 4 hours run time on new belt, it looks like groove is being worn into center of it now too.



Does this groove just normally show up because of the split idler pulley design, or is belt rubbing on something else?



I tensioned belt, ran it around by hand 2x. After putting on lower timing cover, I loosened and retentioned belt through timing cover with harmonic balancer on as recommended in videos. First few revolutions by hand, it felt like belt was dragging on something inside lower cover, but that went away quickly. New tensioner and timing cover bolts all installed with torque wrench, to make sure cover wasn't too tight and going to rub belt.
Also, the first few drives, I smelled burnt rubber after coming back home, but I think that was over-tightened v-belts. I readjusted all 3, and smell has gone away.


I don't really have the down time right now to dig back into lower timing cover, but above symptoms have me paranoid. Amigo runs smoother than before, passed emissions quickly, and has more power, so I don't think I did anything wrong during install. Just don't want to snap timing belt and cause more headaches...