To make a long story short, my tiburon has 139,400k on it right now. When I bought the car (im only the second owner, original owner was female), the person wasn't sure about when the timing belt was done. He was only selling the car for the owner person. It runs perfectly right now, but I know that you never know when a timing belt will go. The guy that was selling the car was a mechanic, and said he took a look at the timing belt and it didn't looked cracked or chewed, but they can go at any time. The mechanic I took it to today, told me that while you have the timing belt off, you should do the water pump as well. It might be wise for me to do the timing belt instead of getting rims, but do I really need to? It's almost at 140,000, and I know timing belts don't last much longer then 100,000k with some vehicles. How long do tiburon OEM belts usually last for? Is it safe to say that I have at elast another 20-30k on the timing belt left? I baby the **** out of this thing, and I want whats best for it. Thanks in advance.

 

Hyundai timing belts are to be replaced every 60,000 miles. Your car should be on it's third belt by now. I've heard of belts lasting as long as yours without replacement, and I've heard of some going with 60K to 70K on them. What happens when a timing belt fails? I finally found photos that shows what happens to a Hyundai motor when the timing belt fails (note the piston tops in the second photo).








These are photos from a 2002 Kia Rio with 77,000 miles on the belt. The discussion and photo credits are on another forum at:

http://www.kia-forums.com/1g-2g-2001...tml#post236557

Water pump replacement? If I remember correctly, the 99 Tiburon only came with the Beta 2.0 liter I4 motor. The timing belt doesn't drive the pump (like in the Delta V6), so a pump failure isn't going to take out the timing belt. If this was a belt change at 60K, I'd risk running another 60K on the water pump. Assuming the pump you have is the original, with this many miles on it I think it would make sense to replace it now. The more miles, the greater the chance the pump may be ready to fail. A failed pump can still leave you stranded when you can least afford it and a total loss of coolant on a hot engine often results in a cracked head casting.

 

Water pumps don't usually seize up without plenty of warning. They'll make a lot of noise or leak water before they'll do that. You absolutely need to replace the timing belt if you have no idea what condition it's in. I usually do an inspection/adjustment to mine every 10K or so just so I know.

Cool engine disaster photos, Ken99. I suppose they'll just putty up the pistons, and make new valves out of bottle caps and be good to go. Right?

 

Sort of like making kids sit through VD education movies to discourage sex. No, that didn't work either.

 

This post is just to concur wit the posts above. Hyundai belts should be replaced every 60k miles. If you have 139,400 miles on your car now, get the belt changed ASAP. The damage posted above is not an exaggeration, it can had does happen.

 

Thank you all for the quick posts. I was thinking the same on replacing the belt as well. I was just curious on average how long they last. THe car was well looked after, and if the mechanic ever said something had to be replaced, the women did just that which is why I was hoping that the belt still had some life left, which I think it does but best to be safe. Everytime I rev the motor to high I think im gunna blow it. How good is the 2L beta motor? I've read a thing here and there saying it CAN have more potential then the delta motor in the long run. I've owned nothing but honda's, and I know they can take the **** kicking, but I've just been babying this car. Anyways, thanks for the help guys.

 

not sure if the timing belt drives the water pump or not. but the water pump does serve as the tensioner for the timing belt. so if not done right it will snap a timing belt easily.

 

That's not true on the 4 cylinder Beta engine. Water pump pulley tensions the drive belt on the front of the motor, but has nothing to do with tensioning the timing belt. Actually, I think it's the alternator bracket used to adjust tension on the drive belt.