Oil on timing belt

[srivett]

Howdy,
I changed my timing belt last night and I damaged a seal while doing something not necessarily too smart. Ahh, that's as far as I want to go into that...

Anyway, I ran my car for about 5 hours today and I was leaking oil the entire time so I the inner 1/8" edge of my timng belt got oil on it. Specifically, this is a 1992 VW Golf Diesel 1.6 with an interference engine and the oil was Esso XD-3 0w40.

I washed the timing belt off with some dishsoap today. Do you guys think the oil is likely to cause the belt to fail early?

Thanks, Steve

 

[JavaMan]

I was messing around with my new car engine a few years ago. Washing it and spiffying it up. Drove a few miles and popped the hood open and the timing belt was shredding. I must have spilled something. I was using a couple of different spray cleaners and conditoners. No damage was done, but, certainly a close call.

 

[Quest]

dishsoap is alright for rubber timing belts (Ivory soap works ok too if not a bit on the "gentle" side).

SimpleGreen mixed with a bit of water should do just fine also.


Do not use harsh solvents such as brake cleaner, carb cleaner and such. They will damage the rubber.

Also: my concern is now on your seal? Did you say you did something silly to it? If that is the case may I suggest you to replace the seal? A new seal shall lasts a long time and also provide the kind of peace of mind that no other stuff can...

 

[srivett]

Hmm, JavaMan has me worried now. I probably got some Castrol Degreaser on the belt but for a brief time. I parked outside the carwash and sprayed down the engine compartment with the stuff. After a couple minutes I drove in and powerwashed the thing off with soap and then fresh water. I guess I'll have to make a judgement call in the morning. FYI, The Castrol degreaser is fantastic! I've got a porous headgasket that's always oozing so I'll be using this stuff on a regular basis.

The seal is finished, I put it in and then accidentally jammed a drift through it in order to lock a pulley I was trying to tighten down. I lost so much oil that I had a puddle under my car before I got out of it! The oil was even going out behind my car and coming up the back onto the hatch! Friggin diesel oil is nasty...hehehe I've got another seal in stock here so it isn't a big deal...I marked my timing belt so I can toss it back on without recalibrating the injection pump. Belt change #1, about 10 hours including some serious head scrathing. Change #2, 1.5 hours off and on.

Cheers, Steve