Sorry for the rant but damn my luck, timing belt broke

On my way to work(literally I can see the base gate) my lil Mazda just died in third gear. No noise, just seemed like the ignition cut out. Tried restarting and sure enough engine is turning over WAY too easy. I was like probably the timing belt(but wishing I was wrong). Had friend towed me off the street and pulled off timing cover and yep..... Timing belt broke. Been awhile since I last did one but I haven't done one of these yet but it seem to be a lot easier of some I have done in the past (subaru's).

Oh well, that's life. Good thing these are non-interference engines lol.....

Any tips that may help in replacing this? I figured I will get the Gates timing belt/water pump combo from rock auto.

just curious kinda off topic but have you ever or did you come across a timing chain swap, instead of the belt for this truck?

Sorry for your luck, i've been having issues past few days with mine, not same issues, but i thought it was my slave cylinder and master cylinder going out on me, at high rpms, or getting on it playing around, ll of a sudden i would drop and face plant to the ground then chug real hard and drop again, i thought oh wtf man is my pressure plate going or something? Nope pulled it down and looked no issues there, no leaks or missing lines so hmm, kept driving it see if got worse, nope just randomly happened entering a highway or getting to highway speeds quickly. Turned out to be my fuel filter all along, an i had even went an found me a transmission with 35k miles on it to replace mine, well traded for it but hey wheel n deal an save buddy!

I've dealt with rock auto in the past they are a very good company to deal with from what i remember, nothing to recent though sorry and best of luck!

Remember, you do NOT remove the big center pulley bolt, just the six small bolts with 10mm heads.

I have never heard of someone swapping from a belt to chain, but I think even if there was a way it would be too expensive and time consuming to do so(at least for me). You would need sprockets, chains, and a hell of a lot of research. Thanks for the wishes, I love rockauto for most things I purchase. It just sucks to wait on shipping when you need something yesterday lol.

As for the fuel filter, I know exactly what you mean but I usually replace the cheaper things first before making big purchases when I can't exactly figure out whats wrong. I had a similar issue on my first B and it turned out to be a fuel filter. Would just chug chug to a stop, wait a few minute(10-15) started right back up and no problems. It was very intermittent.

Thanks Cusser, I will keep that in mind! I was reading about that. Shouldn't take long to do this. Just have to wait until Friday until I can order these parts and fix it sometime not this weekend but the next one.

I swear this is what I get for switching to an electric fan lol....... Less stress on the timing belt and this is how she treats me....

Lol, well was just a thought on the timing chain, but yeah i agree i'd def go ahead with the water pump as well, might as well since already there and basically right at it. and well imma do a little research into the timing chain instead of a belt an let ya know what i come up with just for shits n giggles to see if ya might like the idea later down the road, i'm not looking anytime soon to do it just a project to look into for me, and hope everything goes well.

This is not an all-day job. Set the crankshaft to #1 TDC before starting.

There are photos at

Good time to replace the drive belts if needed. Remember to check the timing belt tensioners. And rotate the engine with wrench a few revolutions and re-check that the marks are still in the right place.

You do not need to remove the distributor.

That sucks, i just did the same a week ago.
Pretty easy, just sucks having to do it.
Id change the pulleys, i should've when i did my belt with the Junkyard motor i got but i didn't. But its up to you.
Does anyone know if the motor is a non-interference engine? I didn't bend a valve, but would just like to know thanks.
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Yes these F2's are non interference motors, and you should be okay valve wise, as long as you didn't sit there for many times cranking etc, but i doubt you done that so you'll be ok.

Damn itizmyne, thats crazy. It was just my belt that broke on mine. The kit I am going to be purchasing through rockauto comes with water pump, idler pulleys, timing belt and gaskets. So I should be good to go after buying it. Very lucky to have non-interference motors woot woot... I am going lobstering tomorrow so hopefully since this happened this week I will have better luck to finish off the week.

Looks like your pulley(s) failed breaking your timing belt.

Replace both of them also check your oil pump for leaks and water pump for play.