head gasket - timing belt?

[Brett Dikeman]

At 10:06 PM -0400 4/10/03, Steve Ensch wrote:
>On my 4 cyl. 80 I recently have noticed oil in the coolant reservoir, and a
>liquid white residue (oil) on the oil cap.  Someone who will go unnamed said
>my car was in need of a timing belt.  I am leaning more on the side of the
>head gasket leak.  Has anyone heard of a timing belt causing oil/coolant
>mix?

Timing belts are strictly age/mileage; 60k or 6 years, whichever
comes first...unless the water pump or idler pulley is about to seize.

If you've got any amount of oil in the reservoir- yes, certainly one
of the signs that the head gasket is shot, as is the 'milkshake'
which doesn't go away(repeated short trips, like around town driving
in cool weather, will cause the 'milkshake' too); a mechanic can take
a sample of the coolant and test it for exhaust gasses, which usually
show up if the head gasket is shot...you want to be sure.  Is the car
using up coolant?


If the head has to come off, so does the belt- if the belt is close
to the change interval, it might make sense to do it at the same time.

If you do a belt change, do the waterpump, idler pulley, and all
seals(crank, cam).

B
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