Chrysler Repair: 2.2L Timing Belt, tensioner pulley, woodruff key

Question
Roland

I put a new idler pulley on with the belt.  I'm suspicious that the inside diameter of the cam pulley is oversize,  or the post diameter of the camshaft itself is underside allowing the cam pulley to ride crooked.  Someone also suggested to me that the cam sprocket could be missing its woodruff key.  I don't think it's possible to check that with the oil seal in place.  I don't see how it's possible for the key to be missing and not have the pulley slip?  The car is away in storage for the winter,  but I agree that checking the pulleys with a straightedge and feeler gauges is a good idea.  I'll do that in the spring when the car comes 'home' again.

Second problem:   I believe the fibre donut at the exhaust manifold/pipe joint failed with me jacking the engine up and down while removing the right motor mount.  I also had the front one off to detail everything while I was doing the belt.  The car now has significant vibration at various speeds and throttle applications.  The lateral alignment to the halfshafts appears to be correct. Could I have messed something else up while the car was apart?

Kevin

Kevin



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Followup To
Question -
Hello

I've got an '88 LeBaron with a 2.2L Turbo.  I recently replaced the timing belt because the 1/4" of the belt on the outboard side of the pulleys was badly worn and seemed to be walking off of the pulleys.  I installed the new belt according to all of the information in the service manual, including the special tensioner tool.  But the new belt seems to be doing the same thing.  Is there something in one or more of the pulleys I should be looking at?  The belt walking off of the pulleys doesn't seem like a very good idea!

Thanks,

Kevin McCabe
Answer -
Hi Kevin,
The only possibility that I can imagine is that the tensioner pulley has too much free play in its bearing so that the plane of the pulley is not parallel to the plane of the belt, or that the bolt is bent. Were that the case it might very well cause the belt to move off the center of the sprockets. Did you check that alignment when you had the belt off? Maybe put a straight edge on the side of the tensioner pulley and see how it compares with the plane of the sprockets.
I would appreciate knowing what you find do be the cause when you get to the bottom of this.
Roland

Answer
Hi Kevin,
On the vibration, do you have the spec for the measurements on the half shaft lengths in order for them to be not too close or to far apart due to mal-positining of the engine laterally? The Chrysler shop manual shows the measurement length from the inside edge of the outer cv-boot to the inside edge of the inboard boot when measured at the bottom (6 o'clock) position on the shaft and with the car on the ground at normal stance with wheels straight ahead (this may be difficult to measure unless the car is on platform hoist, ramps, or a front end alignment rack). I don't have the '88 manual but the 2.2L turbo with manual trans on the G-body (Daytona) for '89 shows that measurement to be 8.5 to 8.8 inches when the joints are of the G.K.N. closed tulip 82-98 style. I don't know if those are what you have on your '88. Because of the equal length design of the turbo shafts,  I assume that if the lateral alignment of the engine were correct, the measurement of the half shafts on the two sides would be equal when you have it correct.
Other than that I can't offer other advice because I haven't actually gotten into a timing belt changeout on my 2.5L LeBaron non-turbo automatic trans as yet, so I can't appreciate what could go wrong.
Roland