my car idles funny and when I run the a/c it doesn%26#039;t run as well.|||Changing the timing belt is preventative maintenance. You wont get any performance increase from changing it.
If you don%26#039;t change it and it breaks then your car will not run until you replace it and you will be stranded wherever it breaks. Also, depending on if your car%26#039;s motor is interference design, you may do some real damage to your valves and pistons.
You belt might have slipped a tooth however, causing the rough idle.|||Hello... The timing belt is what drives your camshaft. Your camshaft is what drives your valves open and closed and it is connected to the crankshaft VIA the timing belt. The timing belt is made af a similar material to your fan/alternator belt, but it has teeth, or cogs built onto it. If a cog were to break off, or several cogs, then that would throw your timing off causing a very rough idle, and poor performance. If more were to break off or the timing belt broke all together, the resulting damage to your engine would be very expensive. This would cause the pistons to come in contact with your valves, and you would have to rebuild the engine completely.|||A lot of simple problems can cause this. Simple maintenance might fix it, such as replacing the spark plugs. One bad spark plug can make your car act likie yours is doing. The check engine light will come on if that%26#039;s the case. Before you spend a lot of time and worry, have the computer scanned for trouble codes. AutoZone will do it free. The codes will point out possible faults in parts or their adjustment.
If your cam belt is more than 60,000 miles old a change is recommended. If it%26#039;s 90,000 or more, you%26#039;re treading on thin ice. Worn out cam belts can lose teeth and not properly run the camshaft and distributor. Performance suffers up to utter failure.
