Gates timing belt kit! What's in the box!??!!!
Hey!... And welcome to another #modmonday! This week we will talk about @gates timing belt kits. Both my cars have these kits with the STi being on their for four years and the Fxt for 3 and half years. I have yet to experience a problem with either kit. My kit that I purchased was Gates timing belt kit ej25 TCKWP328
There has been plenty of forum posts over the last few years about timing belts and what brands to buy. Most debates go over the fact that their are Gates kits that come with pulleys made in China vs Japan, and that the tensioners are prone to be noise on start up or leak quickly. At my work we always use Gates and have yet to suffer a fault within a kit.
Cam bolts, I don’t like them. This might be you one day!
So which do you choose? For those that dig a bit deeper than the surface arguments you will find that Gates sells two version of many of their kits. One that is the part number followed by an "N" and one without the "N". What does the "N" stand for? I have no idea, but looking further into it, it appears the "N" version is a Japan made kit and the other will most likely be a Chinese version. With this in mind the statement you get what you pay for really rings true here.
Belt, pulleys and heads all gone. Just awaiting the new stuff.
I have supposedly purchased prior to the Chinese bearing influx (3-4 years ago) and as stated before everything is working just as it should. I double checked all the parts for my own self and felt they were of Oem like quality. Since being installed the bearings are quiet, timing is still set like it was and the tensioner is working without a hitch for the last three and half years.
Pulleys set up! Ready for a belt!
With this being said it is often easy to see a few forum posts about a product and then forming an opinion. I won't say there hasn't been failures too, but I will guess the OEM and other suppliers have had a few failures as well.
If you take a moment to go over to the Gates website and this link you will see the difference in the belts description. Oe improved and Oe standard. Also a quick search over at Rockauto.com will show the two listings between the “N” version and standard set
Completed and ready for another 105k miles!
Being a well informed consumer is one of your biggest assets. I, just like most others did not have clue about the special "N" versions. Look into all the details and offerings before you choose a product that can have such a large effect on your vehicle. I try to keep this in mind when purchasing a product, there are times to look for a cheaper product but is this one of those times?
Questions, comments, thoughts? Leave them below!
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