My guess they’re letting third parties sell on their network for a small fee
Greg i also replaced that to . mileage was great but just a pos to work on still dont know what is wrong with it could be the head or pcv vavle cant get to work on it too cold and too much snow and im sick of putting money into it. Looking for something else now for work vehicle.
Souds like a done deal- but my 2 cents: If ya don’t demand an exact OEM- why not call Summit Racing (or other) and get a proformance metal fan? I foud one at about $45 that fits directly to clutch and no plastic worries ever. Seams like better flow too, not real noisy, et cetera.
Not found one yet. Two personal data points. Of all the cars I’ve had, only one had a timing belt. Of all the cars I’ve had, only one has destroyed the engine all by itself.
I prefer timing belts, but they have to be replaced on schedule. And you’ve gotta keep the front main seal in tip top shape, because an oil leak will destroy the belt – the famous failure for Ford Pintos.
My brother had a Fiat. Recommendation is to replace the timing belt every 25K miles – which seems awful quick when other cars are going 100K. Worse, though, the reason the PO was selling the car was that it wouldn’t make it to 25K, it had crunched itself twice in less than 25K, this guy recommended changing the belt every 10K, 15K at most.
Timing belts are cheap. The question is, how difficult is it to change one? A well-designed car should be a snap, a coupla hours at most. Couple of Hondas I’ve owned it got much more difficult than that due to the design of the A/C piping, and also because the cam cover has to come off to remove the timing belt cover. Also, I’ve been bitten by a crank pulley bolt that would not come loose, even with an impact wrench, which just makes the job that much more aggravating.
SIL had a Ford EXP, the 2-door sporty version of the Escort. It was due for a timing belt, so she asked me if I’d do it for her. I took a quick look under the hood and declined. As far as I could tell, the engine would have to come out. She sold the car shortly after, probably due to cost estimates to replace that timing belt.
I’ve heard its not the timing belt that usually goes first, but the tensioner and/or pulley. It just takes a couple teeth to skip and bend valves.
So i always change pulleys and tensioner along with belt. Cost and time goes up, but worth it.
On the Pinto, the primary failure was the front oil seal. Oil would get on the belt, and it’d shear the teeth off the belt. You could see the cam sprocket with the hood open; turn the engine over on the starter, cam sprocket not moving, diagnosis confirmed. There would still be tension on the belt.
My family has had a couple of failures in the cam sprocket. On one, evidently the bolt came loose and everything went crazy in there. Now we always make sure to retorque that bolt when in there.
On most cars, it’s always recommended to replace the water pump while in there because you’re there. I always do that, but I’ve never had a water pump fail.
On the better designs, the crank pulley holds the teeth out in space, there are no “valleys” in between the teeth, just openings. That keeps gunk from collecting and interfering with the belt seating on the pulley properly.
A friend had a Chrysler with a V6 with a serpentine belt with a spring-loaded tensioner. The tensioner was clearly fupped, it was cockeyed – but it kept right on working, so he didn’t worry about it! I woulda replaced it posthaste.
My Subaru has a serpentine belt, not for the cam shaft but all the ancillaries. The tensioner pulleys need to be monitored for bearings going bad. If they start to screech then replace them asap as if they seize, the belt will snap and wreak expensive havoc under the bonnet. Fortunately it takes 30 seconds to remove the belt to get access to the pulleys, and that includes having to open the bonnet. Also you don’t have to pay three figure dealer prices for replacement pulleys. The bearings are very easily sourced and replaced for just just a few quid.
I recently replaced my original Volvo water pump at 200,000 miles. It was showing signs of a bad bearing, but no leak.
A very important thing is use quality parts. Aisin, INA, and Continental are the Volvo oem parts. They last!
So Kirby, you still maintain a Ford Pinto for a family member? Do you love misery?;
Maybe some lawn tractor or similar piece of equipment also uses them? 
I never understood “odd” cylindered engines. Isn’t it kind of tricky to “balance” them? 
O.K., Palmdude … I have to ask - WHY, esp. given Jag never went with them? The only advantage I have ever heard of is they “run quieter” than a timing chain/gears. 
I wouldn’t think in that regard that they would make that much of a difference though. Frankly, I just don’t trust them – I saw too many of them break w/o warning in used cars my brother owned - Saturns, Suzukis, Toyotas, etc., often chit-canning the engine when they did 
And, wow, Gregmatic . I thought the usual r/r interval on belts was less than 50K miles … I can’t imagine one that can go the distance @ 125,000 miles … 
Again, I think I would change it LONG before then, due to lack of trust of them … 
Easier to balance 5 than 4. Easier to balance 6 than 5. That’s why our V12s run so smooth.
I would NOT want a V6.
Never owned one of those POS’s, but I knew enough people who did that I learned of its proclivity to wipe out timing belts. Apparently not an interference engine, you could replace the front seal and timing belt and be off and running.
Wasn’t the engine in the Pinto used in Formula Fords?
While studying engineering I learned all about primary and secondary balance in multicylinder reciprocating engines. Then a coupla decades after I graduated, somebody threw that textbook out the window. Nobody really cares about engine balance any more; just make sure the engine is even-firing (all five cylinders fire 144 degrees apart) and then assign a really smart guy to design the motor mounts. With these modern motor mounts, fancy shapes and sometimes even liquid-filled, whatever inherent vibration the engine generates will never be felt by the occupants.
Which V6? The 90 degree even-firing one with the staggered crank throws? The 90 degree uneven-firing one with straight crank throws? The 120 degree one?
Greg, Greg.
Never say never.
The current Ford GT uses a V6. It produces 647 HP and won it class at Le Mans . ( smile )
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And the Jaguar XJ220 is also a V6. Only 540 BHP, though it was developed in 1992.
[ Don’t tell anyone that it is from a British Leyland Mini Metro ]
Wonder what our Gregmatic thinks of the V-4 in the Saab Sonnet sports car of the '70s? 
As I understand it the yellow was white when new!!!