I changed my belt but left the cover off. Will this cause any adverse effects other that mud/dirt getting on the belt? I still have the cover but it was cracked,faded etc. so i didnt re-install. What are some thoughts?

 

The cover is mostly for safety, so you don't get articles of clothing or bodily appendages caught in the belt when working around a running engine. It's also to protect the belt.

When I was racing mini-stocks, we never ran the cover. We also ran adjustable cam pulleys so we needed to be able to access them easily. You shouldn't have a problem leaving the cover off...

 

cool, thanks i am glad you re-assured me. When i took the cover off there was more mud/dirt on the timing belt than there was around it and on the serpentine belt. i guess the cover trapped all the debris behind it. Now i can keep an eye on the belt and keep it all clean and free of debris.

 

As long as nothing of any size gets caught up in the belt you won't have a problem. Something such as a pice of crushed stone or something could knock the belt off or out of time. That was the reason for the cover as well as safety which has been mentioned. kotzy

 

Road debris and fingers. One will hurt the belt and one will hurt you. They did not put the cover on for fun. The engineers are always looking to cut material costs, and they did the minimum for the belt cover. The original covers were made of sheet metal, and were HARD to get off/on because the mounting tabs were just not lined up with the holes in the head/block. And you had to get them past the crank pulley, water pump pulley etc. Maybe I should have removed the crank pulley first...
If you made a million or so engines, and could save 50 cents on each one... you'd do it. They did. And they still put the cover on. Do your own thing. tom

 

Many cut the top half(1/4) of the cover off to expose the cam sprocket for adjustment purposes or for looks(to some there is something about being able to see spinning gears). If you can use the bottom half, I would do it to keep out that pesky frenchman, Mr. Debris. jd

 

I wonder if it would save gas to remove parts of the timing belt cover. Surely the added air movement would aid in cooling.. heh
t

 

BTW, i took the truck out yesterday. Played in the mud and woods. Drove it for about 8 hours Friday. No problems, no mud even got on the belt or near it the mud was about 18 inches deep. I think the air movement from the fan keeps most of the crud from getting near it. Anyhow, just my personal observation.