Okuzeka
Automotive vocabulary · Engine and Fuel Systems

Timing belt

Meaning in automotive, with examples

nounCommon term

In automotive, timing belt means: A toothed rubber belt that keeps the crankshaft and camshafts turning in exact time, so the valves open and close at the right moment. Some engines use a timing chain instead.

In Turkish: triger kayışı, triger

How it is used

Replaced at the interval set by the manufacturer, usually together with the tensioner and idlers as a timing belt kit, and often the water pump. On many engines a broken belt lets the pistons hit the valves and causes serious damage.

Example sentences

  1. The timing belt is due at 120,000 km or six years, whichever comes first.

  2. The timing belt snapped on the motorway and bent four valves.

Common collocations

  • timing belt kit
  • timing belt replacement
  • timing chain
  • broken timing belt
  • camshaftA shaft with shaped lobes (cams) that opens and closes the engine valves at the right time. It is driven by the crankshaft through a timing belt or chain.
  • crankshaftThe main rotating shaft at the bottom of an engine. It turns the up-and-down movement of the pistons into rotation that drives the gearbox.
  • service intervalThe distance or time between scheduled maintenance visits set by the manufacturer, for example every 15,000 km or once a year, whichever comes first.
  • engineThe machine that burns fuel, usually petrol or diesel, to produce the power that moves a vehicle. It turns the energy of burning fuel into rotation of the crankshaft.

More terms: Engine and Fuel Systems

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