Timing belt melted/shredded 2003 Tacoma 2wd TRD

Has anyone ever seen anything like this?? My Tacoma died on the highway the other day and I thought it was the fuel pump. Checked codes and threw an P0340 Camshaft sensor code. Read that it may be on the circuit with fuel pump and cut power to it as a safety measure. I checked all fuses and relays and figured it HAD to be the fuel pump. Well, it was replaced and nothing. No voltage to pump when tested at connection. Continuity was good from fuel pump connection to pump itself and just cannot future out WTF is going on. Anyone had this issue? I opened up the timing belt cover to find this. Half the belt melted/shredded. My mechanic figured the idler pulley seized and melted the belt. He has been Turning wrenches for over 20 years and never seen anything like it. There is nothing grinding/touching the belt and all pulleys turn freely when cranked. Perplexed.

 

If he's been turning wrenches for 20 years and has never seen this I'd start questioning his experience.

I hope he didn't nail you with a fuel pump job when it was the belt that was boned

 

Belt and bearings were probably well past their replacement miles

 

Have you seen anything like this? He is an ASE Certified Mechanic and may have never run into the issue. He has seen them broken and so forth but never half melted. Timing looks right and sounds normal when we crank the engine. If the pulley seized, why only half the belt? It should be melted all around, I figure. Also, why I am I not getting juice to the fuel pump??

 

Belt and bearings were replaced less than a year ago. All done with the water pump job. Torqued to specs etc. May have been a bad pulley/bearing. Thats what we figured. Time to call ROCK auto.

 

Never seen half the belt disappear like that... When a buddy had his water pump seize up it melted and shredded the entire thing. However based on the picture the idler pulley looks to have been rotating with the half belt some, since half of it is shiny from use and the other half has some making's and gunk.

 

Now, why am I not getting juice to the fuel pump??

 

He's going to need to tear it down further. The belt is being pushed over because either the tensioner is coming apart or something is causing the belt to not run true. I would not be surprised if the belt has sawn through a cam sensor harness.

 

Actually, it did not. We pulled the sensor and tested it. Looks good. It was gunked up, but once cleaned it produced voltage(?) on the voltmeter when metal was passed in front of it. I bought a brand new Dayco kit with tensioner, idler pulley etc. I am now remembering a funky sound on start up in the AM. So yes, it probably is the idler pulley. Now my issue is the fuel pump. No juice.

 

And yes, now that makes sense! Half the belt under more tension than the other, thus causing more friction on half the belt causing it to melt/shred slowly. Thank you all for the help and insight.

 

Has the Cam sensor code been cleared ??

Any other codes still present ??

Something has turned fuel off to a engine that the ECM sees as not running

 

Don’t get anything other than the Denso kit, otherwise you’re going to have issues again. Denso is the factory part manufacturer.

 

Dayco and Bando make the OEM belts for many auto manufacturers. I wouldn't hesitate to run either of them.
The ECM will not allow the fuel pump to send gas to the engine if it doesn't detect spark happening. So to start, you're looking into why spark isn't being created.

 

I would bet the idler bolt or the tensioner pulley bolt came loose causing eccentric tension on the belt. Did he check the torque on those bolts? Just a guess.

 

I would think if a pulley seized altogether, the entire belt would be trashed uniformly.

 

Cam position sensor codes have been cleared. Still no voltage to pump. And I put in a Dayco kit with new tensioner and pulley. Everything was torqued to specs. I have that kind of luck...the one crappy one out of the factory had to be mine! We are going to look into the open circuit relay and go from there. I will let you know what we found. Thanks.