I don't know manufacturer or model.
I try with other photos.
I have two cases : with a piece of rubber without no hole, and with a piece of rubber with hole.
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Great post!
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CWB1 (Mechanical)
6 Dec 23 23:46
NVH damper.
Great post!
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gruntguru (Mechanical)
7 Dec 23 03:38
Water diverter in case of a seal leak?
je suis charlie"
1. Belt whip suppresor ? Can you put images and uses ?
2. NVH damper. Can you put images an exact use in this case ?
3. Water diverter in case of a seal leak? . I don't understand. Can you put an image example to understand ?
It's clearly a protective device so that the metal upstand doesn't rub on the rubber belt and destroy it over time.
Maybe in a different vehicle it acts as a guide to stop the belt moving down.
Who knows? - the designer probably.
Many components are designed to fit multiple different engines or vehicles. It's not practical to remove something designed for one which isn't needed for a different engine.
Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.
"LittleInch (Petroleum)
7 Dec 23 12:43
I think you're over thinking this.
It's clearly a protective device so that the metal upstand doesn't rub on the rubber belt and destroy it over time.
Maybe in a different vehicle it acts as a guide to stop the belt moving down.
Who knows? - the designer probably.
Many components are designed to fit multiple different engines or vehicles. It's not practical to remove something designed for one which isn't needed for a different engine. "
But what protection exactly gives to the distribution belt. I don't see it.
I want to know.
I am up to my eyeballs in Youtube recommendations now about this water pump and similar - this basic design is used by a number of car companies and some have a rubber piece, but most have only a plain curved metal portion. The belt is nowhere near the curved protrusion as it wraps around the other side, at least no closer than it is to every other surface on the engine. Probably it did serve some purpose and the design has just been copied over even though that purpose no longer exists.
Some very similar water pumps have an inlet opening under that area and an arc of metal carries over it to support a boss and bridge the load from the boss to keep the thin section from cracking, but that isn't the case here.
If the belt made contact with the rubber, it would rapidly abrade the rubber piece. If it was able to reach the metal the belt would then chew into that. A large area of rubber against a small piece of metal can do a lot of cutting.
Except for the fact this is driven by the timing belt and a lot of trouble to replace, I'd suggest the OP saw it off and see what happens.
There also appears to be other covers that go over the timing belt for the series of engines that use a similar water pump. I suspect they are different on different cars and that some cover comes into contact with that rubber part but not knowing what car this is from makes it a problem to be sure.
One I saw had two separate covers, one plastic and one cast metal, with the metal one going over the water pump, but the pump did not have either the rubber or the protrusion.
