Hello, fellows.
Do you agree with this routine to replace the timing belt on this car ?
Thank you for any advise.
Timing belt replacement
1- set parking brake
disconnect battery now
2- Jack the car and remove tire
3- remove undercover plastic cover
4- use breaker bar or impact gun to loose the crankshaft bolt 19mm bolt
5- put jack with wood block under motor
6- remove the left motor mount
7- remove belts
alternator: use tape to mark adjuster position, loosen support bolt A then lock bolt B on the side of adjuster then release adjuster
power steering: mark adjuster bolt position, loosen power steering adjuster bolt, move ps pump to loose belt
A/C: loosen the side bolt A then release bolt B counting the number of turns.
8- remove spark plugs
9- remove lower and upper tb cover 10mm bolt
10- rotate motor clockwise till camshaft marks match top mark
11- remove camshaft pulley
(A) recheck alignment of tb marks
12- jack up motor a little bit
14- remove water pump pulley
15- loose tensioner bolts
16- remove timing belt
17- (A)
18- remove tensioner, install new one with loose bolts
19- check direction of belt, install belt from right to left
20- adjust tensioner with pry bar (should I pry against the pulley or against the back plate ?) then torque the adjuster bolt (right bolt) to 18lb-ft then the left bolt to 18ft-lbs
(B) make sure right side belt is over 1/2 of right belt of tensioner
21- rotate engine 2x then (A) (B)
22- install tb covers 7ft-bls
23- install wp pulley 7ft-lbs
24- install crankshaft pulley 70 ft-lbs center bolt and 11 ft-lbs smaller bolts (I could not see the smaller bolts…)
25- install belts
alternator: support nut bottom 14-18 ft-lbs adjuster lock 9-11 ft-lbs belt deflection 0.31-0.41(8-11mm) in from bottom
power steering pump: adjustment bolt 25-35 ft-lbs belt deflection 0.24-0.35(6-9mm) in between pulleys
a/c: side bolt ‘A’ 15-22 ft-lbs bottom bolt deflects the belt by 0.31 in (8mm)
27- lower engine
28- install motor mount 40 ft-lbs horizontal bolt 45 ft-lbs vertical bolt and nut
29- install spark plugs 18 ft-lbs read sparkplugs.pdf
30- install tires 75ft-lbs, drive test
My only doubt is about the tensioner, I am replacing it because was never done before. Car has 159k miles and I think it is the first time the time belt has been changed, I do not think that the prior owner did it. I posted at their forum but no answer yet.
Thank you any advise.
Since you’re at it, you might want to consider changing the water pump as well.
One thing that should be done with any timing belt job is to manually rotate the engine over by hand 3 or 4 revolutions and recheck all of the timing marks.
Many an interference engine has been damaged when someone, including mechanics, blindly assumed that everything was lined up. They slam the hood, hit the key, and then hear the rapid rattle of valves bouncing off of piston tops. Now they have some serious problems.
"29- install spark plugs 18 ft-lbs read sparkplugs.pdf"
What the H - E - double hockeysticks is “read sparkplugs.pdf” ???
"15- loose tensioner bolts "
Is that supposed to be lose or loosen ?
"4- use breaker bar or impact gun to loose the crankshaft bolt 19mm bolt "
What is your plan for this ? Do you have a plan for holding the harmonic balancer ? An Impact gun ?
CSA
"29- install spark plugs 18 ft-lbs read sparkplugs.pdf"
What the H - E - double hockeysticks is “read sparkplugs.pdf” ???
It is the folder on my laptop with the notes on the spark plugs, such as colors, gap and replacement part number.
"15- loose tensioner bolts "
Is that supposed to be lose or loosen ?
missing “n”, will be correct soon.
"4- use breaker bar or impact gun to loose the crankshaft bolt 19mm bolt "
What is your plan for this ? Do you have a plan for holding the harmonic balancer ? An Impact gun ?
my plan is to use an old belt wrapped around the pulley with a chain lock wrench, or if too hard use an impact gun. I think I will try the impact gun first with small sharp bursts.
Do you know how to adjust the tensioner ?
Thank you for your reply.
Thank you for your reply. I was reading the manual online and it says to turn the engine clockwise 2 tomes then release and adjust the tensioner again, not to move the engine counterclockwise to avoid over-tension on belt. The only part that mess me up was that I will have to release and re-tight the tensioner again. Would this make sense to you? I will get the kit - belt and tensioner from Napa and replace both.
Thank you.
Thank you for your reply. I will borrow my brother-in-law’s garage because is too cold outside. I will hope it will last for the winter so I can replace it in the summer. His garage is white clean and I will make a mess if I spill antifreeze anywhere, his wife will kick me you know where and then I will have to deal with worst, her sister, my wife…
Thank you, it is a good idea to replace the pump. I am glad it is driven by the timing belt.
I start these jobs with everything set to number one, the engine with a spring loaded tensioner that I changed the most belts on was the M20 BMW and I would just let the spring tension the belt (just a slight rotation in direction of travel caused the spring to push as far as it was going to push). You get these belts too tight and they want to wine, and it will not be too loose with full spring pressure.
Thank you for your reply.
"I would just let the spring tension the belt (just a slight rotation in direction of travel caused the spring to push as far as it was going to push)."
In this case there are 2 bolts that holds the tensioner in place, the one on the left is fixed and the other can be adjusted. I was thinking about marking the position of the right bolt, release both to loosen the timing belt and after install the new one, move the back plate of the tensioner back to the mark with a little pry bar and re-tight those bolt, then rotate the engine two times, check the timing marks then check the tension. Why they recommend to loose it now and re-tight it again ? Is that because when you turn the engine the belt changes geometry ?
Thank you for your reply.
I found a picture online, the pulley on the tensioner and the back plate are put together as one piece. The spring sits on the let bolt and it has a seat on the back plate of the tensioner and another on the engine block so it will “push” the pulley towards the belt giving the necessary tension, just have to make sure I turn the engine, align the marks and measure the slack before finishing the job. It looks easier now, the only problems sens to be the harmonic pulley.
Thank you for your reply.
A Word Of Caution:
“my plan is to use an old belt wrapped around the pulley with a chain lock wrench, or if too hard use an impact gun. I think I will try the impact gun first with small sharp bursts.”
Holding the outside (pulley portion) of a harmonic balancer while turning or torquing the inside (hub part) can damage the balancer. Special holders are made for this purpose, but it would behoove you to hold the pulley from inside (spokes of hub, holes, etcetera), while loosening the 19mm bolt.
CSA
Thank you very much for your help. I tried an electric impact gun, did not work, so I used my brother’s air driven 260 ft-lbs and it took it as a charm. I paid 53.45 on a kit from Napa #2521910 had the tensioner and belt. Took me a around 7 hrs, most of that trying to take the pulley from the water pump and putting the lower tb cover. Thank God, all went well; the car is running much better, acceleration is back, old timing belt was cracked and about to go. Thank you for you help.
I want to thank all that replied to this thread. Very good to know I can count with solid device from you, thank you.
Merry Christmas for all…
Great ! Merry Christmas To You, Too. There Always Seems To Be One Hang-Up That Consumes Time And Energy.
CSA