Timing Belt Advice/Guide

[mezje]

Yep, the time has come and I am planning on doing it myself as I have a fair bit of time and am fairly confident nowadays.

I have used the search forum and found some basic guidelines, read the workshop manual etc but I feel like there could be some knowledge/tips on how to do this that I may not have found.

The basic steps I found here seems good.

What I am most worried about is screwing with the timing. What is the best way to lock the cam gears when removing the belt? I saw Bennoz just chucked a bolt down the middle, anyone got better ideas?

If I am using a brand new tensioner there is no need to compress it in a vice etc, this is just for resuing the old one yea?

I am doing all the usual seals too so any tips for them would be good too.

I have a fairly high torque impact gun but I suspect the crank pulley is going to give me grief, once I get the thing off am I gonna need a puller?

All help appreciated!

Merry Christmas c**ts

[Vectose]

If you're replacing cam seals you can't lock the timing because the cam gears have to come off.

[mezje]

If you're replacing cam seals you can't lock the timing because the cam gears have to come off.

When taking them off, is it as straight forward as placing them back on in the correct spots?

[Vectose]

Cam gears are keyed. But keeping em in place when putting the belt back on can be a pain.

[mezje]

Cam gears are keyed. But keeping em in place when putting the belt back on can be a pain.

Ah so when I remove the gear to replace the seal it can only go back on 1 way? It is just making sure the cam shaft itself doesn't move?

[Sahin]

If you aren’t confident in re-timing the car and are relying on keeping the cams from turning and just slipping a new timing belt on, then I wouldn’t be attempting it. It’s not hard to re-time the engine as the cam gears only go back on one way and they just have to be aligned with the timing marks. But if you don’t know exactly how to do it then don’t.

[Sahin]

Oh and the cam gears are quite springy and do not like to stay still, so it’s a matter of getting them in the right place and keeping them there

[mezje]

If you aren’t confident in re-timing the car and are relying on keeping the cams from turning and just slipping a new timing belt on, then I wouldn’t be attempting it. It’s not hard to re-time the engine as the cam gears only go back on one way and they just have to be aligned with the timing marks. But if you don’t know exactly how to do it then don’t.

Probably good advice but I am going to give it a crack anyway. Thankfully I have mates are who are good mechanics and can get car the towed if I make a real mess of it for free to a local place I trust.

[spetz]

I followed the engine owner's manual and found it a surprisingly easy job to do. I suggest you read through it really well before attempting.
I have never done a timing belt before.

[mezje]

I followed the engine owner's manual and found it a surprisingly easy job to do. I suggest you read through it really well before attempting.
I have never done a timing belt before.

I have read through it many times in preparation

[silverGPX]

Make it their problem lol, that’s what I did haha

[mezje]

Alright everything is off.

How do I remove the crankshaft sprocket, do I need to remove the key? Any tips on doing this and getting the seal out, saw some people drill a screw in to it and pry it out?

Also with the cam seals, do I just whip the cam off, pry old out in with new?

[spetz]

The crank sprocket just pulls off from memory once you have the balancer off.

The crank seal I lightly tapped a thin nail through 2 sides, then screwed screws into it and pulled it out. Came quite easy.

With the cam seals I took off my cam trays (to replace valve stem seals) so I took them off at the same time but I would expect the same procedure as the crank seal would work on these too.

[mezje]

The crank sprocket just pulls off from memory once you have the balancer off.

The crank seal I lightly tapped a thin nail through 2 sides, then screwed screws into it and pulled it out. Came quite easy.

With the cam seals I took off my cam trays (to replace valve stem seals) so I took them off at the same time but I would expect the same procedure as the crank seal would work on these too.

Cheers, ill give it a go now, kinda nervous drilling in to the seal

[mezje]

Crank seal off, now on to cam seals, I stupidly didn't remove the bolt before removing the belt and now everything including tensioner is off... How do I go about removing the cam bolts?

[Sahin]

Lock them with a ring spanner and then undo the nut with a breaker bar

[mezje]

Lock them with a ring spanner and then undo the nut with a breaker bar

On to the rear bank now and the rear most cam gear is giving me a lot of grief I cant get the cams to sit still

All the rest are off

[mezje]

Almost done, refering to this thread though I am nervous. I did everything as per the manual however payaya's guide has confused me.

What I have done:

• Turned the crankshaft sprocket forward by 3 teeth
• Aligned cam timing marks
• Turned crankshaft sprocket one tooth anticlockwise
• Installed belt in correct order, clamping it all down as I went

Now at this step I don't think I ever ended up turning the crank shaft a 1/4 revolution anticlockwise before adjusting the tensioner... Is this going to cause issues?

I tensioned right as per correct manual, pulled the pin and now all timing marks are dead on after 2 or so rotations. Is this what I should be expecting or should the crank still be a 1/4 tooth out?

I assume given that all marks are correct after tensioning im good?

[Sahin]

They should all line up, if the belt is too tight it’ll cause issues. However have only really seen this on one particular car

[mezje]

They should all line up, if the belt is too tight it’ll cause issues. However have only really seen this on one particular car

All the marks 100% line up currently after tensioning, was just worried as I don't think I did the 1/4 turn anticlockwise pretension but maybe I did...

Took the timing covers off coz I was so worried to check and yep, everything lining up, keen for first start.