FTO AUSTRALIA

We were going to just do it ourselves to save some dough, but I'm needing it back asap.

It is currently parked at a mates house an hour away and his trailer won't be available to tow it down here until next weekend at the earliest.

Then there is the fact that as both my partner and I grew up with mechanic fathers and wanted to be mechanics when we were younger, we can never agree on how to do something because we always do it differently, which results in day long arguments wasting precious time.....

And I would be happy to just take my time and do it myself if our spare car was on the road......but it's needing new suspension and exhaust so that's not going to happen....

I am lucky and have a great mechanic who always tries to do the best deal he can for me. I know it will still cost a fair bit for him to do it, but in the end, it will be done quicker, it will be done right, and it will be nice to not have to think about the car anymore haha, so over stressing.

As I said, the oil is still clean, no water in it at this point, so it is looking good where the head gasket is concerned. Just have to wait and see where the bubbles in the radiator are coming from. Hopefully from the water pump, if not we will pressure test the radiator, and if that is fine, then I will look at the head gasket.

Is looking rather good though, I mean at the moment it would appear that the head gasket is still fine, I doubt there is any damage to the head, valves aren't bent, it's still running so I can't complain.

I still find it odd that when it stalled the battery and oil lights came on rather than the check engine light.....I can't see how that would make sense.

I am also wondering, I have been worried about my O2 sensor for a while now, been meaning to get my error codes checked, as the car has smelled like it's running a bit lean and I have found that it hasn't been as fuel efficient. Could this be at all linked to what happened?

Shane001 wrote:Yeah but it can be a c**t of a job, and time consuming. Still easy enough to do yourself if you are mechanically minded and thorough. There are a few threads on here that cover it, but a few tips with the timing belt;

Before you take the old one off, with it at TDC, get a white paint texta or some liquid paper and mark the belt where all the cam pulley markings are and a point on the crank pulley (mark the belt and the pulley as from memory the timing mark for the pulley is above it where there is no belt to mark). Then when you take it off mark the new belt from the old belt. As long as no one touches the crank in the meantime you can then put the new belt back on just using these marks.

Get some 1 to 2 cm wide paper clamps to hold the new belt on the cam pulleys so they stay in place while you're putting it on. The f**kers will have opposing spring tension on them.

And read the manual twice before starting

Also if there is any sign of oil in the water or water in the oil you will need to do the head gasket, otherwise yeah if budget doesn't permit I'd risk it, just keep an eye on it.

The guide in the user manual is pretty stupid on some points though! I use zip tie to do mine and once I had the two left pulleys zipped up they did not move. The best advice I can give is to tension the belt after the 4th pulley and your crank pulley should rest half way between the teeth of a belt. Turn the pulley anti clockwise until the best rest on the pulley properly and this give you the right place the belt should be.

Also the tensioner pulley is a pain if ya dont have the right tools to tension it.