Timing Belt Change, Do It at Home

[mrnickleye]

Well, it happened to me, and I am pretty anal about regular maintenance. My T-belt broke while I was on vacation 200 miles from home.

I was doing 80mph in the fast lane heading south on the I-15 (San Diego, Calif). Bam!!! Tach dropped to zero. I thru it into neutral, and put on the flashers. It was 1 pm on a Thursday, so traffic was not too bad. People let me over to the right side.

I called a tow truck, and got towed the 3 more miles I needed to go. I called around and found a belt at Kragen's.

I borrowed from them a crank puller set, and purchased a
1/2" dr breaker bar and 19mm socket.

I always carry an assortment of tools.

I changed the belt curbside in about 5hrs. It would have only taken 1 1/2 hrs at home with more tool options. I have a compressor and full rollaway. And... getting the a/c bracket bolts loose with a short 3/8" dr ratchet was hell. Got a bit cut up on this job. My back was sore for 3 days.

So...nobody had the tensioner, so I had to reuse it, which was sounding like an old roller skate.

I redid the whole job on Tuesday back at the shop. Had to order the tensioner. I also replaced the a/c tensioner pulley (was only 1 year old, and already bad). Factory one lasted 160k. Put in new crank seal too.

All parts cost me $120. We would charge you about $360 for the whole job at the shop.

Point is....you can do it yourself in about 3hrs with hand tools following the steps I'll give, and its best to do it at home, not out on the road.

Its after midnight now, so I'll lay out the quickest proceedures, and everything you'll need, in the next post, tomorrow??

[SolidStateS15]

what happened to the writeup?

[mrnickleye]

This will be as accurate as I can remember, and a bit lengthy. I will write some, and then come back and edit in some more, until it is complete.

NEW PARTS NEEDED:

-Timing belt ($18-40)
-Tensioner ($60-100)
-Crankshaft (timing cover)Seal ($20-40)
-Camshaft Seals(2) ($8-30)
-A/C Belt Tensioner Pulley (optional) ($25-40)
-Oil Pump Drive Shaft Seal (optional) ($ ?? dealer part ??)
-P/S, A/C, Alt Belts (optional) ($8-20ea)
-can of spray brake cleaner ($2-4)
-tube of silicone gasket adhesive ($3-6)
-white-out(typing correction stuff) or paint ($1-4)


TOOLS NEEDED:

-metal coat hanger, or hooked pick
-clean rags (old t-shirts)
-pan, magnet tray, or muffin pan (keeps bolts in one place)
-3/8" regular ratchet
-3/8" x 1/2" socket adaptor
-3/8" socketset..10 thru 19mm (10,12,14mm are the main sizes)
-3" & 6" x 3/8" extensions
-19mm x 1/2"dr socket for crank pulley bolt
-1/2"dr breaker bar
-boxend wrenches...10 thru 14mm (maybe 15mm too, in case previous owner used some 11, 13, or 15mm bolts / nuts)
-phillips & blade screwdrivers (1 ea)
-coolant drain pan
-small ballpeen hammmer (or similar)
-2 BIG blade screwdrivers, &/or prybars (to pry off crankshaft pulley)(and pry power steering pump when tightening the belt)


NOTES:

**do NOT lay tools and bolts around under the hood**
**if you drop something, get it now, as you may not find it later
**make a small hook on one end of the coat hanger
**All work is done under the hood, none under the car
**print this and keep it, in case of internet failure

LET'S GET STARTED:

-Remove the coil wire from coil on an N/A car..or primary connector on a turbo car (so car won't start)

-Place the 19mm x 1/2"dr socket onto the 1/2"dr breaker bar

-secure the socket to crankshaft pulley bolt, and position bar to ground or frame (solid) so that you can "bump" the starter to break loose the bolt.

-from inside the car (nobody standing near front, just in case), attempt to start the car for one quick second...this will cause the crank to turn and break loose the bolt.



-REMOVE IN THIS ORDER (basically)

-the crank bolt (probably finger tight now)
-the negative battery terminal from battery
-drain 'some' coolant (just till you can't see it in the radiator)

-upper radiator hose
-all 3 belts
-A/C tensioner
-Alternator (set out of car)

-Fan(s) and shroud if still factory setup.(my 3 electrics were not in the way)

-upper plastic t-belt cover (thermostat housing may need to be removed)(mine did not, as last time I had the cover off, I cut it in 1/2 with a hacksaw, so now it is a 2 piece plastic cover)
(if you do need to remove t-housing, drain more coolant from radiator to avoid a mess)

-A/C compressor bracket in front of lower t-belt cover

-Alternator adjustment bracket

-2 bolts that hold P/S metal vacuum tube across lower t-belt cover (bend tube slightly out later when needed, to remove lower cover)

-remove 2 bolts holding A/C bracket to left side of block (these are the worst access of the whole job) (you may have to use the adaptor and 1/2" breakerbar to bust them loose)

-let A/C compressor lay aside (without disconnecting the hoses)

-grasp the crank pulley with 2 hands and rotate clockwise (looking down at it) until you have it at TDC, and the cam gear's marks are straight up, at the notches on the back metal plate.

-carefully, from opposite sides, pry evenly on the crank pulley till it moves a bit. Then pull a tiny bit on one, then the other bar, walking the pulley off the crank.

-be careful, and ready to finish pulling it off with your hands. It is heavy, and will drop to the ground if your not ready. (put a folded towel on ground underneath, just in case)

-remove the lower t-belt cover

-now you see the t-belt



-remove t-belt tensioner bolt, tensioner & spring, and belt

-make sure the timing mark (dot) on the gears are lined up with the notches on the meatal backing plate (up)

-Using a sturdy screwdriver to keep the gear from turning, remove the bolts

-mark (white-out) which holes that the pins are in for each cam gear (normally the middle holes), and put "I" on the intake gear, "E" on the exhaust gear, then remove the gears (don't lose the pins)

-using the coat hanger, slide it along the camshaft, into the seal, and pull each cam seal out

-spray clean the seal area with brake cleaner, then dry off some with rag

-put a dot of whiteout on it, then pull the crank gear off with your fingers

-using the coat hanger (or you may need to pry with a screwdriver), pop out the crank seal

-brake spray clean the area

NOTE** I did not replace the oil pump drive shaft seal, so perhaps someone can add that proceedure to this thread****

-spray clean the entire back side area

-spray clean and wipe clean all dirty parts before re-installing them

-apply a thin coating of silicone sealant to the OUTER surface of the cam seals, & install using firm thumb pressure (mine went in) & hammer if needed (back & forth, side to side)
(use the back side of a socket & hammer to seat them, tapping, into place)

Perform same operation on crank seal

OK...GOOD JOB...NOW RE-INSTALL IN REVERSE ORDER ALL PARTS REMOVED !!!!!!!!!!!!!

.................................................. ..

Just kidding !!!!!!

I'll post the 'put it back together' in a day or 2.