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Cambelts: How I Did Mine (currently 973 views)
Barry
Posted on: Wednesday, April 11th, 2007, 1:14:05pm Deleted Attachment:
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Introduction: The cam belt on my car had been done, on schedule at 59K miles, but eight years ago. The car had barely covered 20K miles since, but as it is all jacked up, the weather's fine and a full set of replacement belts came with the car, it seemed to make sense to replace everything. For info. My car is an early 1995 U.K. spec. car with air conditioning.
A look at the workshop manual gave a rough overview, but really wasn't very detailed: fine if you've also done the factory model course, less good for the DIY'er. Hopefully this guide will flesh out the notes in the manual. I'll try to give the complete procedure so that the workshop manual shouldn't be needed if you haven't got one.
Tools: Clean bucket (for catching coolant),8mm socket (for jubilee clips), pipe pliers and normal pliers (for sprung hose clips), 10mm socket, pref. on 1/4in drive (under tray and cam cover bolts), 12mm spanner (combination by preference): alternator, anti-roll bar and air-con bolts, 14mm combination spanner (alternator lower mounting), 17mm deep socket or normal 17mm plus very short extension (crank pulley bolt). Copper / hide hammer, or similar (for clouting 17mm pulley bolt), I also needed a small two legged puller to help the crank pulley off: it's also the harmonic damper, so best not to give it too much welly: therefore the old trick of levering it with two screwdrivers might be fine if it's not very tight, but after that a puller would be more controlled.
Materials: Anti-freeze if yours isn't as-new, cam belt, alternator belt, air conditioning belt if fitted. Possibility of new cam belt tensioner. Bottle 'Tippex' should extra marking of timing points be required.
Method.
First, get the front of the car well up in the air, and very well supported: make sure that you can reach, and remove, the radiator / engine under tray. Only you can judge the safety of your jacking and supporting, but once in position, give the car a good shove, just to be sure before you venture underneath.
1) Remove the under tray (10mm socket). One of my bolts sheared off, and will have to be drilled out and re-tapped. Place loose bolts in under tray for later.
2) Whilst under the car, undo the 4 12mm bolts that hold the front anti-roll bar on: sounds odd, but it drops down nicely out of the way, and gives quite a lot of extra room to work. Either put bolts back into their threads, or remove the U-shaped clamps and put the bolts through them.
3) Still under the car, start draining the cooling system into the bucket, using the small tap to the passenger side of the radiator: not much will come out yet: don't worry, it's not blocked! You don't need to take it all of the way out.
4) To the top of the car: remove the radiator cap: the coolant should now start flowing properly.
5) Remove both intercooler hoses, plus the air filter hose: undo the jubilee clips quite a way, and slide them inwards, and nip them back up: it makes things much easier when you put everything back at the end. Place each hose near where it came from: i.e the driver's side one on the driver's side inner wing etc. Put some kitchen roll or similar into each intake, so that nothing can find its way in.
6) Remove radiator top hose from the thermostat housing, and tuck the loose end into the driver's headlight housing, out of the way.
7) Now undo the clips that join the small cross piece of pipe that runs across the cam belt cover: there are (I think) two to your left (driver's side), and one to the left. A tip for pipes like these: like the above intercooler hoses, slide the clip well down the pipe. Then use a screwdriver to push the end of the rubber pipe off from the metal one: i.e. compress the pipe off, rather than pulling on it: as you pull, the pipe contracts, gripping the metal harder and harder. Push the pipe off and it will go easily.
8 ) Loosen off the top air conditioning pump bolt, and from underneath the car, reach up, and loosen the two 12mm pivots bolts. Squeeze the air-con belt together: if you've undone everything enough, the belt should be able to be removed. If you are going to re-use the belt, lie it down & front upwards: i.e the side you see is the side that points forwards when back on the car. This just ensures that the belt goes back on in the same position as it came off: not essential, but just good practice.
9) Repeat for the alternator, the only difference is that there's just one lower bolt, that can be undone from the underside with the 14mm spanner.
10) Carefully wipe around the base of the dipstick. Lift up the dipstick by 4 inches or so, and undo the 10mm nut that holds the tube to the cam belt cover. Withdraw the dipstick and tube, and put somewhere clean with the 10mm nut.
11) Remove the crank pulley: this is potentially the worst part of the job. The thread is a normal, right hand thread: to be clear, it undoes anti-clockwise. There is very little space around this, and no obvious ways of locking the flywheel. One method is to put the car in gear, and have the rear (hand) brakes applied in the hope that the crank bolt can be undone. Personally I prefer shocking the bolt undone, as it puts no stress at all on the drivetrain. Therefore rig up the shortest possible socket arrangement (you may be lucky and get a deep cranked ring spanner on, but none of my three would do it). Inspection will show you that the problem comes from the brace that runs across the engine bay near here, plus the fan shroud that prevents good access from the front. With the socket firmly on the bolt head, and the bar/spanner/ratchet hanging down vertically, hit it confidently to the passenger side: you are looking for a shock type blow, rather than a slow, heavy one. Short sharp blows are the thing. My pulley bolt went on the second blow. With the bolt removed, see if the pulley will pull off: if not, you'll need the puller. Mine felt solid, but the puller started to remove it straight away, so it was just a good fit, rather than seized. Note there is a woodruff key on the crank so that this pulley can only go on in one place.
12) Now the cam-belt cover can come off: undo the one central 10mm nut at the top, the two 10mm bolts that also hold on the cross tube, then there's two more about half way down (the passenger side one also supports that cross tube). Finally there are two more that would have almost covered by the crank pulley, had it not already been removed. Now the cross tube should be able to be swung over to the passenger side (being held by one last rubber tube), and the cam belt cover removed.
13) Replace the crank pulley (you don't need the bolt on at this stage), and by hand, turn it anti-clockwise until the cam timing marks line up with the arrows at the top of the rear cam belt cover. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PHOTOGRAPHS SHOW THE WRONG TMING MARKS: THEY SHOULD ACTUALLY BE THE ONES IN LINE WITH THE CAST SPOKE OF THE PULLEY, WITH THE CENTRE PUNCH MARK. Remove the pulley again, the crankshaft timing spot should align with a web near the top. If the marks aren't clear, or you feel the need for some extra ones, use the 'Tippex' to add them where you see fit.
14) The manual advises that you completely remove the tensioner assembly, however you can simply loosen the 12mm headed bolt in the pulley centre. With a spanner or socket on the bolts (and it still loose), squeeze the opposite sides of the cam belt together. Nip the bolt back up. This has the affect of removing the tension from the belt tensioner, and holds the tensioner back, ready for the new belt.
15) Have the new beld un-boxed and near to hand. Slip off the old timing belt bit by bit all around, watching the timing marks as you do so. They will often move a little, which is fine, but make sure they don't move by more than a couple of mm. Throw the old belt away unless it is almost brand new. On the off chance this is the case, the belt should always be replaced in the same direction: i.e. if the makers lettering was the right way up, when looking form the front of the car, replace it likewise. Straight away, fit the new belt; again work it up over the pulleys a little at a time, working around and around until it is fully on the pulleys.
16) Release the 12mm tensioner bolt, and 'help' it take the tension. You will see the pulleys shift a little again.
17) With the bolt still loose, so that the tensioner spring is doing the work, refit the crank pulley again, and turn the engine through two full turns. Remove the crank pulley, and double check the timing marks. If all O.K. fully tighten the tensioner bolt. As a double check, the passenger side straight run of the belt should not be drum tight, but have some give to it: if twisted, the belt should easily reach past 45 degrees, but only just reach 90 degrees without force. If in doubt, trust the tensioner: that's why it's there! Don't forget that as the engine warms up, it expands quite a way, so the belt will be running quite a bit tighter than it sits now.
18 ) Replace the cam belt cover, not forgetting to fit the cross tube and dipstick tube before putting in the cover nuts (2) and bolts (6).
19) Replace the crank pulley and bolt; tightening can only really be done by shocking it into place, unless you lock up the drive train by the handbrake and in gear method. I shocked mine back up, repeating 5-6 times: hopefully it'll hold!
20) Fit the alternator belt, tighten by using the spanner method shown: the jaw of a medium sized spanner fits in the alternator bracket slot nicely, and enables you to apply tension very easily: beware of over tightening though. Re-tighten lower mounting bolt. Once installed, these belts should deflect by around 1/2 inch or so: not drum tight. If in doubt, leave them slightly loose: if they slip they'll squeal but do no damage, if they are over tightened, they can wreck the alternator and air conditioning compressor bearings.
21) Fit the air conditioning belt: if either belt is hard to install, fit the belt fully to one side, and get it as far round as possible on the other pulley, then hand wind the engine over, until it pulls the belt over the pulley. Tensioning the air con. Belt is harder than the alternator one, all you can do is find a suitable leverage position for a long screwdriver or similar.
22) Re-fit the front anti-roll bar, tighten radiator drain tap, and refit the under tray.
22) Replace the top radiator hose, intercooler hoses, and the air cleaner hose.
23) Note the level of coolant in the bucket, and either bottle up for recycling, reuse. If replacing coolant, pre-mix in the same bucket (assuming its clean!), and fill to the previous level. Regard this as the minimum to go back into the cooling stystem. With the radiator cap off, and the car still raised at the front, start to refill the system into the radiator. Now and again squeeze the bottom radiator hose to dislodge any air bubbles.
24) Double check car in neutral, handbrake on, and axle stands O.K. Turn heater into hot position and start the engine. Let the engine warm through, adding coolant as and when space appears at the radiator. When the system is as full as possible, replace the radiator cap, and creep the engine revs up a little, again to help dislodge any bubbles. Stop the engine, let it cool a little and, with a rag over it, CAREFULLY remove the radiator cap. Hopefully, you'll find the coolant level has dropped again. Repeat this operation until all of the measured out coolant has gone at least, but re-check level regularly.
25) Lower to car to the ground and road test.
Conclusion: I've put every detail in that I could remember: this isn't a guide as to how to do this job so much as how I did mine. I was surprised to find this was one job made faster by actually removing more parts than the manual suggested: the opposite of normal. If you are considering doing this job, make sure you have the above tools to hand, the puller is the only thing you may not need. Before starting, make sure that you have either a spanner, or more likely, combination of socket and extensions to reach the crankshaft pulley. Now I've done mine, I'm pleased I did it, even though the original looked perfect. It's nice to know that I shouldn't have to think about this job for a while ...
Last modified Wednesday, June 13th, 2007, 11:21:08pm by Barry
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Barry
Posted on: Wednesday, April 11th, 2007, 1:21:48pm Deleted Attachment:
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Engine bay stripped for belt action ...
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Barry
Posted on: Wednesday, April 11th, 2007, 1:22:57pm Deleted Attachment:
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Belt from the underside: bottom is the crank, next up is the tensioner (note the bolt in centre), to the left of that is the water pump pulley.
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Barry
Posted on: Wednesday, April 11th, 2007, 1:23:52pm Deleted Attachment:
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From the top: note the timing marks at the top of the pulleys and the arrows on the casing. PLEASE NOTE, THESE ARE INCORRECT, THE CORRECT MARKS ARE OPPOSITE, IN LINE WITH THE CAST SPOKE, AND WITH THE CENTRE DOT MARK. SORRY!
Last modified Wednesday, June 13th, 2007, 11:22:20pm by Barry
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Cambelts: How I Did Mine (currently 973 views)
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