Timing Belt Change

[tom4bren]

Guess I'd better get back to work on making a pdf of your How2

[nfpgasmask]

Guess I'd better get back to work on making a pdf of your How2

Let me know if you have the same "problem" you had before. And make sure you have cleared your cache and deleted your cookies before hand. My ISP told me to do that and it seems to have solved the problem. Since it was a htaccess file hack, it is possible the problem gets downloaded into your IE cache and will crop up again. So far, after clearing my cache, I have not had the issue again. And if you want, I can zip it up and email it direct to you, if that would be easier...

Thanks,

Bart

[JAMAS]

So here is my question- How the hell is a shop going to do this for only $304? Is that labor only? I spent damn near $900 on OEM parts for this maintenance! Or are you ONLY doing a belt change and leaving the water pump, radiator hoses, idler pulley, tensioner pulley and push tensioner original?

I could understand $300 for the labor, but what about all the parts???? Are after market parts REALLY that much cheaper than Merlin?

Bart

Parts and labor to only replace the belt. If they find more then they will fix more.

I have $300 to spend. Not $900. So I am going to have them replace the thin rubber belt that could break and destroy my engine. However, if the other items seem to be good, I see no reason to spend the extra cash. I figured I was still ahead of the game with replacing it now.

As I understand it....the other items are just a "while you are there anyway" kinda deal. They have no "must be changed after xxx,xxx miles" type deal.

[nfpgasmask]

Parts and labor to only replace the belt. If they find more then they will fix more.

I have $300 to spend. Not $900. So I am going to have them replace the thin rubber belt that could break and destroy my engine. However, if the other items seem to be good, I see no reason to spend the extra cash. I figured I was still ahead of the game with replacing it now.

As I understand it....the other items are just a "while you are there anyway" kinda deal. They have no "must be changed after xxx,xxx miles" type deal.

Yes, you are right. IMO however, that is just a different way of thinking. In my case, the water pump was leaking coolant, and it is recommended that it get's changed anyway. The radiator hoses are cheap and easy to swap, so they got changed. The push tensioner and idler pulley are very important, so they got changed. IMO, it's always better to be safe than sorry. That "thin rubber belt that could break and destroy my engine" could still break even if it is brand new and your push tensioner or idler pulley fails after its been yanked and replaced...just something to think about.

I'm not trying to convince you to spend more money or do more work, just looking out for you. I would hate to only have done half the job to save money only to have to do it over or cause bigger issues later, that's all. Just food for thought.

Bart

[psychos2]

There is an easy way to make sure you do not screw up the timing when changing the belt. Do the step to line up the marks by turning the motor.Once the marks are lined up take a paint marker and make a mark on the pulley were the notch is and also make a mark on the belt in the same place so they line up. Do this to both cam pulleys and the crank pulley. Also make sure to mark on the belt which mark is for which pulley ( crank ,left cam, right cam). And make sure you know what direction the belt turns. Then you can remove the belt. Take the old belt and count the teeth between the marks on the old belt,and make the same marks on the new belt,you should have the same amount of teeth between the marks on the old belt and the marks on the new belt. It is very important to get this right ,so double check . Install the new belt and line up the correct marks with the correct marks on each pulley and use some spring clips to hold them in place.When changing the belt the important thing is that you get the belt on with the same distance between the marks on the pulleys. You could line up the pulleys perfect with the marks and put the belt on with it one tooth off and you now have the motor out of time.If you mark the belt count the teeth and make sure the correct amount of teeth are between each mark you will only have to do it once. And do not trust the marks that are on the new belt as being correct, mine were not. shawn

[nfpgasmask]

Yeah, changing the timing belt really is not exactly difficult, but it is involved because you have to remove so much stuff to get to it. You also need to have the right tools on hand and the concentration/time to get it done.

To be perfectly honest, my timing belt looked absolutely fine when I took it off. No cracks or anything. But I had such a bad coolant leak it was a good job to get done along with changing my water pump.

Bart