Pre-emptive timing belt change completed!

[bobdole369]

So my 2004 diet turbo (limited) - crossed 90k miles, I was actually at 93000. I have been dreading this repair since the day I logged in here and learned how bad it was. So getting quote after quote after quote did not yield ANYTHING under $1000. Was starting to get reallllly nervous then the perfect idea hit me.

My dad - while not a mech, is a car nut, has been working on cars since the 60's, thinks nothing of pulling heads, rebuilding auto and manual trannies, does exhaust work, volunteers for race cars, and the best part - has basic air tools.

I am a fairly inclined wannabe mech. I do oil, brakes, tires, 12volt work, change acessories, belts, and sensors.

However I live in Broward county, and he's outside Tampa. 240 mile drive x 2 to make it happen. Wife was not willing to be in tampa just to sit in my dads house so she brought her PT cruiser to go hang with friends. So figure 4 tanks of gas and some restaurant meals and we are talking maybe $200-$300 expenses for the weekend, plus I figured $220 in parts.

It's still a good deal.

So we head to Tampa and start working on my timing belt:

Some items of note straight away:

Tools you MUST have for this job:

TOOL Page (¯`·.¸(¯`·.¸ ZDMAK SPECIAL TOOL STORE ¸.·´¯)¸.·´¯)

Some tool to hold the cam sprockets. We got em off with the impact wrench OK putting them back on is not so easy.

harmonic damper puller - rent this from autozone/advance auto parts.

Many various extensions, ujoints, wiggles.

Large assortment of differing depths of sockets, from 6mm up past 22mm

Several breaker bars, ratchet extensions, and a way to get to sears for when you break them.

stubby screwdrivers, a big honking star bit for the right engine mount.

Jackstands. As big as you can use.

A regular size floor jack.

A second massive floor jack is really helpful. You need something to raise the motor.




OK we ran into a number of gotchas. The new timing belt was very very tight and we thought it was the wrong one. It did eventually go on. Just have faith. It is very tough to get it on perfectly, you need to stretch it using the camshaft holder to rotate the cam while holding the rest fast to get her around the tensioner. Man what a pain that was.

Once you get that part done it behooves you to start the car. You can tell immediately if the timing is one tooth off.

Stripped the upper torque strut mounting holes and bolts. It was starting to rain and I wanted em in, didn't check for straightness and went to town with the ratchet. Only a couple threads got funky and I fixed it with a tap and a nut that fit the bolt.

Getting the harmonic balancer (damper)? back on was a hoot. In the end the massive Mac tools impact hammer wrench was the only tool able to do this.

Keeping the screws and bolts straight is never easy.

The sheer number of parts to be removed and the issues associated combined to make this the most challenging job either of us, or any of the mechanic buddies and neighbors that came over to help out have seen in a while.

Lets see if I can run down the parts that need removed and basic steps:
Get car up - drain radiator, disconnect battery, remove coil ignition wire.
1. tire
2. splash shield - roughly a dozen bolts and screws.
3. Lower torque strut. THe backside nut is WELDED to the frame. Ratchet 1 busted, I feel like heman.
4. connecting strut. easy 2 bolts.
5. alternator belt - pivot bolt, lock bolt, adjust bolt - none easy to get to. Best done completely under the car. I have no idea how to replace the alternator, even after locating all the bolts. There just isn't any room. Loosen tension and the belt comes off.
4. Serp belt (aka power steering/ac compressor) - theres a tensioner. Turn it.
5. Power steering pump from brackets. 5 bolts, 2 on engine surface, practically impossible to get to - 3 on the pump.
6. upper and lower timing chain cover. Bunch of phillips screws with hex heads. No room.
7. Support motor
8. Remove huge star bit bolt.
9. Raise motor to access heavy cast iron engine mount plate. 3 bolts, no room.
10. Remove heavy plate. It took a long time to wiggle this thing out.
11. Raise engine more - remove right engine mount.
12. At this point the timing belt is practically free. Rotate to TDC - crank up to the timing mark, cam marks directly at each other.
13. remove belt
14. Remove tensioner
15. Remove idler
16. Remove cam sprockets using tool to hold. Don't move this at all they are connected to valves and can tap each other.
17. Remove lower timing chain cover.
18. Remove water pump.


Putting it back together goes easier, but you make stupid mistakes like using the wrong fasteners, or just puttting things on in the wrong order.

I feel so glad its over with and that I can trust my cars timing belt up to 200k now.

It took a total of 26 hours of straight working on the car. 10 hours saturday, 10 hours sunday, and 6 hours monday.

PS all my mounts were broken. Engine mount was not attached by rubber anymore, upper torque strut, which was replaced last year - was torn on 3 sides, and the lower was torn on 2.

[vtmdsm27]

Originally Posted by bobdole369

So my 2004 diet turbo (limited) - crossed 90k miles, I was actually at 93000. I have been dreading this repair since the day I logged in here and learned how bad it was. So getting quote after quote after quote did not yield ANYTHING under $1000. Was starting to get reallllly nervous then the perfect idea hit me.

After all that, I do believe I will start saving for the $1K bill. I only have another 40K miles to go (which take 3 1/2 years for me).

[quicksilverdon]

I paid to have my daughter's done and will pay to have mine done - I know my limits...
You left A/C intact? They drained my daughter's and recharged...

My hat's off to you!

[bobdole369]

I did keep the AC lines intact. And I didn't bust anything either. I honestly don't think it would have helped to remove them.

Oh I did do something funky - when raising the motor there is a bracket that holds the A/C Accumulator to the wall of the engine bay with a T-30 screw. When the motor went up I reached a point and POP - that bracket came out. No biggie to put back in but wow I had a time wondering if I busted the exhaust or something big.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by bobdole369

I did keep the AC lines intact. And I didn't bust anything either. I honestly don't think it would have helped to remove them.

Oh I did do something funky - when raising the motor there is a bracket that holds the A/C Accumulator to the wall of the engine bay with a T-30 screw. When the motor went up I reached a point and POP - that bracket came out. No biggie to put back in but wow I had a time wondering if I busted the exhaust or something big.

Now that you guys are pro's you can do mine in about 30000 miles

[rhowle]

Bob ... after your new belt was on, did the Intake/Exhaust timing marks line up about 1/2 tooth apart? Just got my new belt on yesterday and with the crank lined up with the casting mark, the two cams look like the attached picture. Just want to double check before I button up everything....

[bobdole369]

Originally Posted by rhowle

Bob ... after your new belt was on, did the Intake/Exhaust timing marks line up about 1/2 tooth apart? Just got my new belt on yesterday and with the crank lined up with the casting mark, the two cams look like the attached picture. Just want to double check before I button up everything....

This was the starting point - I rotated the exhaust cam to stretch the belt enough to fit around the tensioner. Once the belt was on, and the "trailing edge" of the oil pump mark was lined up, the 2 cam marks lined up perfectly.

Start the car at this point - she'll run long enough to tell if she'll idle rough/(aka if you are 1 tooth off).

[rhowle]

Bob, thanks for the input. It's been a few days since I last replied, but when I tried to start the car, all it did was spin. Kinda normal at first then a little faster but never really fired. Then I could smell gas real good. It sounds like the timing is off, but here are timing marks ... in the attachments. I had a real fight with this dang thing and it may be possible that I rotated the crank without rotating the cams. Do you know where the device is that fires the coils? If I could see it was firing the #1, then I would know that everything was where it was supposed to be.

[pschack]

Bob,
I have a 2002 pt and I am having problems taking out the engine mount bracket, which I assume it is the 'heavy cast iron engine mount plate'. I wondered how you were able to lift the engine up without taking apart the exhaust manifold and the transaxel engine mount?
Thanks

[armandjones]

I think that a good how to replace a timing belt would have been a good solution in this one. A good step by step procedure, plus some good parts to have it can be a good thing to have. I hope that things would have been good in order to really make it all happen in a jiffy.