Is there a write-up on replacing the timing belt on an 03 elantra gls anywhere on this site? I know how to do the job, but am just trying to find some insurance as far as reference materials. None of my local stores sell the haynes repair manual for this specific car. I've replaced the belt on a honda prelude, and I know they are both similar engines as far as being interference 4 cyl. engines, but I just want to make sure that I don't run into any surprises in the middle of the job.

Thanks guys,
Chris

 

You can access Hyundai's online repair manuals. Here are instructions on how to register and access the manuals: http://www.dfwhyundais.com/diy/DIY-WebTechGuide.html.

Also, someone on another forum did this and did a great writeup. He did one or two things differently that he felt were better than the manual. Here is his writeup:


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Originally Posted by reb162 [/align]OK, so i decided to change my timing belt on my 02 Elantra GLS this past weekend as I am at 94,000 miles and had never changed any of the accessory belts let alone the timing belt. I decided I would change all three accessory belts (Power Steering, Air Conditioning and water/Alternator), the timing belt, the timing belt tensioner, and the water pump if I was going to have everything apart anyway. This should ensure I will not have to go back in there until I get rid of the car (should go another 94,000 miles). Note to those who would say I was negligent in not changing the timing belt sooner, belt wear is most often associated with age rather than mileage. Since recommended belt change is at 60K miles which based on the average driving rate of 12K miles a year, a timing belt should last 5 years regardless of mileage. (My belt still looked in great shape when I took it off).

I bought all Hyundai OEM parts which cost about 250 bucks from my dealer for the water pump, gasket, timing belt, tensioner, and three accessory belts. OEM is more expensive but nothing beets OEM in terms of guaranteed fit and function...they designed the car after all.

To anyone debating whether they can do this themselves, if you can turn a wrench and take your time, you can do it. This was by far the biggest job I have ever done and I only had hand tools (no air tools) and I was able to do this with only a few snags. Took me a day and a half to finish the job. This included stopping to celebrate St. Patricks day with some green beer and also replacing a wheel stud that broke off when removing the tire (Thanks to Dennis Hyundai of Dublin for crossthreading the damn lugnut when they did my alignment last month....F___kers!)

There have been several other installs posted so I'll hit the highlights (snags) of my experience and try to provide some tips.

1. Take your time and remove as much stuff as you can. It will take some extra time but the extra space to work in will make the actual timing belt job easier and quicker. I took out the entire radiator assembly (I had to drain coolant for the water pump any way) and the Alternator. I unbolted the P/S pump and pushed it to the side. See the amount of room to work in when this stuff is gone below:



2. Removing the engine mount: You have to remove this anyway in order to change the belt but you can also use this to your advantage. I put a jack with a large baord under the oil pan and took off the mount. However, once the mount is off, you can jack the engine up higher to access things easier such as the water pump pulley bolts or drop it all the way down (to the point the jack no longer supports it...it will not fall) to access the crack pulley easier.


Engine jacked up with Engine Mount Removed


3.First Snag I hit was trying to remove the Crank Shaft Pulley. I was able to get the crank shaft pulley bolt off easily by using this method. Put a socket with a breaker bar on the bolt and lay the breaker bar end on the forward car frame. Pull the Fuel Pump Fuse and quickly crank the engine wit

 

Uh oh....is that a fram oil filter i see on that motor...lol.

 

Kind of looks that way. Not my car, though...

I've looked around on some oil filter websites and I think that not *all* Fram filters are bad for the Elantra. My understanding is that the bad ones are the ones designed for Hondas, which have the same filter base, but the bypass valve specs are off a little. There is some overlap, so just having the wrong filter won't kill the car. But if it's right against the Honda spec (and just outside the Hyundai spec), it can cause engine damage.

For myself I just always use OEM so I don't have to worry about it.