02 V6 Timing belt procedure
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12-24-2008 | 10:25 PM
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02 V6 Timing belt procedure
I've had these on my laptop to post since summer and never did it. I would say I have better than average mechanic skills and have a nice selection of tools to do my own work. When I needed to do the timing belt on my old Accent and my current Elantra I let my mechanic do it, but I knew I was getting taken for a ride on labor. I decided to start doing it myself after some friends said it is not that hard. I let my wife's Fe go about 20k over due and knew I was playing with fire.
Anyway, I ordered the kit that included the belt, idler, and tensioner and found these instructions:
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=10157961
I have a computer in my garage for checking forums for help or looking at electronic FSMs. While going through these instructions I found some things that did not make sense, little steps that may have been over looked, tools needed...etc. I did a copy/paste from the site aboveto Word and edited as I went. I would say I had about 8 hours in doing the work myself. Please note that I also did this documentation, an oil change, and flushed the coolant while in there. About three hours were spent removing a bolt that I broke because I failed to follow torque specs when reassembling. With the knowledge I now have along with following these steps I could probably bust it out in less than two hours. These instructions are still lacking the reassembly steps that woud include the torque specs. Right now the reassembly steps arestated as reversing the order of disassembly, but it would benice if they were included.I hope this helps someone out there. Probably 80% of what is below is from the author in the post above with the other 20% being my tool additions, clarifications, or personal notes if you were to compare.
Also, I did not do the H2O pump because it showed no signs of leaks. Before starting reassembly the H2O pump can be quickly and easily changed. If memory serves you should need no additional tools other than the H2O pump, gasket remover, and the coolant to refill with. You could get some of that coolant flush stuff and run a few flush cycles. I also prefer to use distilled H2O so there are no impurities introduced into the system like that from the tap.
**Please note these are informational only. If you decide to try this on your own they are at your own risk. I am not a mechanic or a teacher of mechanics so I cannot be held responsible if you screw up your motor.
Tools: 10mm, 12mm, 17mm, 19mmsockets, socket for lug nuts (mine 13/16), jack, jack stands, object to hold p/s pulley (step 6), 3/8 ratchet, ½ ratchet, long socket extensions, block of wood (2x4), small pin for tensioner, impact wrench (if you don't have air, they sell electric impact wrenches), 22mm impact socket, PB blaster or other lubricant, large C-clamp or vise
Steps assume you are replacing the tensioner and idler along with the belt.
1. Remove the plastic engine cover held on by 6 10mm bolts.
2. Remove the front passenger wheel. Place a jack stand under the car.
3. Remove the plastic wheel well panel behind the front passenger wheel. It's held on by 4 10mm bolts along the panel. Three of the bolts screws upwards while the fourth is on the right side of the panel. (Removing this panel gives you access to the front of the engine.)
4. Remove the serpentine accessory belt. Take a 3/8 inch ratchet and turn the tensioner clockwise to remove tension from the belt. (A long handled ratchet or a shorter ratchet with some type of cheater bar slipped over would be perfect…there is a lot of tension on the belt.) This is best accessed through the wheel well where you just removed the panel in step 3. The belt will not actually come completely off until you unbolt the tensioner in step
5. Unbolt the serpentine belt tensioner. There are two long 12mm bolts that hold it on. One of the two bolts is above the tensioner pulley so you cannot really see it; you have to feel for it. (These are another two bolts where it is good to have a long handled ratchet or a cheater bar.) Take the tensioner and serpentine belt off. You'll see that the tensioner covered a hole in the timing belt case, and through that hole you should now see a portion of the cogged timing belt.
6. Unbolt the 19mm power steering pump pulley. It's the top pulley in the middle when looking through the engine bay. You'll need to stick something through one of the holes in the pulley to keep the pulley from turning as you unbolt it. I used the handle from a 3/8 ratchet while unbolting it with a ½ drive ratchet. Remove the nut, lock washer, and the pulley. The pulley may stick a little and need a tap, tap, tap while you turn it.
7. You may need to unbolt the cruise control module at this point in preparation for jacking the engine. There are 3 10mm bolts hold down the cruise control module. If you are not sure where it is or what it looks like, it is the black box to the right of the coolant reservoir and behind the power steering reservoir. It has the throttle cable running to it from the back of the motor. I also unplugged the harness connecting into the module as a precaution.
8. Remove the large black splash shield from under the front of the vehicle in preparation for supporting/jacking the front of the engine in step 9. The splash shield is held in place by 9 12mm bolts.
9. Place a block of wood on a hydraulic jack underneath the engine oil pan, and jack it up to support the front of the engine. The oil pan is immediately below the front of the engine (just behind the pulleys).
10. Unbolt the front engine bracket and take it off. This is done from the top with the hood open. One 17mm nut is on the vehicle frame side (on top of the wheel well) and two 17mm bolts and one 17mm nut is on the engine side. I found a long socket extension is need for the two 17mm bolts (I used a 12 inch extension) and the 17mm nut on the engine side required a deep well 17mm socket due to the length of the bolt it screws onto.
11. Remove the serpentine belt idler pulley by removing the 17mm bolt. Be careful as you remove the bolt. The pulley is sandwiched by two plates that resemble large washers that are flared. Make sure you don't lose the back plate and you know which way it goes back on the pulley. I found it easiest to pull on the pulley as I was unscrewing and keep the bolt, pulley, and plates together.
12. Remove top half of the timing belt cover by removing seven 10mm bolts securing the cover. Six of the bolts are the same size while the one in the middle is about twice as long. This cover only goes halfway down the engine, so you can get to all these bolts from the engine compartment.
13. Now with the top half of the timing belt cover removed, you will see the bottom half is still attached. If you look closely, there are only a few 10mm bolts holding the bottom cover on, but most are inaccessible because they are located behind the crank pulley. I found it necessary to remove the one exposed 10mm bolt holding the lower timing belt cover on in order to complete step 14. When facing the timing belt side of the engine there is one exposed 10mm bolt towards the top left corner. Remove this bolt.
14. Remove the other half of the engine bracket still attached to the engine. First, you'll need to remove the small 12mm bolt whose head faces the front of the vehicle. If you follow the dipstick tube down you will find the bolt. The bolt secures the dipstick tube to this bracket. Now you will find another 12mm bolt that was hidden under the top timing belt cover; this bolt is just below the center of the sprocket the timing belt rides on. You will now find three long 17mm bolts. Two of the bolts are easily seen through the wheel well. The last 17mm I found very difficult to get to. This bolt is hidden under the lower timing belt cover. If the bolt was removed in step 13 you will be able to bend the cover back to get your socket in there. Once the five bolts are taken out, remove the engine bracket.
15. Now that the top half of the timing belt cover and engine bracket is removed, you will want to locate the timing marks on the exposed sprockets. It's a little dot imprinted on the front of each sprocket. These are best viewed looking under the hood from the passenger side. The dots need to be aligned with the timing marks on the engine case. The timing mark on the engine case for the left sprocket (towards the rear of the vehicle) is a little notch located at about 11:00, and the timing mark for the right sprocket (towards the front of the vehicle) is at about 1:00.
16. Once you've located the timing marks on the sprockets and the engine put a long wrench or 22mm socket on the crankshaft pulley center nut and rotate the pulley clockwise until you get the top sprocket timing marks in place. (The crankshaft pulley is the very bottom center pulley. You access it through the wheel well.) You'll notice that when you get the top timing marks in place, the crankshaft pulley timing mark (small indention in pulley) will be more or less aligned with a protrusion on the lower timing belt cover (at about the 1:00 position). If the bottom pulley is not perfectly aligned with one of the marks, don't worry about it. The important thing is to have the top timing marks for both sprockets perfectly aligned. Once you remove the crankshaft pulley and bottom half of the pulley cover, you'll see that the crankshaft sprocket tooth is properly aligned. You'll also notice that you have to turn the crankshaft pulley two entire revolutions to get the top sprockets to turn a single revolution. They are geared exactly 2:1.
17. Soak the crankshaft pulley bolt with penetrating fluid (PB Blaster…etc) where its shoulder meets the pulley. (I found this to be important)
18. Use an air impact wrench to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt (counterclockwise). I found that giving the air impact wrench on 100PSI was enough to loosen the bolt without actually turning the crankshaft. It may take about half a minute to loosen up. I soaked the bolt three times and waited about 5 minutes between soakings before trying to remove. The crankshaft pulley bolt will come off along with a thick spacer.
19. Remove the crankshaft pulley. You'll probably need to wiggle it back and forth as you pull it straight off. The more you can wiggle it, the easier it is to come off. The pulley is "keyed" to the crankshaft with a pin (located now at about the 1:00 position). This pin will stay on the crankshaft, and will be what you use to make sure the crankshaft is aligned once you get the new timing belt on.
20. Remove the lower timing belt cover. There will be three 10mm bolts holding it on (best accessed through wheel well). *You removed one of the four 10mm bolts holding the lower cover on in step 13.
21. Notice now that the crankshaft (where you pulled the crankshaft pulley off from) has its pin (the pin we mentioned in step 19) aligned with a timing mark on the engine. Take note of this alignment! You'll see the teeth on the crankshaft that drive the timing belt. One of these teeth is aligned with the pin, and therefore aligned with the mark on the engine.
NOTE: Take stock of how taut the timing belt is at this point. This is what the belt feels like under tension. It's pretty tense, right?
22. Remove the timing belt auto-tensioner using a 12mm socket. It is the cylinder-looking
thing up and to the left of the crankshaft (It looks like an upside down letter L with a silver pin sticking up). Two bolts hold it on (one for the tensioner and one for the support arm). Unbolt these bolts, and tension on the timing belt is released.
23. After removing the timing belt auto-tensioner, use a large C- clamp or vise to slowly compress the pin in the auto-tensioner all the way, until you can slip a pin, nail or smooth end of an old drill bit in through the little hole on the top of the auto-tensioner. This hole locks the tensioner's pin in the compressed position. Before you put the pin in, cover the pin with lubricant, and spray a little lubricant in the little hole on the top of the auto-tensioner too (front and back). The pin should
go all the way through from the front, through the center pin, and through the back. Enough of the pin (or nail or drill bit) should be sticking out the front so you can later grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out.
24. Enough tension should have been released from the timing belt so you can now gently pull it off.
CAUTION: Be very careful not to rotate the belt at this point as you are taking it off, or as you are putting the new belt on. The reason is because the left top sprocket has its springs in the compressed position (at the top of the hill, so to speak). If you rotate this left top sprocket even one tooth, its compressed energy will cause it to rotate about 8 teeth, taking it out of timing with the crankshaft and the right top sprocket. This is the voice of experience talking. (I did this and it was really no big deal, you just have to turn i back)
25. Remove the timing belt tensioner and idler pulleys by removing the 14mm bolt securing both in. The tensioner pulley is the one of the left above the auto-tension removed in step 22. The idler pulley is to top right of the crank. Both pulleys look similar, but if you look at the back the idler pulley has a key hole in it. (I also recommend removing the other 14mm bolt holding down the bracket for the tensioner pulley. When you try to install the new tensioner pulley later, the entire assembly will turn as you are tightening it.)
26. Temporarily put the crankshaft pulley back on (no need to put its bolt in), and rotate the crankshaft pulley by hand back (counter clockwise) about 5 degrees. Shouldn't be too hard to do, because the crankshaft is not in a position where it takes much force to move at this point. Pull the pulley back off and check where you are at. Keep doing this until you have moved the crankshaft by one tooth. In other words, you need to rotate the crankshaft so that instead of the crankshaft pin being aligned with the mark on the engine, the tooth to the right (clockwise) of that pin is aligned with the mark on the engine.
WHY DO WE DO THIS? Because there will be a little bit of slack between the right top sprocket and the crankshaft sprocket when you install the new belt. You'll find that after taking up this slack, the crankshaft will be properly aligned with the top sprockets. But don't worry; we'll be double-checking to make sure we got it right.
27. Install the new idler and tensioner pulleys in place of the old units removed in step 25. I found it easier to remove the tensioner pulley bracket in step 25 and put in a vise when trying to install and tighten the new tensioner pulley. I found it easiest to tighten the 14mm bolts for the idler pulley and the tensioner bracket from the engine compartment instead of the wheel well.
28. Put on the new timing belt in this order: First, put it on the crankshaft sprocket at the bottom. Next, from under the hood pull the timing belt snug against the idler pulley (don't pull hard - just enough to remove most of the slack), and wrap the belt counter clockwise around the right top sprocket (the sprocket towards the front of the vehicle). With the teeth of the belt engaged on the right top sprocket, pause to check the play in the belt between the sprocket and the crankshaft sprocket. Remember when you took stock of how taut the old belt was? The belt should not be this tight. But then, it shouldn't be so loose that it comes off the idler pulley. There should be just a little bit of slack, which will be taken up when you later on replace the crankshaft pulley. Continue wrapping the new timing belt around the water pump pulley (smack dab in the middle of the engine, between all 3 sprockets, and then back up around the left top sprocket (toward the rear of the vehicle). Make sure that there is AS LITTLE PLAY in the belt between the two top sprockets as possible. The belt should be nice and snug between these two. The belt should be pretty tight at this point. You should have just enough play left in the belt to muscle it over the tensioner pulley (which is currently not under tension). If that is so, you can be assured that your timing belt is probably properly installed.
29. Now we check the timing belt installation. DO NOT CHECK THE SPROCKET ALIGNMENT YET. FIRST WE HAVE TO ROTATE THE TIMING BELT CLOCKWISE TO DISTRIBUTE THE TENSION ON THE BELT PROPERLY. Bolt the tensioner pulley auto-tensioner back on (two 12mm bolts). In one quick movement, pull out the pin (or nail or drill bit) from the auto-tensioner with a pair of pliers.
30. Temporarily put the crankshaft pulley back on, and screw in on with its center bolt.
31. With a long wrench on the crankshaft pulley center bolt, rotate the crank pulley two entire revolutions until the two top sprocket timing marks have made one entire revolution and are lined up once again with the timing marks on the engine. As you start to rotate the crankshaft pulley, you should see the auto-tensioner pin come out and return to close to its normal length. The entire timing belt should return to the tension you observed on the old belt before removing the auto-tensioner. If not, then you need to remove the auto-tensioner and check it.
32. Remove the crankshaft pulley center bolt with the air impact wrench, and remove the pulley.
33. CHECK THE ALIGNMENT CAREFULLY. ALL THREE SPROCKETS SHOULD NOW BE ALIGNED TO THEIR TIMING MARKS. If even one timing mark is off, you'll need to pull the belt back off and reinstall. It is easy to see if a timing mark is off by one tooth. Just look at the belt and the sprockets and observe the distance from one tooth to the next. If any one of the three timing marks is off by this amount or more, your timing is maligned. But if the marks are off only a smidgen (a small fraction of the distance between two adjacent teeth), then your timing is aligned.
34. IF YOUR TIMING BELT IS MISALIGNED, GO BACK TO STEP 20. Note that it is easier to align the crankshaft individually than the top sprockets, so if the top sprockets are in sync with each other but out of sync with the crankshaft, turn the crankshaft until the top sprockets are aligned with their timing marks, remove the belt, then temporarily put the crankshaft pulley back on and adjust it.
NOTE: It is ok to turn the crankshaft back a few degrees if you need to. You may be able to do this by hand by just pushing the crankshaft pulley on the crankshaft (without its mounting bolt) and turning the pulley by hand. However, if you need to adjust the top sprockets, you'll probably need to turn the crankshaft in clockwise direction using a socket on its center bolt. However, if you need to go an entire revolution on one of the top sprockets, you'll need to do so with the timing belt installed, so the entire engine rotates more or less in sync.
NOTE 2: After each time you rotate the timing belt via the crankshaft pulley's center mounting bolt, you'll need to remove the crankshaft pulley via the air impact wrench.
35. IF YOUR TIMING BELT IS NOW ALIGNED (all three timing marks on the sprockets are lined up with the three timing marks on the engine) , IT'S TIME TO PUT EVERYTHING BACK TOGETHER, in the reverse order of what you took it off.
NOTES: When reinstalling the top half of the engine bracket (the one that attaches between engine and frame), you may need to jack the engine a little higher in order to get this bracket snug against the bottom half of the engine bracket.
Anyway, I ordered the kit that included the belt, idler, and tensioner and found these instructions:
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=10157961
I have a computer in my garage for checking forums for help or looking at electronic FSMs. While going through these instructions I found some things that did not make sense, little steps that may have been over looked, tools needed...etc. I did a copy/paste from the site aboveto Word and edited as I went. I would say I had about 8 hours in doing the work myself. Please note that I also did this documentation, an oil change, and flushed the coolant while in there. About three hours were spent removing a bolt that I broke because I failed to follow torque specs when reassembling. With the knowledge I now have along with following these steps I could probably bust it out in less than two hours. These instructions are still lacking the reassembly steps that woud include the torque specs. Right now the reassembly steps arestated as reversing the order of disassembly, but it would benice if they were included.I hope this helps someone out there. Probably 80% of what is below is from the author in the post above with the other 20% being my tool additions, clarifications, or personal notes if you were to compare.
Also, I did not do the H2O pump because it showed no signs of leaks. Before starting reassembly the H2O pump can be quickly and easily changed. If memory serves you should need no additional tools other than the H2O pump, gasket remover, and the coolant to refill with. You could get some of that coolant flush stuff and run a few flush cycles. I also prefer to use distilled H2O so there are no impurities introduced into the system like that from the tap.
**Please note these are informational only. If you decide to try this on your own they are at your own risk. I am not a mechanic or a teacher of mechanics so I cannot be held responsible if you screw up your motor.
Tools: 10mm, 12mm, 17mm, 19mmsockets, socket for lug nuts (mine 13/16), jack, jack stands, object to hold p/s pulley (step 6), 3/8 ratchet, ½ ratchet, long socket extensions, block of wood (2x4), small pin for tensioner, impact wrench (if you don't have air, they sell electric impact wrenches), 22mm impact socket, PB blaster or other lubricant, large C-clamp or vise
Steps assume you are replacing the tensioner and idler along with the belt.
1. Remove the plastic engine cover held on by 6 10mm bolts.
2. Remove the front passenger wheel. Place a jack stand under the car.
3. Remove the plastic wheel well panel behind the front passenger wheel. It's held on by 4 10mm bolts along the panel. Three of the bolts screws upwards while the fourth is on the right side of the panel. (Removing this panel gives you access to the front of the engine.)
4. Remove the serpentine accessory belt. Take a 3/8 inch ratchet and turn the tensioner clockwise to remove tension from the belt. (A long handled ratchet or a shorter ratchet with some type of cheater bar slipped over would be perfect…there is a lot of tension on the belt.) This is best accessed through the wheel well where you just removed the panel in step 3. The belt will not actually come completely off until you unbolt the tensioner in step
5. Unbolt the serpentine belt tensioner. There are two long 12mm bolts that hold it on. One of the two bolts is above the tensioner pulley so you cannot really see it; you have to feel for it. (These are another two bolts where it is good to have a long handled ratchet or a cheater bar.) Take the tensioner and serpentine belt off. You'll see that the tensioner covered a hole in the timing belt case, and through that hole you should now see a portion of the cogged timing belt.
6. Unbolt the 19mm power steering pump pulley. It's the top pulley in the middle when looking through the engine bay. You'll need to stick something through one of the holes in the pulley to keep the pulley from turning as you unbolt it. I used the handle from a 3/8 ratchet while unbolting it with a ½ drive ratchet. Remove the nut, lock washer, and the pulley. The pulley may stick a little and need a tap, tap, tap while you turn it.
7. You may need to unbolt the cruise control module at this point in preparation for jacking the engine. There are 3 10mm bolts hold down the cruise control module. If you are not sure where it is or what it looks like, it is the black box to the right of the coolant reservoir and behind the power steering reservoir. It has the throttle cable running to it from the back of the motor. I also unplugged the harness connecting into the module as a precaution.
8. Remove the large black splash shield from under the front of the vehicle in preparation for supporting/jacking the front of the engine in step 9. The splash shield is held in place by 9 12mm bolts.
9. Place a block of wood on a hydraulic jack underneath the engine oil pan, and jack it up to support the front of the engine. The oil pan is immediately below the front of the engine (just behind the pulleys).
10. Unbolt the front engine bracket and take it off. This is done from the top with the hood open. One 17mm nut is on the vehicle frame side (on top of the wheel well) and two 17mm bolts and one 17mm nut is on the engine side. I found a long socket extension is need for the two 17mm bolts (I used a 12 inch extension) and the 17mm nut on the engine side required a deep well 17mm socket due to the length of the bolt it screws onto.
11. Remove the serpentine belt idler pulley by removing the 17mm bolt. Be careful as you remove the bolt. The pulley is sandwiched by two plates that resemble large washers that are flared. Make sure you don't lose the back plate and you know which way it goes back on the pulley. I found it easiest to pull on the pulley as I was unscrewing and keep the bolt, pulley, and plates together.
12. Remove top half of the timing belt cover by removing seven 10mm bolts securing the cover. Six of the bolts are the same size while the one in the middle is about twice as long. This cover only goes halfway down the engine, so you can get to all these bolts from the engine compartment.
13. Now with the top half of the timing belt cover removed, you will see the bottom half is still attached. If you look closely, there are only a few 10mm bolts holding the bottom cover on, but most are inaccessible because they are located behind the crank pulley. I found it necessary to remove the one exposed 10mm bolt holding the lower timing belt cover on in order to complete step 14. When facing the timing belt side of the engine there is one exposed 10mm bolt towards the top left corner. Remove this bolt.
14. Remove the other half of the engine bracket still attached to the engine. First, you'll need to remove the small 12mm bolt whose head faces the front of the vehicle. If you follow the dipstick tube down you will find the bolt. The bolt secures the dipstick tube to this bracket. Now you will find another 12mm bolt that was hidden under the top timing belt cover; this bolt is just below the center of the sprocket the timing belt rides on. You will now find three long 17mm bolts. Two of the bolts are easily seen through the wheel well. The last 17mm I found very difficult to get to. This bolt is hidden under the lower timing belt cover. If the bolt was removed in step 13 you will be able to bend the cover back to get your socket in there. Once the five bolts are taken out, remove the engine bracket.
15. Now that the top half of the timing belt cover and engine bracket is removed, you will want to locate the timing marks on the exposed sprockets. It's a little dot imprinted on the front of each sprocket. These are best viewed looking under the hood from the passenger side. The dots need to be aligned with the timing marks on the engine case. The timing mark on the engine case for the left sprocket (towards the rear of the vehicle) is a little notch located at about 11:00, and the timing mark for the right sprocket (towards the front of the vehicle) is at about 1:00.
16. Once you've located the timing marks on the sprockets and the engine put a long wrench or 22mm socket on the crankshaft pulley center nut and rotate the pulley clockwise until you get the top sprocket timing marks in place. (The crankshaft pulley is the very bottom center pulley. You access it through the wheel well.) You'll notice that when you get the top timing marks in place, the crankshaft pulley timing mark (small indention in pulley) will be more or less aligned with a protrusion on the lower timing belt cover (at about the 1:00 position). If the bottom pulley is not perfectly aligned with one of the marks, don't worry about it. The important thing is to have the top timing marks for both sprockets perfectly aligned. Once you remove the crankshaft pulley and bottom half of the pulley cover, you'll see that the crankshaft sprocket tooth is properly aligned. You'll also notice that you have to turn the crankshaft pulley two entire revolutions to get the top sprockets to turn a single revolution. They are geared exactly 2:1.
17. Soak the crankshaft pulley bolt with penetrating fluid (PB Blaster…etc) where its shoulder meets the pulley. (I found this to be important)
18. Use an air impact wrench to remove the crankshaft pulley bolt (counterclockwise). I found that giving the air impact wrench on 100PSI was enough to loosen the bolt without actually turning the crankshaft. It may take about half a minute to loosen up. I soaked the bolt three times and waited about 5 minutes between soakings before trying to remove. The crankshaft pulley bolt will come off along with a thick spacer.
19. Remove the crankshaft pulley. You'll probably need to wiggle it back and forth as you pull it straight off. The more you can wiggle it, the easier it is to come off. The pulley is "keyed" to the crankshaft with a pin (located now at about the 1:00 position). This pin will stay on the crankshaft, and will be what you use to make sure the crankshaft is aligned once you get the new timing belt on.
20. Remove the lower timing belt cover. There will be three 10mm bolts holding it on (best accessed through wheel well). *You removed one of the four 10mm bolts holding the lower cover on in step 13.
21. Notice now that the crankshaft (where you pulled the crankshaft pulley off from) has its pin (the pin we mentioned in step 19) aligned with a timing mark on the engine. Take note of this alignment! You'll see the teeth on the crankshaft that drive the timing belt. One of these teeth is aligned with the pin, and therefore aligned with the mark on the engine.
NOTE: Take stock of how taut the timing belt is at this point. This is what the belt feels like under tension. It's pretty tense, right?
22. Remove the timing belt auto-tensioner using a 12mm socket. It is the cylinder-looking
thing up and to the left of the crankshaft (It looks like an upside down letter L with a silver pin sticking up). Two bolts hold it on (one for the tensioner and one for the support arm). Unbolt these bolts, and tension on the timing belt is released.
23. After removing the timing belt auto-tensioner, use a large C- clamp or vise to slowly compress the pin in the auto-tensioner all the way, until you can slip a pin, nail or smooth end of an old drill bit in through the little hole on the top of the auto-tensioner. This hole locks the tensioner's pin in the compressed position. Before you put the pin in, cover the pin with lubricant, and spray a little lubricant in the little hole on the top of the auto-tensioner too (front and back). The pin should
go all the way through from the front, through the center pin, and through the back. Enough of the pin (or nail or drill bit) should be sticking out the front so you can later grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it out.
24. Enough tension should have been released from the timing belt so you can now gently pull it off.
CAUTION: Be very careful not to rotate the belt at this point as you are taking it off, or as you are putting the new belt on. The reason is because the left top sprocket has its springs in the compressed position (at the top of the hill, so to speak). If you rotate this left top sprocket even one tooth, its compressed energy will cause it to rotate about 8 teeth, taking it out of timing with the crankshaft and the right top sprocket. This is the voice of experience talking. (I did this and it was really no big deal, you just have to turn i back)
25. Remove the timing belt tensioner and idler pulleys by removing the 14mm bolt securing both in. The tensioner pulley is the one of the left above the auto-tension removed in step 22. The idler pulley is to top right of the crank. Both pulleys look similar, but if you look at the back the idler pulley has a key hole in it. (I also recommend removing the other 14mm bolt holding down the bracket for the tensioner pulley. When you try to install the new tensioner pulley later, the entire assembly will turn as you are tightening it.)
26. Temporarily put the crankshaft pulley back on (no need to put its bolt in), and rotate the crankshaft pulley by hand back (counter clockwise) about 5 degrees. Shouldn't be too hard to do, because the crankshaft is not in a position where it takes much force to move at this point. Pull the pulley back off and check where you are at. Keep doing this until you have moved the crankshaft by one tooth. In other words, you need to rotate the crankshaft so that instead of the crankshaft pin being aligned with the mark on the engine, the tooth to the right (clockwise) of that pin is aligned with the mark on the engine.
WHY DO WE DO THIS? Because there will be a little bit of slack between the right top sprocket and the crankshaft sprocket when you install the new belt. You'll find that after taking up this slack, the crankshaft will be properly aligned with the top sprockets. But don't worry; we'll be double-checking to make sure we got it right.
27. Install the new idler and tensioner pulleys in place of the old units removed in step 25. I found it easier to remove the tensioner pulley bracket in step 25 and put in a vise when trying to install and tighten the new tensioner pulley. I found it easiest to tighten the 14mm bolts for the idler pulley and the tensioner bracket from the engine compartment instead of the wheel well.
28. Put on the new timing belt in this order: First, put it on the crankshaft sprocket at the bottom. Next, from under the hood pull the timing belt snug against the idler pulley (don't pull hard - just enough to remove most of the slack), and wrap the belt counter clockwise around the right top sprocket (the sprocket towards the front of the vehicle). With the teeth of the belt engaged on the right top sprocket, pause to check the play in the belt between the sprocket and the crankshaft sprocket. Remember when you took stock of how taut the old belt was? The belt should not be this tight. But then, it shouldn't be so loose that it comes off the idler pulley. There should be just a little bit of slack, which will be taken up when you later on replace the crankshaft pulley. Continue wrapping the new timing belt around the water pump pulley (smack dab in the middle of the engine, between all 3 sprockets, and then back up around the left top sprocket (toward the rear of the vehicle). Make sure that there is AS LITTLE PLAY in the belt between the two top sprockets as possible. The belt should be nice and snug between these two. The belt should be pretty tight at this point. You should have just enough play left in the belt to muscle it over the tensioner pulley (which is currently not under tension). If that is so, you can be assured that your timing belt is probably properly installed.
29. Now we check the timing belt installation. DO NOT CHECK THE SPROCKET ALIGNMENT YET. FIRST WE HAVE TO ROTATE THE TIMING BELT CLOCKWISE TO DISTRIBUTE THE TENSION ON THE BELT PROPERLY. Bolt the tensioner pulley auto-tensioner back on (two 12mm bolts). In one quick movement, pull out the pin (or nail or drill bit) from the auto-tensioner with a pair of pliers.
30. Temporarily put the crankshaft pulley back on, and screw in on with its center bolt.
31. With a long wrench on the crankshaft pulley center bolt, rotate the crank pulley two entire revolutions until the two top sprocket timing marks have made one entire revolution and are lined up once again with the timing marks on the engine. As you start to rotate the crankshaft pulley, you should see the auto-tensioner pin come out and return to close to its normal length. The entire timing belt should return to the tension you observed on the old belt before removing the auto-tensioner. If not, then you need to remove the auto-tensioner and check it.
32. Remove the crankshaft pulley center bolt with the air impact wrench, and remove the pulley.
33. CHECK THE ALIGNMENT CAREFULLY. ALL THREE SPROCKETS SHOULD NOW BE ALIGNED TO THEIR TIMING MARKS. If even one timing mark is off, you'll need to pull the belt back off and reinstall. It is easy to see if a timing mark is off by one tooth. Just look at the belt and the sprockets and observe the distance from one tooth to the next. If any one of the three timing marks is off by this amount or more, your timing is maligned. But if the marks are off only a smidgen (a small fraction of the distance between two adjacent teeth), then your timing is aligned.
34. IF YOUR TIMING BELT IS MISALIGNED, GO BACK TO STEP 20. Note that it is easier to align the crankshaft individually than the top sprockets, so if the top sprockets are in sync with each other but out of sync with the crankshaft, turn the crankshaft until the top sprockets are aligned with their timing marks, remove the belt, then temporarily put the crankshaft pulley back on and adjust it.
NOTE: It is ok to turn the crankshaft back a few degrees if you need to. You may be able to do this by hand by just pushing the crankshaft pulley on the crankshaft (without its mounting bolt) and turning the pulley by hand. However, if you need to adjust the top sprockets, you'll probably need to turn the crankshaft in clockwise direction using a socket on its center bolt. However, if you need to go an entire revolution on one of the top sprockets, you'll need to do so with the timing belt installed, so the entire engine rotates more or less in sync.
NOTE 2: After each time you rotate the timing belt via the crankshaft pulley's center mounting bolt, you'll need to remove the crankshaft pulley via the air impact wrench.
35. IF YOUR TIMING BELT IS NOW ALIGNED (all three timing marks on the sprockets are lined up with the three timing marks on the engine) , IT'S TIME TO PUT EVERYTHING BACK TOGETHER, in the reverse order of what you took it off.
NOTES: When reinstalling the top half of the engine bracket (the one that attaches between engine and frame), you may need to jack the engine a little higher in order to get this bracket snug against the bottom half of the engine bracket.
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