timing belt and other questions

ratchet · Post by **ratchet** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:21 am

Ok my car has got 105k on it, and im looking to change the timing belt, water pump and serpentine belt. The guide I have below, is that good enough to work from? I have never done a timing belt replacement or water pump or serpentine belt replacement. I have friends that are very well mechanically inclined and think we can do it. The tensioner, how can I tell which one do I have? Which belt should I get?

http://chronoscender.freeservers.com/ne ... gbelt.html

I also have the service manual, so we can go from that. Is there anything else I should be replacing at 105k? I searched but there are so many results and many different answers. Just trying to save a few bucks.

Thanks

Fuzzyneon · Post by **Fuzzyneon** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 9:31 am

belt tentioner water pump!

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:59 pm

Just go with the '04 Litens tensioner. Much nicer than the hydraulic one.

Also if you don't mind removing the cam gear, get a cam seal. They are only about $8.

But if you do remove the cam gear, you need to hold the gear with either chain vise grips or some other method. The bolt is extremely tight. It would be best to remove the rocker cover, and fully loosen the rocker shafts, so the valves are closed. This way if the gear slips while loosening or re torquing, the valves do not hit the pistons.

And remember to re torque the cam bolt! Or you will be buying new valves, maybe much more.

You may also want to check the serpentine belt tensioner pulley while the motor mount plate is off. The complete tensioner/plate is over $300 so I would replace the pulley if it is noisy, or the bearing seems loose. It can only be done with the tensioner/plate removed.

Mat as well save some work down the road. If the tensioner spring breaks, you are stuck replacing the complete motor mount plate tho.

garfield3887 · Post by **garfield3887** » Tue Sep 28, 2010 11:42 pm

I just did this before the weekend, i didn't replace my timing belt tensioner because it looked almost brand new and there was absolutely no play in it, so i have no advice to give on that.

I used the same "How to " you have linked, and it was very easy to follow, and fairly simple.

The serpentine belt is easy an easy change when you're putting it back together and mine had about 20k less miles than yours and i did it because it's recommended, i also did the alt belt as well.

I used a grease pencil to mark the cam positioner marks on the cam gear as well as the old belt and just transferred them over to the new belt.

Also a good time to throw in some motor mount inserts or a UDP since you're going to be taking off the stock pulley anyway!

ratchet · Post by **ratchet** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:16 pm

thanks for the info, will try it out in a few weeks and report back, just seems time consuming thats all.

Fuzzyneon · Post by **Fuzzyneon** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 12:31 pm

ratchet wrote:thanks for the info, will try it out in a few weeks and report back, just seems time consuming thats all.

should be able to get her done in a day or less