Belt Replacements on Mondial 3.2

Ok fellas, after over a year since I ordered my major service kit from RicambiAmerica, I have started my Timing Belts replacement project. First some history, bought the car 2 years ago with little service records and I was not sure when the cam belts were changed last but from the conditions of the belts, they looked good so I kept things the way they are as the car drives beautifully. New spark plugs, no fuel filter, new ignition modules, new battery, new clutch slave cylinder, new air filter, new brake shoes, new frequency valve relay/fuse, oil change.

So last weekend, my friend GianLuca came over to assist me with this project. After 9 hours and alot of cussing, we managed to get the Alternator, AC, Water Pump belts off along with the AC compressor and finally the Cam covers. I had to make a cam lock device before we can proceed so tonight, that's done and working nicely. Also managed to take off the water pump and will send that to Flying Dutchmen for a rebuild.

BTW, I followed "Robz328" post and "Birdman's post" as references. Pics show it all...
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Question for those that did their cam belts? Do I turn the crank balancer and look in the flywheel peek hole for TDC or PM 1-4 or do I turn the crank balancer and find the mark on the 1st cylinder. I know if I use a cam lock, it really doesn't matter as I am just marking the placement of the belts, locking the cams, and replacement the belts in exact placement. But finding the TDC is only used as a reference point in case a tooth should slip.

Any suggestions or lessons learn? I hope to mark all my placements this Friday and at least get the cam belts all done along with the awesome Hill engineering bearings, -wait for water pump to be rebuilt, put all accessory belts back in, refill coolant, and start her up.

I was surprised how good all of the belts looked, no rips, lines, tears, cracks at all ! In reality, I would have been fine doing nothing for a few more years, but I'm glad I am taking this on now...

 

Thanks Richard, I did not remove the AC, just the compressor and yes, that was a real PITA to take out as it blocked the right cam covers. Took off all the bolts holding them in and yes, there was a bolt that I had to use a locking clamp wrench to loosen it because I didn't have the proper tool. See pic.

The R12 is still in tack in the AC system, the compressor is just laying on the floor just to give me more room in there. I will definitely use white paint to mark everything before those belts come off. I would agree if the valve covers come off, it will be alot easier but only if I don't have a choice. The best way to change the belts is with engine out, now I understand why they charge so much for this simple job on any other car.

cheers
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Seems counter clockwise rotation only until I see TDC mark on the fly wheel but the problem is its very hard to see as the markings are some what faded. I will need to clean it with alcohol and a swab first but when I rotated the crank shaft to the tick mark on 1st cylinder oil cap view, I didn't remember seeing anything on the flywheel. Will need to repeat rotation until its clear I guess. And my other question is what about the other bank of cylinders to the right without an oil cap to view, guess its assumed to be correct.

Also, I did not see any white paint on the flywheel, just a faded PM 1-4 marking.
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LoL... I haven't even registered the Porsche yet but do have all of the accessories and parts ready to go. Taking this Friday off so I can get it registered at DMV and stop by the paint shop for a quote on the gray sport classic color. Its looking good though... Stay tuned for a separate thread on this project.

cheers

 

BTW, to do the belts with engine in, you really need to open up the engine lid, remove all the stuff in the way like air box, air ducts, coolant hoses, and remove the rear access panel (cabrio only) to help with a few cam cover bolts that was really hard to get to. I don't even know how you would do that in a coupe Mondial.
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Hi Peter, at those prices, I would have no issues having them do it, however, I do not think you'll be getting the Hill Engineering bearings as replacements, rebuilt water pump while your in there, all new accessory belts, and so on as you see what else could be done. I'm sure the initial quote of $650 will be an easy $2k when its all over. I got a quote from a reliable shop just for the labor on belts was $1500 and I had to provide the parts.

 

"why would it need rebuilding if it's working fine? "

-One can say the same for the cam belts but as you know, these things have a shelf life and are rated good for only so many years or mileage. If you don't know when they were last changed, assume the worst case. Because its more of a PITA should the water pump bearings stop working from dried out grease or broken impeller, or leaking seals, you will need to take out all of the accessory belts to get to the water pump. Its advised to get it rebuilt while doing the cam belts because everything is off at that time and its marginal cost to the total service.

But, you can definitely not do the water pump and most likely it will be just fine. Its just another warm and fuzzy that we do the WP while doing the cam belts and you don't have to worry about them until the next due interval. Also maintaining a good service record helps in keeping up your car's value should you need to sell.

cheers

 

Probably similar thinking with the Porsches Peter, but definitely more important to do so with older 25+ year Ferraris.

Best

 

Thanks Bloke, you made my day! The valves are fine and I really don't want to go beyond the scope of this project, valve clearance is another thread.

Tonight I will remove the spark plugs so it will be a whole lot easier to turn the engine. The camshafts and the crankshaft turn at different ratios: 2 turns of the crank will turn the cams once (the pistons have to go up and down twice to complete one cycle).
So, when the 1-4 mark on the flywheel is aligned, the marks on the intake cam of the rear bank (the only visible one through the oil filler) should be aligned also.

If not, the crank need to be rotated once more to line the marks. PROVIDED THE CAM ( THAT HAS THE MARKS WE CAN SEE), BELONG TO THE #1 PISTON!

However, we are not going to do this scientifically but, rather, "keep everything the same" style using (cam locking vise); therefore, as long as nothing moves, we are able to re-position everything the way it was (with paint marks). Fingers crossed...

 

I was going to follow Birdman's instructions on tensioners:

Once both banks have new belts and tensoiners, now you must tension the belts and lock the tensioners. This is not hard and there are two ways to do it.

METHOD #1 (Verell's method - easiest and the way I do it)
With the cams still locked, use the 36mm socket on the crank balancer to apply force to the crank in the proper engine rotation direction (clockwise) so that the belt is pulled tight between the lower (drive) pulley and the camshaft pulley at the top. You should be able to pluck the belt and hear a musical note. While holding this tension, the other half of the belt will be as slack as it can be, and the spring in the tensioner bearing will take up the slack. While holding this tension on the belt with the 36mm socket, tighten the tensionser bearing lock bolt to 41 ft-lbs. Do both banks this way. Now remove the cam locks and skip over to section 19.

METHOD #2 (Ferrari's procedure)
First, you remove the cam locks entirely so the engine is free to spin. Now, using your socket wrench on the crank balancer bolt, turn the engine over while watching the tensioners. As the engine turns, the cams create more and less load on the belts at various times as the lobes run over the valves. As a result, at times there is more tension on the belt, pushing the tensioner back against it's spring. At other times, there is less tension on the belt, allowing the spring in the tensioner to push in further against the belt. Watch the movement of the tensioner bearing as you turn, and find the place in the rotation of the engine where the tensioner is pushing in the most on the belt. Stop the engine there, and torque down the tensioner to 41 ft-lbs. (5.6 Kgm). Now do the other bank.

What is happening here is you are allowing the spring in the tensioner assembly to determine the right amount of tension at a point in the rotation where the tension is least. DO NOT push on the tensioner to apply "a little more tension to be safe." Worst case if you do that is that the belt will break pre-maturely and destroy your engine. Next worst case is that the excess tension in the belt will destroy the timing drive bearings in the lower timing pulleys. They are no fun to replace! Use the springs to set the tension as described!

 

Thanks Mac, exactly my thoughts as well. The TDC is just a backup incase the camlocks move, but I will have white paint markers on all 3 cams, belts, tensioners just to be safe. Then its just transferring those marks to the new belts and it should be an exact replacement down to the teeth.

BTW, the crank shaft does rotate counter clockwise correct? That's what we were noticing when I had the key in ignition and tried to crank the car to see which way the engine spin.
(Verell's method said the crank in the proper engine rotation direction (clockwise) -this confuses me)