Belt change help

Over this past weekend I decided to do a belt change in my 3.2. Have done it before so wasn't expecting any real issues. Got the job going doing all the steps, set at TDC, lock cams, mark old belts and cam. So the front belt comes out pretty easily after taking off the tensioner bearing. But for the life of me I can not get the new belt on. Lined up marks, couldn't get it on. Tried locking down the tensioner spring bracket, could not get it on. I've done this before and don't remember it being so difficult. Did I miss something or am I overlooking a step. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Check you have the right new belts, i was supplied shorter belts from different model once.
Been a while since i have done one but you dont need to remove the tensioner pulley, just move and lock out of the way

 

Hi, given that the belt is indeed correct, you need to push the tensioner all the way in and lock it. Slide on the belt on the pulleys with fences and use a socket wrench to tighten the slack a bit on the cams. Then you should be able to slide on the final pulley by carefully aligning the teeth using the socket wrench. Of course, it might be scary to release the cams, but with proper markings, it should be ok.

Personally, I prefer to do the job at another angle than at tdc, but most people here on the forum say that the valves will not hit the pistons or there will not be any damage if the valves rest on a piston. This could potentially happen if the cam moves by the valve spring forces. If you are not prepared for it, the cam moves really quickly to the resting position a few degrees forward or backward.

 

Thanks for the input. Will try again over the weekend and update after.

 

Also check the size of the tensioner bearing by comparing it with the old one

 

You need to compress the tensioner assembly as much as possible and then loosen the three nuts holding the tensioner assembly to the engine block -- this gives more slack in the belt path by allowing the tensioner pulley to "tip over" a little.

 

Thanks again. I will give it another go this weekend and provide an update. Thanks again.

 

Just to give an idea of the clearance I have when sliding on the belt. With the tensioner (Hill eng) fully compressed, I need to take out the slack in the belt from crank to intake cam first, then there is only about half a millimeter between the exhaust cam and the belt, but it is enough to align the teeth and slide the belt on. It is not at all hard to do and it requires very little force. The trick is to take out the slack and align the teeth.

 

About 11 minutes in.

A clever and pretty foolproof method in my experience