Doing the timing belts / exit AC

chrismorse · Mar 7, 2008

FasterIsBetter said: ↑

Hopefully, you are using a tool to lock the cams before you proceed with step 2. If not, the tension of the valve springs will cause your cams to move and you will almost certainly jump a tooth on the belt.

Also, be very careful with step 6. If you rotate the engine with the tensioner loose, the spring alone will not hold the belts sufficiently tight and again, you may jump a tooth or more on the belts (ask me how I learned that one!). The best way to do it IMHO is to press against the tensioner to make sure that it is properly extended, then hand tighten it in place before turning the engine over a couple of times by hand. Return the engine to TDC on #1, check your timing marks on the cams, loosen the tensioner and push by hand again to be sure that it is fully extended under spring pressure, and then tighten it up and torque it. If you had to make any adjustment in the cam timing, repeat the whole thing again before doing the final tightening of the tensioner. Remember, the spring is only there to set the proper tension, it is NOT intended to hold the belt when the engine is turned.

BTW, it is important to check the cam timing against the factory marks on the cams and caps. Many folks say that you can align with the factory marks and be very close to accurate. But if you do that, the marks must be dead-on. The width of the mark is about 3 deg. of timing, so it's easy to be off if the marks are not spot-on. Of course, if you are not degreeing the cams, you can't be sure that they are accurate to begin with. And as long as you have the cam covers off anyway, check your valve clearances. It is worth the effort.
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Yes, what he said,

Pulling the cam covers only requires you to spend an aditional $150 for a pair of cam cover gaskets, (choke), BUT this enables you to ensure that your cam marke all line up, and what the hey, as long as the covers are off, why not rotate the engine a few more times to check the valve clearances.

You might also want to consider replacing the cam seals, weather or not they are leaking, (Good tip from Luckydynes, use the T Rutlands "double lip" seals), for just $29 each.

Many posts on the subject, with a lot of good info - worth the search.

hth,
chris

teveo · Mar 8, 2008

Verell said: ↑

Do you have this timing belt change procedure:
Odds are that you'll discover you've been running with at least 1 cam whose timing is slightly off.
If you find that a cam's marks indicate the cam is off, but not by a full tooth, you'll have to change the cam gear's position on the cam. You remove the cam gear mounting bolt & the pin that's aligning the cams to the cam gear. You then locate a cam - cam gear hole pair that puts the mark dead on when the cam belt is in place, reinstall the pin, put a new o-ring on the cam bolt & torque it down. Real PITA as you'll probably have to try 2-3 hole combinations before you find the right one.
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Finally checked all the cams.. (from rear of car) cam 1 is more or less dead on, 2 is almost there, 3 is more or less dead on and 4 is like cam 2.. checking the pix, would you advice on adjusting the pulleys or leave the car as is?

The last pic show a really rotten filler hose.. had to cut it off..
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teveo · Mar 9, 2008

.. i put a "digital degree wheel" on the pic of the cam that seem to be most off, appears to be 2-3 degrees off, one tooth is 12 degrees so if i want it perfect i have to play with the cam pulleys... anyone know the degrees between the pulley's holes.. oops, i should have checked the diagram first
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