360 Cam Belt Adventure

Well I have been kicking around this place for a few years and have done quite a bit to my car but with the quarantine and a belt service due I decided the time was right to go for a DIY. Doing all my own service has always been a fantasy of mine and I'm not getting any younger. The video by SpiderScott was instrumental as I didn't see anything in there that made me uncomfortable. I think I owe Scott a couple beers. If you havent seen his video it is here.



I've been into my car a few times but with covers removed this was a great opportunity for a memorable pic.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Also getting to this point I can understand why Scott did not show the removal of the right side belt cover! That was not easy to wrestle out of there. I was not going to make a post about this until I was done but I have already needed some help and have also learned a couple things to share with the group so I figured I better start the thread.

cont...

 

First real snag I hit was removing the main drive shaft nut on the pulley. I tried a few shade tree methods to get that free but took the sage advice to "Buy the special tool" and it was the right thing to do. I have seen a few pictures of this thing installed and always with 2 attach bolts even though it comes with 4. It seems the slot pattern is mis-located by about .01 inch so its not possible to get 4 attach bolts on but they are not needed.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login
cont...

 

Next complication I had was finding the right 36mm socket to remove that nut. My car is up on blocks but when I learned that at least one dealer uses a 5ft breaker bar on it from underneath I was a little worried. I needed all the length I could get to break it free and the secret sauce for me was a 12pt 36mm socket so I could add extensions to my breaker bar until I got it loose. The 12 point socket I got was a craftsman one from Lowes for 15 bucks. It allowed me to accurately position the bar in the corner of the cabin for extra length so I could break the nut free. No problem after I got it set up right!

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

cont...

 

So with the pulley removed the next thing is to reinstall the nut with a spacer so you can turn the engine and locate TDC. I picked up the Hill Engineering TDC kit. More on this nice piece of kit later but I am always looking for things to make with my lathe so away I went to fab that spacer. I had some steel pipe handy with 1.5 inch diameter hole in it so I cleaned it up and parted it to 1.55 inches long.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Here it is installed and ready for action. Gonna take a break now and get that TDC tool installed. With the #1 and #5 spark plugs out the engine turns easy enough.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

I almost forgot to mention the fun of getting the spark plug out of the hole! I recall reading about using some rubber gas line to retrieve the plug once you loosened it but of course I had none. I used a high quality closed cell foam and put a hole in it to secure the tip of the plug for extraction.

If I do this job again I will copy how the dealer does it and remove the engine air intake box and metal engine bay cross brace so I can have maximum room to work. I'm also replacing the plugs. Heck I still may have to but I am going to attempt to leave those in place.

 

Mine is a 2003, so maybe this is how the factory started working in the CS upgrades? ;-)
Here are a couple shots, one of each side.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Spark Plugs... I am not sure if these have ever been replaced. They are the PMR8B's which is the newer ones spec'd for the car. Car has 16K miles on it. I am glad I am replacing them. If original they have been in there a good long while but only half way to the replacement schedule of 30K IIRC.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

If they (Hill Engineering) opened up the width of the 4 slots by a little it would work as intended. Maybe they don't know?

 

My plan was to just check it for reference with the silly putty method. The car runs perfect so I don't want to change a thing!

 

Well that's good to know. It is really close. I "could" remove some of the material but two seems to work. I think I saw in Scotts video above the same thing and maybe Aldous Voice too? When did you purchase yours?

 

I have some unraveling of a harness tape that you can see here in the picture. I would like to glue it back in place. Does anyone have a recommendation for an adhesive that can be effective in this area?

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks, that looks good! I hope I can find it, anything flammable can be a challenge to get here.

 

Progress...I got set up to check the timing marks. I installed the Hill TDC tool in cyl #1 and moved the main crank until the reading maxed out...Couldn't see the timing marks. I was thinking oh man this is what the guys are talking about it really is hard to see. I have a bore scope of course but it's older and awkward. Then I thought hey, maybe I am the top of exhaust stroke? That was it! There is no mistaking the compression stroke if you only have a couple spark plugs out. I took out #1 & #8 to help the engine turn...the whoosh on compression is very audible! These are the kind of timing alignments we want to see. This is just bank 1-4 but I'll check 5-8 soon enough.

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Interesting, to me anyway, that the factory marks on the main are in alignment whether you are at TDC of compression or exhaust stroke

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Crappy pics I know but my outdated scope shoots at 640 x 480 resolution! lol

The awesome Mitutoyo dial indicator doing it's thing that comes with the Hill Kit...

Image Unavailable, Please Login

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I think a car lift is in my future! When the car is up to allow under access it's tough to work to get to the spark plugs, etc.

I should have removed the air intake and engine cross brace, plugs while the car was down and then jacked up the car to get to the belt procedure. Next time will be more straight forward. The car is really set up pretty nice for service. Mind you mine is a three pedal but if you planned on doing coolant flush at the same time it would even make the process easier because the coolant hoses are an obstacle!