A lot of people seem to have trouble with this, and I've been meaning to do a quick writeup for a while so here we are... I've assumed that you have removed your timing belt with cylinder 1 at TDC compression stroke with the dot on the crank sprocket matching the notch on the oil pump. If you haven't then you should read all the way through the walkthroughs and workshop manual before you pull things apart Here we are with your motor with the timing belt off. You can see I have fancy looking adjustable cam sprockets, but that makes no difference they are all marked the same. You can see the little notches on the sprockets and dots rear timing belt cover. You have to line the sprockets up with these little dots. THESE ARE APPROXIMATES ONLY!! Better piccies below. On the drivers side bank the sprockets don't really like to sit lined up with the dots. You can rotate them by hand but they have a habit of jumping and skinning knuckles pretty bad. I use a old timing belt like this to rotate the sprockets. If you have super fancy intake sprockets like me you can use a Allen key socket to rotate them. My valve springs are so strong that I couldn't rotate the cam with the belt by hand This shows the notches and dots (highlighted in red). Due to my excellent photography they look like they don't line up, but they do Crank sprocket and notch on the oil pump. Before you take your timing belt off you should line this one up. Ensure that your tensioner is compressed using the little screw. Be very careful with this. One certain QLD member has managed to break two of these... Half a turn and leave it for 10 to 20 sec then continue until it is shut. Also loosen off the bolts holding the tensions to the block. Now put your timing belt on. I start from the crank and work around anti clockwise. Make sure the direction on the belt is correct. Line up the marks on the belt to the marks on the SPROCKETS. Ignore the marks on the timing belt covers and oil pump. Here you can see the marks on the belt lining up with the sprockets. I've got a fancy blue timing belt, but they are all pretty much the same. You should count the number of teeth between marks to make sure it's all sweet. See page EM-18 of the factory service manual. It can sometimes seem like the timing belt is too short and it's difficult to get on. Rotate the crank a bit with breaker bar to give a little bit more slack or tighten the belt depending on what you need. You might need to tweak the drivers side sprockets, the pass side ones you can move easily by hand a few degrees. Rotate the crank clockwise to loosen off the tensioner side of the belt. Now rotate the body of the tensions and do up all the bolts nice and firm. Remove the little bolt and completely remove it. Rotate the crank a few times and the tensioner should now looks like this. It should be about 3-5mm of the tensioner rod sticking out. If too much or not enough, loosen the tensioner body and adjust. Then you're done! Easy as right?
Excellent write up Chrispy! Yov have saved me from asking a ton of questions. One thing though do all belts have the timing marks on them and is the crank one marked as such.
Do not loosen the tensioner bracket with out the lock bolt in, the pin will come out quite a long way if you do. I set my tensioner gap to 4mm, then tighten the tensioner bolts while pushing the tensioner hard up against the belt. Gives you the correct gap everytime.
Did this recently As long as you use the bolt in the tensioner and have the crank sprocket dead on and the mark, the cam marks will be close but never perfect, then its all good. After I put mine all back together and set the pulley notch to exactly 0 degree btdc the marks on the 4 cam was exaclty spot on. btw that timin belt looks very familar, glad to see it arrived...
I don't know about compressing the tensioner with the little bolt, this has been known to snap the cast part of the tensioner with no effort at all. You are supposed to compress it in a vice or other suitable tool and just use the bolt to prevent it from extending all the way out.
I dont even bother using the cam backing late marks anymore. Just the lines on the timing belt.I also use a white paint pen to mark the edge of the belt so its easier to see the alignment on the gears. Its quite hard with the engine in to set the crank gear mark and belt in the same spot to to parallax errors. I also pull the top centre roller off and fit that back before setting the tension on the tensioner and removing the belt. I find its easier to move over a tooth if its not correct with that roller off.
Normally they aren't spot on. I've never had one line up well enough that you could put the belt on and be correct. Yep, very nice belt indeed That's why you take your time I've probably done 20-30 of them this way and NEVER had a issue at all. They sure are No VVT due to lumpy cams and I'm too much of a tight arse at the moment to go BDE gears. It's all set up to take them if I choose. The timing cover marks are just an approximate indication to give you a good starting point. Yes, I mark the belt with a paint pen too if I am doing it in car.
Cheeky buggers! I'm happy to line up the timing belt at a tech day, can't be arsed doing the whole thing anymore though.
Awwww yes you do chrispy, you know you'd love doing the whole thing, just too keep your eye so too speak for when you get over that german lump sitting in your driveway lol
That German lump in my driveway is excellent! Got the timing belt coming up on it actually. I don't think I will ever loose my 'eye' for doing timing belts and chains
:rofl: Well just too be extra safe Chrispy, i'll bring mine over when i get it in and supervise your excellent work and ensure you haven't lost your eye
That's a really great write up Chrispy. I use a 4 mm drill bit slid in the tensioner gap to get the adjustment spot on. Cheers Dave
cut timing belt width in half method So I was watching a car show, they did a timing belt change by cutting the width of the old belt while it is still on the car. Then remove front half, so rear half is still on to keep everything lined up. Then they slide the new belt on the cogs. The teeth are still sync because half width of the original timing belt is still on. Now that remaining old half of the timing belt can be cut off. The new belt (which is half on) can be pushed back in place.
Yep have seen that method, really easy if you're not changing anything other than the belt. Don't have to worry about repositioning the camshaft pulleys. The way I do it is mark one tooth on each pulley with a white paint pen, then mark the belt either side of each tooth, take off the belt, lay the new belt on top of the old belt and transfer the tooth markings, then just line up the tooth markings again. Very easy and takes all the risk of it.
Sounds like a fiddly bastard of a job... be very hard on a VG due to limited access around the crank area.
Never tried it, but I'd reckon it'd be easy just to do it properly. Cutting a timing belt the whole length in half while in situ vs just ripping it off and using the dots to line up, tension and away you go. I'd know why way it'd go. Those timing belts are tough...
