Hey house.As someone who wants to (eventually) get around to changing his own timing belt, this has been interesting reading! Did you also change the water pump everson38?
I'm installing a new timing belt and having some trouble getting the timing perfect... I'm having similar problems that everson38 did back last year, so going to post here rather than make a new thread.
Hey Pal, sorry to hear your having issues, but reading my key points previous, just take a break and call it a day, watch someore videos etc . In regards to your tensioning process, the steps are correct. I had the same issue though, when it cam to steps of loosening the tensioner to line up the notches and then re-tighten, I found the final tightening always moved. You have to hold it with the fork and get it as tight as you can, I found using my 1/4" torque wrench was just too big for.me.to tighten one way and hold with the fork the other. If u try tighten with a 13mm.wrench I found I was able to tighten but also see the notches before they started to move. They will move if you just try to tighten it down with a torque wrench, u can only the tighten so much before they shift. So go as far as you can before that happens and then rotate the engine twice , I did it about 4 times and then put locking tools in to ensure all.timed up
My engine is the 1.4 16V, and I am using the special locking tools. The problem I'm having is everything seems "in time" up until I put the new belt on, tension it, then rotate the crank twice. After that, things are slightly out - the camshaft locking tool doesn't fit as the timing hole hasn't fully lined up with the window..
I think the problem is my understanding of the process for the camshaft pulley. I loosen it to fit the belt, then tighten it up to 120Nm. Then proceed to tension the tensioner to the max, rotate the engine twice, loosen the tensioner and get the notches lined up, then rotate engine again. It seems no matter what tension I set, things aren't lining up.
Getting the tensioner perfect isn't something I've been able to do. I get the two notches lined up and do the nut up hand tight, then torque it to 25Nm, but then the notches have moved... Do I need to tighten the nut to 25Nm all whilst holding the tension in the right place, using the fork? Basically hold it in the perfect place with one hand, and torque with the other?
I've gone through the process a few times and arriving at the same result. Basically, the pistons aren't quite level when the camshaft timing hole comes into view, it seems to be about half a turn out :bang:
Hey Pal, sorry to hear your having issues, but reading my key points previous, just take a break and call it a day, watch someore videos etc . In regards to your tensioning process, the steps are correct. I had the same issue though, when it cam to steps of loosening the tensioner to line up the notches and then re-tighten, I found the final tightening always moved. You have to hold it with the fork and get it as tight as you can, I found using my 1/4" torque wrench was just too big for.me.to tighten one way and hold with the fork the other. If u try tighten with a 13mm.wrench I found I was able to tighten but also see the notches before they started to move. They will move if you just try to tighten it down with a torque wrench, u can only the tighten so much before they shift. So go as far as you can before that happens and then rotate the engine twice , I did it about 4 times and then put locking tools in to ensure all.timed up
thanks everson38, had a break now back on the tools. Didn't get very far though as the little tensioner fork tool has broken! Circlip pliers are the next best thing i have access to, although they are nowhere near strong enough to hold the tension - the heads keep slipping out! might have to order a new fork tool
Yep the same happened to me, my fork prong bent, bit it shows how hard we must of been trying to tigthen. After that I was still able to use it but had to hold it a certain angle. Yes I would order a new one for sure. But try to just align the notches and then they tighten with a wrench as much as it can just before the notches start to.love again, I had to do this a few times just to get a feel of when I knew how much tension it will take before the notches start to move. My car was all n the air for about a week doing 6 hours a day on this, so don't worry, I believe if O can do it, honestly anyone can do it. If u want u can do video of anything that you are struggling with, email them to me and I can upload them to YouTube for so that people can properly see, I feel that really helped when getting feedback on my stuff.
Guides section -> "Timing belt" thread (1.2 8V EVO 2 Engine Cam Belt replacement). It's about 8V engines, but idea is the same...
You don't mess with the camshaft/VVT wheel ("eLearn" bull$hit). And you set the tensioner once.
Water pump (bearings) is also responsible for belt tension or how (where) it rides the pulleys.
That's all. It is still 80's technology, simple engines (F.I.R.E. family).
Most servicing, scheduled maintenance can be done old way, DIY at home.
Besides tools, make your own paint-marks, everywhere (belt<->wheels/pulleys), count the teeth.
If it's still wrong...YOU are doing something wrong. Or parts are incorrect ones (belt - number of tooth?) or timing tools.
Made some progress yesterday. I was doing something wrong, either with the cam pulley or the tensioning - although I'm not exactly sure what. I started over, and made sure to tension the belt before torquing the cam pulley bolt (I may have been doing those two things the other way round before).
All nicely in time now I do think you guys are right about not needing to loosen the cam pulley. I believe it's to make it easier to fit the belt, but it didn't seem to make much difference to me. Mine was marked up with tip-ex from a previous job so I used that to put it back to how it was originally aligned, but I had the cam locking tools in place anyway so not sure if that was really necessary. Does it matter how the pulley is positioned if you have the cams locked? I assume it's only important to pay attention to the pulleys position if you are relying on marking it with tipex against the head and don't have the locking tools..
Now onto the next problem: I think the threads in the cylinder head for the engine mounts are stripped as the bolts won't tighten :bang:
Hey , how you getting on with thing, did you manage to rectify your stripped bolts?