Hello there people,

I have a 1996 1.1 55sx Punto. For the past couple of months the timing belt has been squealing, especially when the engine is cold. The noise isn't extremely loud but it is quite annoying. So i bought a new Dayco timing belt yesterday for £7. Was just wondering how easy the job of replacing the existing belt with the new belt is. I don't really wanna pay £80 - 90 for labour charges at a garage without having a bash myself. Im pretty much a novice, so i was just wondering how easy the job was, and how do you set the belt to the correct tension (any tricks or any specialist tools needed).

Any help would be appreciated, especially if it saves me money.

Cheers

Danny

its easy job folling haynes manual, but take belt back an get a timming belt and tenshioner kit because its the tenshioner bearing thats making the noise

Also, there's the good old dry soap trick. Try finding the oldest, dryest lump of soap. Old tool boxes are a good place to look (in case your grandpa did the same trick on his Ford T ;-)... Then, with the engine turned off, rub the edges of the belt with the soap. Turn the car on and off, and repeat. Don't ever try doing this while the engine's running. Haven't tried this on Punto, but it worked miracles on Renault 4's belts. (On the other hand, ol' Reno didn't have a timing belt, the cam was moved by a chain, and the belts were just for the water pump and such). Still, it's worth a try, could solve the problem without any risk of damage. If your timing belt is worn out you should replace it (I think it should be changed every 30.000km), otherwise it's soap on the belt and WD-40 for the bearings...

dont wd 40 bearing it will wash all the greese out if theres any left in, it realy is an easy job on a punto, the belt and tenshioner kit is about £13 and it takes an hour and half max, set tenshion so you can just twist the belt 90 degreese with thumb and finger in the middle of longest bit.

As dave said it is relatively easy, remove the drivers side wheel, remove the wheel arch lining. remove the cambelt cover. Loosen the alternator and remove the belt. Remove the three bolts from the fly wheel. Loosen the nut on the cambelt tensioner and remove the old belt. Obviously refitting is the reverse...... apart from you must line the timing marks up. Again as dave said just follow the haynes manual and you really cant go wrong. As for the belt tension, as it says in the haynes book.
Hope you manage ok, let us know how you got on

cheers for the replies guys, if i get the tension of the belt wrong what is the worst that can happen to the engine. For example will it do any serious damage or will the performance just be affected.

Danny

It will put more wear and tear on the parts it goes around i.e your water pump. Im not sure if it will cause any serious damage.........perhaps someone else will be able to answer that

if its too tight it could snap, too lose and it could slip. i never had any problem using the finger and thumb though

hi guys

i've had a look in the hayne's manual and it says that you should line up the lines on your new timing belt with the marks on the car, but what do the marks on the car look like and are they easy to find????

Danny

they look exactly like they do in the haynes manual, and you should be able to see them ok. Basically the one on your cam sprocket should be at the 9o'clock posn and the bottom sprocket at about 10 o'clock posn........just rough guide but of you look on the engine at about those posns you should see them.