billpenman
New member
- Joined
- Jun 8, 2008
- Messages
- 3
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- 2
this is a description of the method i used to replace the timing belt on my bravo hgt without removing the engine, which fiat claim is neccessary to do this job. i have included details of the way i done it for the benefit of other members, the method i used allowed me to change the belt , all tensioner pulleys and also the water pump. as far as i know this method will apply to the marea 20v and possibly also the fiat coupe with the 20v engine. allow yourself plenty of time for this job as you will not finish it in one day, no special tools are required apart from a set of RIBE bits or keys, these look similar to torx bits but are different and exclusive to fiat alfa and lancia cars, draper do a set for around £15, beware if you use a torx bit in a ribe screw if it slips and chews the head you are in trouble! you will need possibly 2 trolley jacks to support the engine and gearbox, apart from this a set of sockets ,combo spanners and a set of metric allen keys is all you will need , start by removing the battery, also the battery tray and small relay box attatched to it which is bolted to the inner wing , remove also the airfilter box and air trunking as far as the MAF sensor, remove the two bolts holding the power steering reservoir to the bulkhead and let it hang free, remove the radiator after draining the system,be carefull when removing it from the engine compartment as the fins damage easily,remove the vertical bolt from the reaction strut ( small tie bar at left side of engine securing engine to strut top mount) also loosen two bolts holding the securing bracket to the strut top mount , reaction strut will now slide clear , jack up the car from both sides and place axle stands under the rear part of the subframe both sides, lower the jacks to allow the weight of the car to rest on the stands ,place a trolley jack under the engine with a block of wood to protect the alloy sump and take the weight of the engine on the jack. now remove the plastic wing liners on the drivers side to allow access to the crankshaft pulley , loosen the ribe bolts on the pulley but dont remove them yet ,remove the alternator and belt, this allows more room to move the engine around, loosen the two bolts holding the auxiliary belt tensioner pulley and remove the belt, remove the horizontal bolt through the o/s engine mount also the bolts holding the mount to the bodywork, this mount needs to be removed by lowering the jack to allow it to be manouvered out of the u bracket, go to the n/s wing now and remove completely the engine mount ( 4 bolts to gearbox and 3 bolts to the body work) disconnect exhaust front pipe at manifold flange, also front mounting clamp bracket. remove also 2 bolts from rear engine /gearbox mount under car. the weight of the engine is now on the trolley jack and can be pushed towards the passenger side creating room at the timing case to allow access to the case screws,i used a ribe bit taped to a open end spanner, once the cover has been removed all will be revealed, now remove the crankshaft pulley and carefully mark the positions of all pulleys with tippex ,before removing anything ,most plastic timing covers will probably have lost there top dead centre pointer as they break off ! doesnt matter as long as you mark the crankshaft pulley to a reference point on the engine block and also the 2 camshaft pulleys( i marked mine in relation to the inner timing cover top flange) i also marked the old belt with tippex and the 2 camshaft sprockets and took note of the number of belt teeth between them, these marks can be transferred to the new belt, happy? now loosen the tensioner pulley bolt and the belt can be removed, fixed tensioner is easily removed, and also the water pump allen bolts, silly not to replace the pump at this stage! removing the sliding tensioner a bit tricky as you will struggle to get the clearance required to remove it from the sliding stud on the engine block, i created extra clearance by jacking up the drivers side suspension arm under the balljoint, this tilted the engine enough to give the neccessary clearance. replace pulleys now with the new ones and fit the belt, take your time here and be 100% certain that the belt is on the same mesh as the old one, you will find that the tension on the front run of the belt is crucial ,once on, temporarily tension and turn engine 2 complete crankshaft revolutions before all your reference marks will line up again, if they dont you will probably be one tooth out, and this will probably be due to not having enough tension in the front belt run, once happy with the mesh of the belt ,tension it and tighten everything up, good ! now all you have to do is put engine back in position and put everything back in reverse order. done this job in 10 hours but would be quicker the next time and fiat said that this job is impossible!
