Timing belt replacement nightmare

[ARCHINSTL]

OK - I modified the temperature - gotta remember that dashes mean something besides denoting separation...

Re tools: Next time you are at Sears, take a Craftsman tool catalog home and just peruse it. You will learn a lot by just looking through the pages. Then try to get a Snap-on catalog - again, just as a learning experience. And yes, I know you can go to an online catalog, but when you are sitting with the paper in hand, I do think you can learn more and feel the experience...OK to laugh at the old traf (spelled backwards) now...
Tom M.

[takza]

Thanks! I learned quite a bit alright. I noticed the timing belt guide, which I installed new, is still making some noise occasionally while idling. I think it wiggles. At least that's what I think it is. It was making the same sound before the replacement.

I had a recent experience with a tensioner for a Nissan engine, This was the second t-belt I've put in this car. The original Nissan tensioner had 90K on it...still smooth and not loose...while the replacement tensioner with 60K on it (1st t-belt) was a little sloppy...so I re-used the OEM 90K one.

The 2nd one was also bought from Nissan. So don't count on the quality of factory replacement parts?

And remember: a real mechanic NEVER dances...especially around Sears tools...it's just not respectful. Respect the tools.

[Paul]

I once made a strap wrench to hold a Porsche crank pulley, and it worked. Cut the old multirib alternator belt and bolted it to the side-end of a 2x2 about 3 foot long. It looked something like a strap wrench you would buy. Put the belt on the crank pulley and preloaded in the opposite direction of the breaker bar on the crank bolt. Slipped a little at first, but finally managed to grab it tight enough to let the breaker bar do it's job.

[ARCHINSTL]

Great idea, Paul !
It's certainly worth a try before buying one. All I gotta do is remember it...
Tom M.

[Mac]

I used an impact gun.

[takza]

I'm a c-clamp man myself...like my father and his father before him...we're all c-clamp men.

[StevenHasty]

i am have ing this trouble now here is my question does lefty loosy righty tighty still aply or is this a counter clock wise bolt i pulld the starter i dont see any thing for a c clam can grab on to some insite will be great

[takza]

You need a "medium sized" c-clamp...and you want to clamp it in the hole with the pads on the flywheel back inside of or behind the ring gear if possible. You can place the back side of the clamp facing the direction the flywheel wants to rotate when you loosen the bolt.

Far as I know it's lefty loosey....I always ask myself....since you can loosen it by running the starter with a wrench on the bolt...that tells you which way it needs to go...look at the fan.

[StevenHasty]

the starter meathod worked like a champ i had issues with the break over bar slipping so i removed the wind dam under the car and used a cheater bar to the ground bumped the starter and koo koo kachoo the bolt broke loose

[Petros]

I have always found the method someone on this list invented works easiest: remove a spark plug and insert length of cord into combustion chamber so piston stops before TDC. It has always worked for me, and it gives me better feel with a hand on the breaker bar (sometimes with cheater pipe), I can turn it slowly and feel the bolt torque back off as it loosens.

[neddflanderz]

working on cars is fun

[mister.highwaystar]

I have a vehicle exactly like yours, in order to remvove that pulley (I have recently replaced the timing belt on my vehicle!) put the socket on. Then put your 18" breaker bar on hanging down below the engine (so you will have plenty of room, with the vehicle jacked up, front wheels off the ground, car on jackstands) Then simply hit the end of the breaker bar with a mallet, while pushing it in the counerclockwise position with all your might!
This actually works a lot better than an impact wrench. In fact this is how one breaks nuts loose that impact wrenches cannot crack. Try this before heating up the nut, which may be the next step. Yet I never used any heat, nor had all the trouble you have had. Yet I am a very experienced mechanic who cannot figure out why anyone else never thought of using the most important tool in their tool box: the human brain!

[StevenHasty]

woo hoo sucess just finished the timeing belt change and reset my valve clearance had trouble with the car not starting at first thaught i had my spark plug wires crossed but that was not the case the car would fire but would not run so wile cranking i mashed on the acelerator pedal to get the car to stay running then gradualy the rpms increased then it ran like a champ. and quiter to boot.

[sdoan]

Good Luck with the crank bolt - they can be a PITA but they always, eventually come off. I like the starter bump method but never tried it. I also like Petros tool - I've made something similar. I'm pretty sure I've stopped the crank by inserting something through the cam gear and pulling against the belt so if you are not reusing the belt that might be easy.

I wouldn't heat the bolt and pulley - the front pulleys sometimes come apart (it is a combination vibration damper and pulley with a layer of rubber in the vibe damper) and the heat might make this more likely.

You asked a couple other questions. The valve cover gasket should not need any sealer if it is new and good quality. The Felpro gaskets seal and the cheap Chinese gaskets don't. Some cheap gaskets actually shrink when heated and then leak around the from cam bearing housing because they pull away from the inside corner. Then people put lots of sealer on them. If you have a cheap gasket I'd exchange it for a Felpro or Toyota gasket.

I break bolts or strip threads with torque wrenches so I've developed some rules. Use the smallest torque wrench that will reach the torque you need so that you are in the middle or top of the wrench's ability. Bolts I've broken with torque wrenches have been small bolts with large torque wrenches. Don't trust that you will hear the click on a clicker torque wrench - especially at low torque settings. I almost always use a 3/8" drive beam type torque wrench for engine work. Beam torque wrenches seem low tech, but they are made at a set spring rate that has a known deflection at a specific torque - they're bullet proof. The 1/2" clicker I have only gets used for the nuts on the half shafts.

Good luck and let us know what works.