Cambelt help!?

5th November 2012, 19:15

Right my cr has finaly reached 70 thousand miles i think its read for a cambelt change, i brought the car 3 months ago and a brandnew cambelt was in the dashbored, i phoned the guy i brougjt it off and he also said it was in the car when he brought it one year ago so as far as im aware this belts needed changin for just over a year, so mu conclusion i dont have much money and i am willing to gove it ago (DIY) i have little tools but the basicks can someone please tell me what i need and a step by step guid maybe as my belly instink saying change it before things start going terrably wrong! All answers appriciated, and thanks as ive heard im going to have to do it without moving the pulleys because i have lack of basically everything, i am mechanicaly minded, just for some reson dont feel comftable working on my own car lol, saxo x 1.1i T Reg past month ive done thrust bearing, clutch and pressure plate, oil/plug/petrol filter change and startermotor, just ive heard if i dont know what im doing with a cambelt things can go down hill let me know guys cheers

5th November 2012, 19:49

there is a guide on here somewhere search and you will find it

5th November 2012, 21:13

Buy a Haynes manual. Tell you all you need to know. But getting the tension without the proper tool is by feel/ deflection of 10mm

6th November 2012, 02:52

Cheers guys

6th November 2012, 03:14

its easy mate

youll need tensioner and waterpump as well as belt (on an 8v is pennies..might have both with low miles if youve got a belt)

6th November 2012, 03:27

Quick and easy guide.

Release and remove alternator belt.
Remove alternator belt pulley 13mm.
then remove plastic cam covers. 5 or 6 10mm bolts iirc.
Remove spark plugs.
Then you want to set the timing to TDC (piston 1 is all the way up) Do this by lining up the hole in the cam pulley with the hole/indent on the side of the head. pretty easy to match up. Poke a screwdriver into piston 1 and if it sinks low, then you need to turn the pulley round 360 again until the screwdriver pokes up as much as it can.
Next its best to find something to put through the pulley and into the small hole to keep it looked. I used a bolt.
Next find a small allen key or drill bit and lock the fly wheel into place. This is located around the where the crank sensor is. Quite a small hole but is easy enough to find, just have a route around.
Once everything is locked into place i mark the belt. One at the top of the belt on the pulley (use tipex or something similar) and make two marks, one on the pulley it self and one on the belt so its in line. And do the same down the bottom. I use the crank pulley.
Then undo the belt tensioner, 13mm iirc (should of come with the new kit) until it releases the tension on the belt. Then simply remove the belt. But make a note of which way the arrows on the old belt are facing, so you can put the new belt on in the same fashion.
Once the belt is off, take the tensionor off completely. Some people say do the water pump as well, but that's entirely up to you. I didn't and the pump is still fine.
Now put on the new tensioner on and leave it lose enough that it moves, but can be nipped up tight with only a little rotation.
Now get the old and new belt, facing the right way round (the arrows) and swap the markings on the old belt to the new one.
Once you've done that, move the belt into position the right way round with the marks lining up as before. Now as for tensioning the belt, i always do it so you can only turn the belt 90 degrees round in your fingers with medium force. Probably not the best way of doing it, but it works for me. To do this you'll need a small square piece of metal, i used an old door handle thingy and a spanner of the right size (9mm for the door handle thing)
Once you've tightened enough, nip up the nut, securely on the tensioner.
Now i always crank the engine over by hand first to check it all moves freely. . Do this several times, until yours arms start to ache, just to be sure. Making sure you've taken the timing locks out otherwise its going now where.
Once you've done that and are happy. You can pop the covers back on, along with the alternator belt and spark plugs. And fire her up! And hope for the best.

Hope this helps, seems a long and painful thing to do but it isn't really. If i've missed anything i'm sure someone will notice and bring it up

good luck.

9th November 2012, 06:55

All done and running thanks to chris quick fix guied

cheers every one! Only took 1 or 2 hours