timing belt change, help!

10th March 2014, 14:10

Hi guys, in the middle of swapping my timing belt and I'm struggling with the crank shaft lining up.

It's a 2002 1.1 desire, I've got the camshaft locked in and the Haynes says I lock off the flywheel but my oil filter etc is in the way so can't get onto it.

There is a mark on the crankshaft itself but I can't see where that would line up to as I think the timing has jumped because it was missing 7 teeth in a row.

Searched everywhere to no avail so this is my last chance for now and I'm under the cat as I write this, any help would be appreciated, many thanks in advance guys!

10th March 2014, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by aldred309uk

Hi guys, in the middle of swapping my timing belt and I'm struggling with the crank shaft lining up.

It's a 2002 1.1 desire, I've got the camshaft locked in and the Haynes says I lock off the flywheel but my oil filter etc is in the way so can't get onto it.

There is a mark on the crankshaft itself but I can't see where that would line up to as I think the timing has jumped because it was missing 7 teeth in a row.

Searched everywhere to no avail so this is my last chance for now and I'm under the cat as I write this, any help would be appreciated, many thanks in advance guys!

Just so we're clear on what's happened so far, how have you got to this stage?

Did the belt jump / break, and was the engine running when you took it off? Have you rotated anything yet? Is the gearbox still on the car? How can you see the flywheel?

10th March 2014, 14:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by aldred309uk

Hi guys, in the middle of swapping my timing belt and I'm struggling with the crank shaft lining up.

It's a 2002 1.1 desire, I've got the camshaft locked in and the Haynes says I lock off the flywheel but my oil filter etc is in the way so can't get onto it.

There is a mark on the crankshaft itself but I can't see where that would line up to as I think the timing has jumped because it was missing 7 teeth in a row.

Searched everywhere to no avail so this is my last chance for now and I'm under the cat as I write this, any help would be appreciated, many thanks in advance guys!

10th March 2014, 14:24

The belt wad making a dodgy noise, nothing bad, the old belt is currently still on, cambelt cover is off, engine mount is off, I can line up the camshaft but I'm struggling with the crankshaft. it says small hole for the flywheel but the oil filter etc is in the way, it's the one where you open it up to change the filter inside.

Manifold heat shield won't remove.

I managed to get an Allen key in the hole but it obviously isn't long enough. But that's the longest thing I can shimmy into that hole!

10th March 2014, 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuZiZZle

I know, surprised it didn't claw my eyes out!

10th March 2014, 14:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by aldred309uk

The belt wad making a dodgy noise, nothing bad, the old belt is currently still on, cambelt cover is off, engine mount is off, I can line up the camshaft but I'm struggling with the crankshaft. it says small hole for the flywheel but the oil filter etc is in the way, it's the one where you open it up to change the filter inside.

Manifold heat shield won't remove.

I managed to get an Allen key in the hole but it obviously isn't long enough. But that's the longest thing I can shimmy into that hole!

Ok, lock the crankshaft in place first. If you can get an allen key in, assuming it's the longer end, not the 3/4 of an inch top part, that will be more than enough to lock the flywheel. You may need to rotate the engine back and forth slightly, slowly to get the allen key in the locking slot on the flywheel. I used an allen key to lock mine though and it did the job fine, 5mm iirc.

Once that's done, take a look and see if the cam is lining up, that'll tell you if it's far off. And then you can change the belt and lock the cam at that point.

10th March 2014, 14:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by D4MJT

Ok, lock the crankshaft in place first. If you can get an allen key in, assuming it's the longer end, not the 3/4 of an inch top part, that will be more than enough to lock the flywheel. You may need to rotate the engine back and forth slightly, slowly to get the allen key in the locking slot on the flywheel. I used an allen key to lock mine though and it did the job fine, 5mm iirc.

Once that's done, take a look and see if the cam is lining up, that'll tell you if it's far off. And then you can change the belt and lock the cam at that point.

The crankshaft is the issue pal, the Allen key fouls on the oil filter!

10th March 2014, 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by aldred309uk

The crankshaft is the issue pal, the Allen key fouls on the oil filter!

off comes the oil filter then, if there's no way you can get the allen key in.

I've not worked on one with that type of oil filter so I can't think of any tips I'm afraid.

It's fairly easy to remove that filter setup though.

10th March 2014, 14:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by D4MJT

off comes the oil filter then, if there's no way you can get the allen key in.

I've not worked on one with that type of oil filter so I can't think of any tips I'm afraid.

It's fairly easy to remove that filter setup though.

Aye but I'm either looking at the wrong hole or the one it is looks to be lower than the removable part of the filter. Easily removable part should I say!

10th March 2014, 14:50

Okay, it was the wrong hole, I've now got the crankshaft lined up and locked in but the camshaft locking hike is lined up with 9 o'clock instead of 2...

10th March 2014, 14:57

Are you saying that with the crankshaft locked correctly, the camshaft is about 120 degrees out?

It can't have been running if that's the case, I'd either re-check the crank is locked correctly, or you may have jumped the belt during locking the crank / camshaft perhaps?

If you pull spark plug number 1 and shine a torch down can you see the piston crown? That will confirm the crank is correctly locked at TDC.

10th March 2014, 16:00

I think in hand cranking it, it has slipped, in the process of lining it up but with the crank locked, as I turn the cam, the valves are fouling, so undo the crank to let them pass eh!

10th March 2014, 16:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by aldred309uk

I think in hand cranking it, it has slipped, in the process of lining it up but with the crank locked, as I turn the cam, the valves are fouling, so undo the crank to let them pass eh!

argh. This is why I was asking at the start about whether or not the belt was on.

If you've jumped the belt by handcranking it and the valves are fouling, I'd be tempted to pull the head off and check for damage while you're on. There'll be people who know more about it than me but it's easy enough to damage the valves.

At the point you're at it's not much work to pull the head off and check, depending on the history / mileage you could replace the head gasket pre-emptively at the same time.

10th March 2014, 17:42

Belt is changed, car runs, bit lumpy though

Runs fine for a short while, then a misfire for a short while, then fine again etc.

Do you think my timing is out?

10th March 2014, 17:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by aldred309uk

Belt is changed, car runs, bit lumpy though

Runs fine for a short while, then a misfire for a short while, then fine again etc.

Do you think my timing is out?

More than likely, a car not timed correctly will run poor, have poor performance and possibly misfire dependant on how badly it's out of time. If the valve has touched merely while rotating by hand it should be fine, so long as the crank hasn't been forced.

There should be a guide on here for the cambelt simple enough, and like everything when dismantling tipex/marking everything up is a must, not sure on the timing marks on an 8v, but a 16v is pretty easy time up but I would stress check & check that the timings correct, as for an extra 10+ minutes it could be a costly mistake.

I would personally if you're not confident (no disrespect, no one's perfect) get a friend that plays with cars (preferably not an idiot, or as a mate once said "I changed piston the rings on an Rx7 the other day at work"...) and re-check the timing & double check.

10th March 2014, 18:21

Okay, I rechecked the timing, it's fine, left it running for a while and it sounds fine now.

The eml light came on the other day, presumably the crank sensor. The light is still on, does it need plugging in to reset the light caused by the crank sensor? Cheers guys!

10th March 2014, 18:39

You might find you've got some other issue. I had a dodgy lambda which now that I've replaced it its a completely different car!

10th March 2014, 21:25

Thanks for all your help guys, car runs beautifully other than flickering battery light, searched it and looks like it's probably a connection that needs sorting on the alternator!

Getting it plugged in soon to see what the fault on the system is but the timing belt change seems to have been successful. As above, thanks guys!

24th October 2015, 21:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by aldred309uk

Okay, it was the wrong hole, I've now got the crankshaft lined up and locked in but the camshaft locking hike is lined up with 9 o'clock instead of 2...

where about is the hole please

25th October 2015, 09:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by summerinthe70s

where about is the hole please

Does this help?

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