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[grantduffield]

One more question -

How difficult a job is this?  I've never done one, but I've got the tools and the interest.  Who should I get the parts from? Valve cover gasket at same time?  Words of caution/wisdom? 

Thanks - 

[luvit]

i've done this. it was difficult for me.

i broke my timing chain and thought i'd just replace the water pump and anything else while i had it apart.
i really really wanted to do this.. i knew it would be a major task for my level of skill.
for me, it was hard, blood sweat and tears.. i was feeling my way around the task.
 i had a leak on the water pump gasket.. i had to do it again and found it to be a bit easier.

the car needs jacked-up and blocked-up, remove passenger tire, removed the engine mount so the engine can be lowered with another jack.  i had to remove AC and power steering pumps & brackets which yielded me little advantage.

in the pic below, every numbered item must come off.. and even more items than that.
the timing belt circles an engine mount, so i have to use a jack under the engine, lower the engine as i unbolt the mount, insert timing belt.


the picture below shows two bolts that were my biggest challenge to remove and replace when the pump was mounted in position.


the tool to access these bolts needed to be a thin device, like a combo wrench with a little zig zag to it.. the line wrenches below were perfect.
Duralast flexible hex line wrenches, they would tend to slip when i tried to make a final torque and that's a good thing.
i have a old bad habit of over-torquing fasteners if i can't get a torque wrench to fit.


hope this helps.

.

[grantduffield]

Once again - you da man!

Thanks for the insight.  (I watched scotty kilmer do a timing belt on youtube - looks like a piece cake!)

Did you do the cam seals and or valve cover gasket? 

[Rocketman]

The valvecover gasket is really easy to do, and can be done at the same time or afterwards.

The front main seal and cam seals should be considered but can make the job a lot more work.

Here's a timing belt writeup for the Miata guys, they are RWD so the engine faces differently but the major parts are still all the same. Their valvecovers do need to be removed to do the belt, ours do not. http://www.miata.net/garage/timingbelt.html

You can use that as a guideline.

I'll hopefully be doing a timing belt in my red XR2 this spring or early summer, I've had many requests for a full writeup so that's on my to-do list.

[luvit]

yeah, with lots of video editing, i could look better than him.. i'm sure his experience helps a little to make it look easy
i did not do the cam seals or valve cover gasket.
it took me days just to do the timing chain and water pump. i was not persistent, an hour to 3-4hrs at a time.. had to seek out a wrench to fit that one spot..

i think i forgot to say, i had this one small o-ring with my water pump kit which i could never find the location to.
it's where the *coolant bypass line* connects at the water pump.. *this* is where the special wrench saved the day.
however, i spliced the *rigid* coolant bypass line and patched it back together with 5/8" hose and hose clamps.
if i would have figured this out while the entire car was torn apart, i probably could have placed that o-ring in without splicing the rigid line.

[grantduffield]

Thanks again.  What's the preferred component brand (dayco, gates, bosch, ??)?

[luvit]

i think i bought everything at autozone.. i don't know the answer to brand names. all parts were new, nothing rebuilt.
i may have even had to wait a day or two for the parts to arrive from AZ in another town.

[Rocketman]

I've used both Dayco & gates belts but not timing belts. I don't know of any "problem brands" anyway, if that helps.

[grantduffield]

Helps a bunch - thank you! 

[Jim Simms]

I will send up a message to whoever you see in the sky.
My mechanic replaced my waterpump last year, and told me it was the "tighest fit" and one of the most difficult two man jobs he has done.

[Surfnut]

******I have a 1991 XR-2 !  Sorry, I did not realize this topic was in the N/A section!****

I've got a mess here and desperately need help please !

I read through that link that Rocketman posted to the Miata page.  I do not have any cam marks on my engine or cam covers (that I can see).

Can anyone please tell me how to be certain that the cams and the crank are positioned properly?

It looks to me like the left cam might be off a tooth?
I think the key in the crankshaft is pointing straight up but the "I" on the left cam and the "E" on the right cam are not.
Is that how you properly time the crank and cams?  Put the crankshaft key straight up and the left cam's "I" and the right cam's "E" are straight up as well?








I know the left cam moved counterclockwise when I removed the old timing belt.  I turned it clockwise when I installed the new belt.  Maybe I turned it too much?

How can I tell for sure if each cam and the crank are in proper time with each other?

Thanks in advance for any help!

Dave

[Surfnut]

That looks to me like the mark on the crankshaft pulley is in line with the "T" on the dust cover.



Here's where the cams are :

[azgtx]

Use the crank key to line up the crank. Many times the the crank pulley will move but yours looks ok. So as a rule of thumb use the keyway as an external reference. The cam marks are the little bumps on the top of the backing plate. By looking at the pics you are off  a bit (1 tooth to the front). To keep the cam gears from moving you will need one of Matt's handy tools or take off the cam cover and hold the cams with a wrench on the supplied areas. If the belt needs to come off you will need to remove the pulley which will expose the crank gear with the TDC reference arrow and you will see that it also lines up with the crank key.

[Surfnut]

Thank you for your reply.

So it looks to you that both cams should move counter clockwise one tooth each?

Other than trying to line up the cam gears visually, is there a way to double check that everything is in time?

thank you again,

Dave

[Surfnut]

I moved each cam gear back one tooth and this is how they look now :







I started it up and it runs fine but it seems to me there's some valve clatter - like  ticking sounds.  I hope I got everything right?