NOTE - Expand Thread to see all 3 pics

As mentioned on Bay 13, the hardest parts about getting the Timing Belt on and off, (without removing the crankshaft pulley) is threading it behind the crankshaft pulley - I quote “This is not easy the first time, and even dealer Technicians find this hard and will break the 30mm nut loose with an impact gun (to not rotate the crankshaft), and pull the pulley out or off.”.

Sure enough I was having a bear of a time. For me, it was not so much the clearance behind the pulley as it was the clearance between the pulley and the motor mount – particularly since the belt has to make an immediate bend to “S” around the mount, behind the pulley, and around the black plastic tab.. Getting the old one off was so difficult, I almost cut the belt. Getting the new one in cost me almost an hour. I removed a bolt on the mount just to get that extra little clearance… while trying to get to the second bolt, I found that with a pry bar, I could bring the whole thing up just about a bolts width, and insert a ¼” socket extension between the rubber and metal in the mount to keep the engine raised. See pic. (BTW – I was replacing the strut at the same time, so the strut is removed and the black bungee chord you see in the pic was there to keep the rotor assembly from putting stress on the brakeline).

This gave me just enough clearance to get the belt in and out with much greater ease. With the engine raised, I did not have to follow such a severe “S” channel to get the belt in. Getting the belt pas the mount was easy, and provided much more “play” to get around the pulley and behind the plastic tab.

LOL, I almost question if having the ability to do this (pry the engine up without disconnecting anything) means I have a faulty motor mount or something. For me, I already had that top bolt removed, and so I left it that way when I took the pics, but I found afterward that the pry technique worked with or without that top bolt removed.
If you can tell from this that I have another problem – related to the mount – please let me know… Otherwise, this may be worth a try for others out there – who knows, maybe you have the same situation.

Cheers

FOR LARGER IMAGE - CLICK HERE

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1995 850T Wagon 120k

FOR LARGER IMAGE - CLICK HERE
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1995 850T Wagon 120k

FOR LARGER IMAGE - CLICK HERE

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1995 850T Wagon 120k

If that is what you are trying to do you might also want to consider removing both of those bolts, pry the engine up until the upper hole in the mount aligns with the lower hole on the engine. Run the bolt through and tighten it down. I have even seen guys go so far as to lift it all the way up so it will sit ontop of the mount. That is a little precarious for me, if I need clearance in that area for any reason I just go with bolting the upper hole to the lower mount in the block. When it comes to doing T-belts I just shoot the dampner out of the way, it takes two seconds and makes it way, way easier.

Mark

Have not done a timing belt yet on a FWD. Are you saying you just remove the pulley? I have a good pneumatic wrench. Seems like the way to go rather than fighting an hour or two.

dick

Alright, so I probably exagerated a bit on the time it took to get that first belt out... I probably should have said it SEEMED like an hour.
(BTW Mark, I am the Magic Mountain guy! - thanx for your email responses.)

If the dampner is the same thing as what I called the crankshaft pulley - I was a little paranoid and just did not want to turn any of the timing-related components for fear of slight miss-alignment upon re-installation. I do not have an impact wrench or air tools.

This is my first timing belt change myself, and I just went by Bay 13's instructions. It really wasn't that difficult. I have noticed others on this board like "Chin Ho" (I think that is his name) who have yet to tackle this, presumably with the same paranoia / concerns that I had. But the fact is that armed with the instructions, it was not so bad.

I was very paranoid about messing up the timing. Once this all gets done, I may still have a thing ot two to diagnose, and I did not want to make that process more complex by introducing more elements.

That said, I also happened to come across an eBay sale of the IPD lock tool for the sprockets packaged with IPD's T-Belt Instructions and DVD. As someone mentioned in another thread, the value of the DVD to me was that in clarified for me what to expect to see, and what to look for as far as alignment marks on the sprockets and crankshaft pulley. FOr me it was good because when I got in there, someone else had put white marks on the sprockets and timing cover, but they were not lining up. I ended up having to use a magnifying glass to find the scored marks on the sprockets (my eyes - I must be getting old). Anyway, whatever bozo put those marks there in the past was a reference that made sense to him apparently but had nothing to do with proper Timing Belt alignment.

Now that I have been there, done that, I will probably re-list the IPD instructions and DVD on eBay.

I guess I should have pre-empted my first post by stating;
"Those who plan to follow the Bay 13 instructions"

BTW - great tip on the bolt thing Mark. That is another way. I could not access the lower bolt initially which is what led me to pry in the first place, when I realized that by prying I gained the clearance I needed. I had the extension sitting there and just inserted it, but the bolt thing sounds like another good idea.

Cheers

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1995 850T Wagon 120k

Hey Magic Mountain Guy, glad to see you got your T-belt handled. You said you might stop by if you needed something handled that was beyond your ability on your car. From your handywork there I'd say that the motor is going to have to explode before you need anything beyond advice from me :) .

Boy do I hear you on the whole paranoia deal with interference motors. You spend years and years hanging timing belts on red engines and then along comes the B234 and then the white engines. I can still remember the first time I cranked over the engine after a belt change on the first B6304F. "Please , baby, baby, don't blow up!!" That feeling is always there anytime they change something like when they went back to the manual tensioners in the later model V70's. I had to read that bulletin 10 times before it made sense, damn swenglish anyhow. I've had guys call from as far away as N. Carolina so I could explain to them what they were trying to accomplish with that darn thing. How's that for paranoia, call a complete stranger who is a fellow technician to ask for advice on how to install a timing belt on a car that you are supposed to know like the back of your hand. NOBODY wants to blow up a motor. Funny stuff when you look back at it.

The only thing that I find the cam locking tool necessary for is the late model VVT (variable valve timing) cars. It'll pop the check engine light if you are off so much as an RCH.

Blowing that dampner out of the way is something you really need a 1/2" gun for.

The tip on the bolt came from my bros that are still in the trenches at the dealership, that is one of the angles that they use when doing oil pump seals.

Anyhow, glad that worked out for you.

Mark

Yep, that is exactly what I am saying. In Volvo school they teach you to fight your way around the darn dampner but I prefer to bang it out of the way. With it out of the way you can get a clear shot at the tensioner as well. I know other techs that don't even think twice about it, they leave it in place and work right around it. Different strokes....

Mark