Problems with changing my timing belt...

97blkt4r

97blkt4r

New member
So today I attempted to change my timing belt and water pump. Many of the bolts seem to be unreasonable tight, but the ones in the back on the a/c compressor bracket are ridiculously hard to get to and extremely tight. I just have one bolt left but its starting to strip and won't break loose.

I tried someones suggestion on here to avoid having to remove the a/c bracket by using 1/4" elbow socket connector along with an extension to get to the tensioner, but I couldn't get it on the back bolt and I feel like even if it could, I don't think that with the angle and the amount of force needed, that it would allow it to break loose to remove it.

Any advice on this? Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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Pb blaster is your friend. Mine were super tight, corroded/rusted as well. A little pb on everything the day before made things a lot easier.
 
For the rusted out bolts/nuts, use 6-sided wrenches/box sockets (not the 12-point). Also, don't use any cheap inferior quality tools.
 
Good suggestions above. Try tightening and then loosening the bolt. I know they sell kits at Sears etc. that are made to remove stripped bolt heads. Probably would be a good investment to go ahead and make. The tensioner, for me, was the hardest part of the whole job. Both bolt heads stripped and I had to grind them off and then remove the bolts. I wish I had a kit to remove them then.
 
Yeah, I agree with the two above posts. The belt tensioner bolts weren't too much to get off for me, like their torqued real low. I used Craftsman for the entire job, with some Snap-On, and it was a breeze.

And PB Blaster or SeaFoam Deep Creep are good stuff for these jobs. Just remember to let it sit for a day or two.
 
jakknz said:
Good suggestions above. Try tightening and then loosening the bolt. I know they sell kits at Sears etc. that are made to remove stripped bolt heads. Probably would be a good investment to go ahead and make. The tensioner, for me, was the hardest part of the whole job. Both bolt heads stripped and I had to grind them off and then remove the bolts. I wish I had a kit to remove them then.
Click to expand...

I might look at getting that bolt strip remover kit. What does that look like, so I know how to describe it if I go to sears?
 
97blkt4r said:
I might look at getting that bolt strip remover kit. What does that look like, so I know how to describe it if I go to sears?
Click to expand...

I had some cam shaft bolts that ended up stripping during the job. I took vice grips and tightened them until the grip was extremely tight. I then got a breaker bar (My jack handle), and placed it over the end of the vice grip for leverage, I just loosened the stripped bolts that way, and all 3 of them came out. 2 of which I thought I would have to cut off.

Try to use heat as well. Get a mini blow torch and apply heat to the stripped bolt. Then do as I've posted above. I can almost guarantee the bolt coming off, as long as you have the angle of leverage, like the bolt isn't in a shitty location or something..

Good luck!
 
TheKorstjens said:
If all else fails.....C4 will loosen anything.
Click to expand...

Hahaha

Finally got the bolt and bracket out. The kit I bought came with a seal called a "crank seal." I don't see where this seal is at and I don't see it in the haynes manual. Anyone know where this is located?
 
Well this sucks, two of the water pump bolts snapped when I was tightening on the new water pump. I tried using one of those drill bits that is made to remove broken bolts, but it just won't come out. I hate it, but I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that the rest of the bolts will keep it from leaking.
 
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97blkt4r said:
Well this sucks, two of the water pump bolts snapped when I was tightening on the new water pump. I tried using one of those drill bit made to remove bolt, but it just won't come out. I hate it, but I'm going to cross my fingers that the rest of the bolts will keep it from leaking.
Click to expand...

I snapped the stud between the pump and thermostat two years ago when I did my TB two years ago. I needed to drive so I put it back together that way. Still not leaking. New stud is still in the bag.

[Yes, I torqued it. 13 was spec and it snapped at barely over 10. ]
 
I hope I have the same luck.

So yet another problem... I put the timing belt on and the tensioner, then I put the crank shaft pulley on and the mark doesn't line up with the zero anymore. The cam shafts are still at TDC though. What do I have to do to get them all lined up?
 
I don't understand though, I the cam shaft and the crank shaft were lined up at TDC when I took everything off and when I put it all on the the crank shaft pulley (the one with teeth) was lined-up, it's just the pulley that connects to that doesn't line up with the zero.
 
when you installed the new belt you have to get it tight on one side so all the marks will be correct, if not by the time the tensioner takes up the slack and you rotate the engine to check if the marks are still aligned (which yours arnt im assuming by way of last post) that your just 1 or 2 teeth off. realign back to TDC and recheck marks, make adjustments as necessary, it shouldn't be more than a few off.
Good luck,
 
Seems to be significantly off:


To adjust everything correctly should I rotate everything so that the crank shaft is at TDC, then take of the belt and rotate each cam shaft one at a time making each of them at TDC, then put the belt back on?
 
Is the key still in the crank? I think you need to take the crank pulley back off and see what's going on.
 
I was wrong with my earlier post, when I looked back I realized that when the cam shafts are at TDC, both the pulley with teeth and the one that connects to it are off from the TDC markings.
 
The woodruff key, it's a little chunk of metal that goes into a slot in the crank and matches up with a slot in the pulley. If that key is not in the pulley can be anywhere on the crank and may be why it's not lining up.
 
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