Well, I just got done in the garage for night...Man, what a PITA!!! All that's left to disassemble is te TB tensioner and removing the cam and crank gears to change the seals.

The only thing that concerns me is I have 2 washers and I have no idea where they go! I heard the smaller one fall and hit the ground at a random moment and I found a larger one laying on the ground when I was looking under the car.

I'll be glad to wrap this one up!

 

i gotta do that to mine soon......

 

Thank god I have a chain rather than a belt... All the talk of timing belts recently has made me appreciate not having one.

 

ahh come on, it's not that hard. it's a lot easier to replace your timing belt every 60k than eventually have to deal with vtc issues, or have the chain put a hole in the cover leaving you stranded...

 

maybe there will be a hole after 300k????

 

I hope that you have already loosened the cam gear bolts. I think that the best way to do this is to leave the timing belt on, but a breaker bar on the crank snout bolt, and step on it. This will keep the engine from rotating while you break the cam bolts loose.

 

Read my other thread for an up-to-date account of where I'm at.

 

Well, the timing belt I got from carquest seems to be a couple mm's shorter than the old belt...Maybe the old one has stretched a bit. Anyway, trying to stretch the new belt because it is about a half tooth away from fitting on the cam gears. I tell ya, it's always somethin'.

 

I used an OEM belt but it was a tight fit as well.

 

only use oem timing belts! you will be sorry.

if your vg30 cam seals do not leak, there is a 99% chance they will leak after they are changed. Improper install is the usual scenario.

good luck!

 

maybe it's the difference between round and square tooth belts

 

Don't worry, you will be mad enough when your VTCs start clacking full time...go ahead and call a stealership and ask them what it costs to replace the VTCs. Their quote will probably be more than you paid for the car.

 

OK, guys...I put the new belt on, BUT I have some concerns. The belt is nice and tight on the top and the side with the tensioner. There was not a visible mark on the crank sprocket and I wiggled it back and forth a little when I was trying to remove it. I also had to rotate one cam gear half a tooth over to get the belt marks to line up with the gear mark. I THINK I did the procedure right, but even one tooth off = fcuked...

Back to the belt...like I said, it's nice and taught on the top and tensioner side, but seems kind of loose on the right side. The motor turns clockwise, correct? This motion takes the slack out of it (yes, I have rotated the crank as indicated by the FSM). Now the thousand dollar question...

Should I start the motor or should I do whatever it is you do when you think starting the motor would be bad???

 

I am not going to attempt to answer this one.....

 

It came to the moment of truth...I started the car and...

 

it's running fine! I feel very relieved and I should have all the parts back on it tomorrow!!

SWEET!!!

 

Congratulations !!!! I have to do mine when it warms up here...fun fun fun