the questions in the timing

hi guys... me again...

so it looks like our kid has let me down sorting out me timing, as I don't have the knowledge or right tools I may be forced to take it to a garage.
can anyone give me a rough guide as to how much it should cost bearing in mind I have stripped it down and exposed the belt/bits.
how long should it approximately take.
cheers guys.
the mystery machine been stuck on the drive now for nearly two weeks. I want to get on doing the interior.(frustrated I am)

Get a grip mate!!!!  

You CAN put the timing belt on correctly.

It's really not hard.

You've put it on once already, thats the hard bit.

You just need to do it right!!

Line the crap marks up. One on the crank is the easiest.

The ones on the cam are a bit vague, but "up" goes to top of the head, and the two lines line up with the top of the heads casting.

You put the belt on the crank pulley, then put it onto the cam pulley keeping it pretty tightish and you have to keep the cam pulley in the right place with a spanner because your fighting the valve spring a little.

Then slip it over the tensioner.

You can do it!!



Now i'm not sure you know this or not.... but did you remove the centre bar where the handbrake lever bolts down and you undo the bolts for the seatbelt anchors?? And remove the whole front seats on the covers?

If not then access is awful. If you do the above you can kneel in the back of the van and lean over the whole engine.

Hey forgot to add, I use a mirror to check the marks line up correctly.

It's actually one of the many cracked hijet mirrors I have  

that's filled me with confidence. thanks H.J

ill have a look tomorrow after work.

My tip is use a marker on the cam pulley to mark the other end of the tooth with the timimg mark I use a silver metalic marker as it shows up well that way if you mark it all up it makes it a lot easier.

I have a timing question that's not worth a new thread. I've just fitted the new belt, by the manuals instructions...  except the book says 35 teeth gap between belt marks & it's 34... probably best letting that one go.

Anyway, I fitted the belt while on the marks while at TDC, crank case mark spot & belt mark to the drill mark on the cam pulley spot on. Then made marks on the belt at those 3 places. Then rotated a few times until 3 teeth before TDC slackened off the tensioner & rotated it on until TDC again & then tightened the tensioner.... So far so good.

So.... I rotated everything again a few rotations 6 or 8 until the TDC comes up & the belt marks are close.... I'm getting close to the question please bear with me...

At TDC with the head cover mark, the drill mark is still bang on the crank case mark.
So time to crack open a tin..... except.... the belt marks have all moved over one tooth.... I rotate everything again till the belt marks have all moved over two teeth...

I reckon that's ok different sized cogs etc.. it'll just take a lot of rotations until the belt mark are back to where I originally fitted them.

The reason I have a little doubt is when I took the old belt off, I set it at tdc & noticed the belt marks were exactly on the drill marks.
With my limited understanding that's about a 1 in 50 chance or.... I've fitted the new one wrong.

For those who have fitted a timing belt before, what's your verdict?

You do not put any marks on a belt.

You set the crank pulley up to line up the pointer to the dimple.

You set the cam pulley so the F is at the "top", and the dimple on the cam pulley lines up with the cylinder head casting/rocker cover joint seal.

Put the belt on so the non tensioner side is tight. Slip it onto the tensioner and lightly tension.

Then re-check the marks.

Turn the crank over twice, and make sure the marks line up perfect still.

Tighten tensioner and forget about it.

Putting random marks on the belt and tensioners is VERY bad practice for any cam belt installation on any vehicle.

There are 2 marks on the belt when it comes out of the packet, I just high lighted them on the edge & one at tdc so it's clearer to see.

What make is the belt?

Gates "powergrip kit"

Sounds like they are a pretty good part if they have vehicle specific marks on them, not that I have looked at many for marks, as I tend to just put them on with the engine timed up correctly then spin the engine over a couple of times to make sure the pulleys still line up.

As you have said, the belts lines will only line up on the marks every so many rotations of the engine, and I bet your right on your guess of about every 50 rotations or something, maybe 20, I don't know, you'd have to do a bit of maths  

Cool, that's what I thought, but I ain't one for blindly going ahead without checking my facts as best I can.

Assume nowt check it out!

Freaky that the old belt also had marks & they were lined up with the drilled holes as I took it off.

Cheers HJ

For reference:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140924292908?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

They supply SKF & Gates