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How to change your timing belt!


5523Pathfinder
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You can also manipulate the cams just a touch to give the belt some more slack. More or less transfering the slack in the belt to down by the tensioner. Carefull as if you move the cams too much they will spring backwards on you. As stated before, if this happens, roll the cam back up and try again. Yes, it can be a bit tricky on some.

 

Yes, turn the tensioner clockwise to about the 9 oclock position or so. It will begin to push back out if you go around any further.

Edited by 5523Pathfinder
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One small trick I used was to put the belt only halfway on the cams and crank. That put a tad less of an angle on the belt and just a touch bit more slack. Once over the edge of the tensioner, slip it completely on all sprockets. You can also get away with a touch of silicone on the leading edge of the belt at the tensioner to help it slip on. As the belt is toothed and the tensioner doesn't matter if it slips at all, having a dab of lubricant won't hurt the system.

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Thank you both, I got it! I put a screwdriver between the tensioner and belt and used it to leverage it on.

 

Unfortunately this job has been a multi month, casual ordeal. Now that I have the timing covers back on, I can't remember how to reinstall the vibration damper and crank pulley.

I'm thinking the vibration damper isn't going in far enough because the crank bolt won't catch thread unless I take the washer off, but it's difficult to get the damper on and off. Also the crank pulley is in two sections that seem to bolt to themselves but there isn't anything to thread into.

 

Tips on removing/installing the damper?

 

Did I lose some kind of mounting plate for the two halves of the crank pulley?

 

Are all these questions and more already answered somewhere and I didn't notice?

 

I'm a complete novice here, any help appreciated

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Vibration damper = harmonic balancer

 

Is the Harmonic balancer built into the crank pulley?

 

When I pulled my crank pulley using the wrong puller I think I may have separated the pulley rings from the inner rubber core that I believed to be a separate piece.

 

Did I ruin it and now need a new crank pulley assembly? I can get some pictures up if needed

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should be rear plate, then a keyed flat thin washer, then the crank sprocket, then another keyed washer (this one has a curved rim I believe that turns away from the engine, then the front cover, then the crankshaft pulley (ie, harmonic balancer assy) then the fat washer cupped inwards then finally the big-ass bolt.

 

see pg EM-12 http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Pathfinder/1995_Pathfinder/em.pdf

 

I have never separated the vibration damper (rubber part) from the crank pulleys (outer part) but I would think it's a bad idea since they are 'balanced' and if you don't get them assembled in the correct orientation, you could magnify the out-of-balance situation.

 

Edited by k9sar
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  • 1 month later...

So grateful for this thread, and everyone that has thrown in their two cents.

My question is, how do you get TDC if you (ok, it's me) forgot to mark the belt, and can't get L or R lined up at the same time?

I tried turning them by hand, but the passenger side doesn't want to hit it's mark :(

Any help at all will be greatly appreciated, and thanks again, for starting this thread. It has been amazingly helpful up to this point!

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throw a wrench on the bolt holding the cam sprocket. Due to the springs on the valves and rockers, the cam sometimes doesn't want to stay where you need it. Count the teeth and put a couple of lines on your belt with chalk or a paint marker, slip it on one of the cams with a line on the cam mark, then turn the other cam to get it's mark lined up with your other line (making sure there are the appropriate number of teeth between the marks. Then slip the belt onto the crank sprocket, again making sure the correct number of belt teeth are between the alignment marks. Lastly, it's loosen the tensioner and work the belt onto that. Oh yea, and do this all with the engine set at TDC

Edited by k9sar
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If your problem is actually getting TDC, you will need to throw a wrench on the crankshaft bolt to turn it (disconnect the coil first... don't want to accidentally start it)

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Thank you for the reply!

I have put a wrench on the crank, and got the sprockets into position, but the passenger side sprocket keeps slipping one way, or the other. It's lie its at the top of the spring and slides down either side when I try to put the belt back on.

With the coils, do I just unconnect them (all), or do I have to completely remove them?

Thanks again for the help, I'd be lost without this thread :o

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Just pull the wire from the center of the distributor cap, and the coil is disconnected (there is only one). The other option is not to turn the crank with the ignition on, but always better save than sorry with something so simple.

 

B

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yea, with the belt, you have to hold the sprocket in position as you slip the belt on. Using a ratchet can get frustrating cause you move it to position and then it slips 'over the hump' and forward. Using a simple box-wrench or a socket on a breaker bar gives you much more control over rotation.

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Excellent, K9sar! That is the information I was looking for :)

On another note, do I hve to replace the oil pan gasket when changing the crank seal? I don't see why I would, but some of the literature I have read says it's so?

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As I said, the bottom and driver side are lined up perfectly, but not the passenger side, so I cranked the passenger side a few revolutions, hoping to get it in position, but it still wants to slip over 'the hump' that K9sar mentioned. My question is, did I knock everything out of whack by turning only the top passenger sprocket?
The reason I ask, besides the obvious, is that the area behind the cams are different, with the driver side being near the front, allowing just enough room for the seal to be installed, but the area behind the passenger side cam is recessed about 2-3 inches, and I am worried that all my cranking has pushed it back, and now I'm afraid I'll push the seal in too far on that side?

Lots of nuances to this job, and I could have never attempted it without this thread, so many thanks to all that have contributed. It's nice to know, I'm not alone :)

post-37535-0-62996500-1425675300_thumb.jpg

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Got everything back together, put in coolant, topped off the oil and started it up, only to hear, what I assume to be, something missing, and then it died out, and I couldnt get it started again :(

To make matters worse, I saw a puddle of coolant of the garage fllor, and when I looked under the hood, I saw a small hole in the radiator, where I hit it accidentally with my wrench :(

I can handle getting a new rad, but what I really need, is to find out how to 'reset' the timing belt, now that I've cranked the right (passenger) side cam sprocket so many times.

Is there any way to get back to square one with the timing belt? It's my only transportation, and I've already missed a couple days of work fiddling with it, so any help whatsover will be graciously appreciated :)

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You need to find TDC, so pull spark plug #1, turn the crank until the piston is at the top of rise with the dizzy rotor facing the #1 post (or close to, not 180* off). Now check the cam/crank positions/count the teeth (40/43), hopefully you will see what is off. Release tensioner, slip the belt off, realign belt marks to the pulley marks, slip the belt back on and re-tension. That really should do it for you.

 

As for the dying and not starting, I really suspect something else is going on. Check to see all plugs and wires are in proper order/hooked up, check all connectors around where you have been working, and don't get frustrated.

Sometimes the sensor wiring can have issues; I had a friends truck die without warning and not start because we had wiggled the coolant temp sensor for the ECU and interrupted/corrupted the signal somehow. We disassembled the harness connector, cleaned and re-assembled it, and no issues for 1.5 years now. Just take a good look around and don't assume it is something major yet.

 

As I said, the bottom and driver side are lined up perfectly, but not the passenger side, so I cranked the passenger side a few revolutions, hoping to get it in position, but it still wants to slip over 'the hump' that K9sar mentioned. My question is, did I knock everything out of whack by turning only the top passenger sprocket?
The reason I ask, besides the obvious, is that the area behind the cams are different, with the driver side being near the front, allowing just enough room for the seal to be installed, but the area behind the passenger side cam is recessed about 2-3 inches, and I am worried that all my cranking has pushed it back, and now I'm afraid I'll push the seal in too far on that side?

Lots of nuances to this job, and I could have never attempted it without this thread, so many thanks to all that have contributed. It's nice to know, I'm not alone :)

Umm, you should not have rotated the passenger cam a few revolutions (on it's own), much less been able to. At some point the valves should have interfered with the pistons, but maybe you got lucky or they rotated the crank slightly for clearance?

It is hard to tell from the picture, but the passenger cam face is sticking out much farther, by a couple of inches? You might have a larger issue, either a broken cam, or one of the keepers has failed. Try putting the pulley on just snug, then rotating it just a bit back and forth while pushing in to see if it moves back (this shouldn't be possible). At this point, you may want to pull that valve cover so you can see what is going on.

 

B

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Thank you, Precise one! I will try what you suggest. I am a novice, at best, so I probably don't have any business tackling a project as detailed as this, but at this point, I've got nothing to lose.

I'll let you know what happens, TC

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Oh, I was going to ask, if it's alright to start my truck without the radiator? I just want to see if it starts before putting everything back together :o

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Finally got the belt in the exact spot, with 40 between the cams and 43 between the left cam and crank, so in the morning I'm gonna give it a try, without a radiator, or belts, just to see what it sounds like, for a second or two. I'll feel lucky if it starts, because it died out today when I started it, and because of the leaking radiator, I didnt try to start it again.

I was going to post more pics, but I am limited to 62? kbs, so Im trying to find a way to mak them smaller.

I just want to say how awesome it is, that you and the other guys in this forum are always helpng each other out. I really like my pathfinder, and I can see that there are other people that feel it's worth taking care of;

I'll post the results, after I try to start it tomorrow. Thanks again for all the help. I could have never gotten this far without it :)

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Still cant post pics, but I did get the belt on, and she started up real smooth, and idled nicely for a few secs, then I shut it down, and heard a splashing sound :(

Apparently, starting it without a radiator, or hoses, caused fluids (coolant, oil, trans) to drain out of the vehicle, and all over my garage floor :( But, that's ok. As long as she started up, and didn't miss. That's what I was worried about, and thanks to all the help I recieved from this forum, I am not so worried anymore. All I have to do, is put the radiator, hoses and covers back on, and I should be good to go :)

Once again, thanks to the guy that started this thread, and all the people that contributed. Yall saved me 1,000 buck :)

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Still cant post pics, but I did get the belt on, and she started up real smooth, and idled nicely for a few secs, then I shut it down, and heard a splashing sound :(

Apparently, starting it without a radiator, or hoses, caused fluids (coolant, oil, trans) to drain out of the vehicle, and all over my garage floor :( But, that's ok. As long as she started up, and didn't miss. That's what I was worried about, and thanks to all the help I recieved from this forum, I am not so worried anymore. All I have to do, is put the radiator, hoses and covers back on, and I should be good to go :)

Once again, thanks to the guy that started this thread, and all the people that contributed. Yall saved me 1,000 buck :)

I'm sorry I didn't warn you about that, I figured you had the lines plugged or in a bucket or whatever. :doh:

Yeah, the water pump will push the coolant and the tranny lines have good pressure too. You'll have to check that ATF level before you do any driving...

Still, if it is all working right now and the worst you have to do clean up the floor, well, still a win? :shrug:

 

B

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  • 4 weeks later...

I thought I'd share some things I learned on my timing belt adventure. I'll add more as I finish up...

 

1) I decided to remove the spark plugs (and replace them at the same time) and always thought they should be tight, not barely snug... :blink:

2) If you are replacing your seals, take a suitable tool (punch, drift pin, etc) and tap the old seals in a little first (.02-.05") just to break them lose. It will make pulling them out 10X easier. The first one took me 15 minutes to figure out, the second took 2 minutes...

3) A standard 36mm socket is what I had and used for the cam seals, it worked perfect... I made a plastic sleeve for the front crank seal install and tapped it in with an extension, walking around it. Be careful when tapping the seals in, it takes very little force so don't drive them in too far! If you do, odds are you will ruin it getting it out.

4) The 27mm socket with a breaker bar resting on the steering box/bumper bracket mount, removing the coil wire and bumping the starter for 1/2 of a second worked beautifully to loosen the crank bolt.

5) Make sure you have everything you need first. I thought I did, but wound up going to get hose clamps, new radiator hoses, bolts for the puller and a new fan clutch as an afterthought just so everything is new...

6) Expect to spend just as much time cleaning, scraping, caulking and setting the timing belt tension (took me 4 tries before I was satisfied) as you do on the disassembly/reassembly.

 

I haven't figured out how to torque the crank bolt back to the 96ft/lbs recommended though. I have an electric impact gun but it is WAY too long to fit in there. I just bought a compressor, so I may have to go to HF and buy an air gun just for this job... :shrug:

 

Like I said, I'll chime in with anything else I remember or run across.

 

B

Precise1,

 

For someone who simply disrupted the timing by removing the dist. cap rotor and didn't mark it's direction, I need to rotate my crankshaft to get the pulley to line up at TDC. Have you gotten to the bolt from underneath? I am trying to avoid removing the radiator and fan shroud, and whatever else that will probably have to come out, am I just high hoping or can this be done?

 

Chris

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