Unorthodox methods

[Peter Palmer]

When I toyed with doing our cambelt last year the thing that put me off first was undoing the crank bolt, I didn't have an impact driver big enough so gave up at that point. I was just watching some videos of how other people have attempted the job as our Dispatch needs one now and there is a lot more room to work on it than a Berlingo so may borrow an impact gun and have a go myself.

The bloke in this video I came across managed to get the pulley undone without a gun - this is how he did it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1KEct8KdcU

I can imagine all sorts of horrible things going wrong if that was for real, surely he must have undone it beforehand with something else, I can well imagine the strong arm breaking your wrists before repeatedly smacking you round the head as it whizzes round at 800rpm.

[jj9]

I've used that method quite a few times over the years to loosen the bottom pulley bolt

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[cancunia]

If it's a DV6 1.6HDi engine, you should be able to undo the pulley bolt just by locking the crank and using a t-bar. The 2.0 is another matter apparently, I've seen the method shown in the video elsewhere, you just need to be quick with the keys... Maybe also remove the crank position sensor so it won't start.

[jj9]

Yes you have to take measures to make sure the engine won't start.

I wouldn't recommend using the method if the crank pulley is the type that is not keyed to the crank, or if the vehicle has a push button start system.



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[Peter Palmer]

I thin I'll just invest in a cheap impact gun, always handy to have one lying around. I might consider doing it the way of the video if I could jam a strong arm against something solid to stop it turning but I would never hold onto it whilst someone spins the engine over, there is the potential for all sorts of ungodly things to go wrong.

[jj9]

The guy in the video will have the breaker bar jambed against the ground, his left hand that you see is holding the socket in place so it doesn't jump off, you only need a quick flick of the starter as shown to break the bolt free.

At 8:53 in the video you will notice that the guy has marked the timing belt and pulley with Tippex.

Once the pulleys are all pinned in place with the timing pins if you mark the pulleys and belt with marks when the old belt is removed you can then transfer the marks from the old belt to the new one, then when fitting the new belt line the marks up on the new belt with the ones on the pulleys, this helps you make sure you have no extra slack on the runs between the pulleys that would result in the timing being a tooth out when checked.

Some timing belts for some models of vehicles are made with alignment marks that you line up with the factory marks on each pulley.

NOTE....
The alignment marks on the belt will go out of sync with the marks on the pulleys once the engine is turned over, the marks are only there to facilitate fitting of the belt with no slack between the pulleys.



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[Peter Palmer]

That's a good idea with the tippex.

[geoff]

^^ Useful guidance yes but don't rely on it absolutely if you are a belt novice, the key thing is to have all the locking pins in place and camshaft pulley positioned in slot correctly if needed according to type and then when you are done with the belt you must turn the engine over several times by hand and then reinsert all the locking pins once again. If you cannot get the pins back in then you have done something wrong. Hopefully all will be correct.

[Peter Palmer]

^^ Useful guidance yes but don't rely on it absolutely if you are a belt novice, the key thing is to have all the locking pins in place and camshaft pulley positioned in slot correctly if needed according to type and then when you are done with the belt you must turn the engine over several times by hand and then reinsert all the locking pins once again. If you cannot get the pins back in then you have done something wrong. Hopefully all will be correct.

I've done a few belts in the past, sometimes making it up as I go along, the space between the engine and inner wing puts me off citorens though.

I remember doing a Cavalier diesel belt years ago, the only way to line the cam up was to take the rocker cover off and line the tappets up by eye.

I'm going to do my Audi belt when I've done the van.

[GraemeT]

Hi - just done that method with a Subaru - easy enough as the engine is longitudinal. Used it on 3.5 V8 Range Rovers too - like folks say the trick is to stop the engine from firing :-) On the Berlingo we got it undone manually with a breaker bar (read four foot of galvanised gas pipe) and socket.

Biggest pain I had was getting top engine mount off - ended up making a 'frakentool' shallow 16mm (I think it's 16mm) socket by cutting down a standard one to about 15mm deep which let me get the ratchet/socket down inside the wing to get to the mount bolts. It's a tight fit for large hands in there but it's not as tight as a 206 (and I still have the scars from that cambelt change)