'99 Escort - how much time to change cam belt?

[zac510]

So I've got one of these and it's due for a cam belt change.

Is it a saturday arvo job or what?

It's a 1.6 Zetec twin cam.

[silver bullet]

We've just done one of those on a 1.8, it took about 10 minutes.
Mind you it was sat on an engine stand at the time

Under normal conditions with the engine still in the car, my mechanic mate says it would take him between 11/2 - 2 hours.

[zac510]

:lol:
That's not bad, should be well within my abilities then. I'll chat to the local parts guy about a part this weekend. Cheers.

[JimW]

If he's friendly and at a dealers, he might be able to tell you the manufacturer's standard time?

Jim

[zac510]

It's OK, I just wanted a ballpark idea of the complexity.

[zac510]

I was just down the shop picking up a belt and the guy told me the standard time is 2.5 hrs. He also told me about a tool to keep the camshafts aligned but didn't have one in stock. Is it entirely necessary or can you just mark the shafts with a paint pen and make sure they stay there.

(my first Ford)

[Tim Falce]

Mark them and the crankshaft and make sure they don't move.

[silver bullet]

That's what we do a dab of tippex on the pullys

[zac510]

Ta, this shoud be easy then (easier than achain that's for sure!).

[GORDON STREETER]

As for marking with a pen, you would certainly come unstuck with several of the range of car engines where the crank pulley/cambelt drive and cam pulleys are not located by a keyway, and can only be done with the locking tools !

[Tim Falce]

My Land Rover is like that, I didn't bother locking the crank, only the cam and injector pump.

[GORDON STREETER]

On a lot of Renault engines the crankshaft pulley bolt just holds the pulley and timing belt pulley in place by tightening to a specific torque.
They aren't even on a taper so when you slacken the bolt to get the cover off the timing can go anywhere !

[Tim Falce]

Does that include the DCi15 in a Clio Gordon?

[GORDON STREETER]

I'd have to go up the workshop and have a look on the data disc as I've got the memory span of a goldfish.

[zac510]

bloody **** **** of a thing there is one ****ing nut taht is rusted on and i can't ****ing get it off

[GORDON STREETER]

zac510 Welcome to the world of motor mechanics.
This happens all the time when something has been sitting around for a few years. We have to resort to things like welding torches (to warm it up)and hammer guns.
Penetrating oil is no better than Pepsi cola until the thread is actually released and sometimes a smart clout on the head of the bolt with a punch will jar it into moving. The Escort is one of the easier cam belts to change in the world of modern cars as there is a fair amount of room.
Perhaps now you will see why we ask good money to do the work, as most cars need special tools that we might only use once in a blue moon

[zac510]

Hey I'm not doing this myself because I'm a tightarse; I am skilled enough to do it myself and I enjoy doing it (except for these moments), so I will, thanks.

[GORDON STREETER]

This wasn't meant to be sarcastic, but I do have to smile when I hear people saying "its a piece of ****" to do this or that. OK some jobs are easy but some of the timing belt jobs are a pain like a Renault Scenic diesel for instance, that is a normal run of the mill vehicle today without going into the world of some exotics.
Anyway I hope you can get it sorted and maybe the offending bolt/nut is not important as we find some missing quite often.

[zac510]

Well hope you don't get my car in one day cos it's now missing one power steer hose bracket bolt
Got the job finished at least. That nut aside, I thought it was a pretty straight forward job.