timing / water pump ?'s

Hello everyone

I just have a few question reguarding a timing belt job / water pump job.

1. when the aligning marks of the rear belt cover and cam gears are lined up for the left + right side does that mean my no.1 cylinder is in TDC?

or should i go by the position of the distrib rotor...or both?

i'll probably be doing it in a few weeks or so. I'm just trying to read and collect info, so the job will go smoothly. ANyone have any experiences or tips that can give a newbie some help
thanks

Mark

there is also a mark on the crankshaft gear, just have all 3 of those lined up and you should be at TDC

its really straight forward.. i did notice tho that it was easier that when you put the belt back on, if you take the timing belt tensioner off (would be good to replace too tho) and put the belt on and then put the tensioner back on

some tools you will need are things such as a pulley remover for the crankshaft pulley and an allen wrench (cant remember but its either 5, 5.5, or 6mm) for the timing belt tensioner, a 26mm (i think, i'll check later) socket for the bolt on the crankshaft pulley ,.. everything else is just common tools

hope this helps some

I JUST got done with mine.

I suggest that you do the belt, tensioner, WP, all the drive belts, vacuum hoses thermostat, spark plugs and valve cover gaskets.

The FSM says to loosen the rocker arm bolts before taking the belt off. This is to ensure that you don't have any valves meating any pistons unexpectedly.

My cover gaskets were leaking so it made perfect sence anyway.

It also says to remove all the spark plugs. Again this is to facilatate the ease of spinning the engine over and to make sure there are no sudden movements of the valve train or crank.

Be prepaired to have the car down for a couple of days. It is not all that hard of a job, but is VERY involved.

You will have to take the air intake system completly out to get the drivers valve cover off. The throtle body needs to come off and so does the assemly at the right front of the intake (to get at one of the valve cover bolts).

Depending on how long it has been since you have done a tune up you probably should do the wires, cap and rotor seeing as you will have the wires off already.

Make sure to have a good torque wrench handy for the crank bolt, cam bolts, and the rocker shaft bolts for sure.

Thas all I can come up with at the moment.

Oh yeah......make sure you have some good anti-septic and band aids around. You don't want to see what's left of my hands right now.

(damn getting at the plug wires realy sucks!!)

thanks vg30e and henge for the advice.

the parts should be in later this week so i'm excited because i haven't driven my car for a while

I still have a few questions
1. how do you remove the belts (power,alter, and ac)
2. to remove the crank pully, i would first break the bolt then use a puller to pull it off, right?

3. In the FSM they put thickness gauge between the tensioner pully? i think thats step number 11. Can anyone explain that to me

Other than that i'm pretty comfortable doing the job. I've read the DIY on z31.com, i have read the FSM over and over again, and i'm going to have a friend help me out

thanks in advance guys

I'd be willing to lay odds that your tensioner for the alternator is rusted. Both of my vg's were. My power steering tensioner was free, but that was because it was covered in oil from my cam seal on the passenger side.

They are easy to move once you get them free. You will need a torch to free up the rust on the tensioners. Spray them first with a good rust penatrent and let them sit for a few hours and the torch em. Propane worked well enough for me.

Use some anti-seize when you put it all back together.

If you are planning on reusing your A/C don't do what I did and think the tensioner is just frozen and smack the top of the small bolt. Loosen the nut on the front of the pullt and it will move freely.

I'm in and out for now because I'm not at home co I'll check this in a few days.

Hope this helps.