85k miles.. timing belt needs replacement.. should i replace other stuff to ?

Ok got a 2.0 liter 1996 avenger. Need to change the timing belt... now i hear i should replace the water pump, the tensioner and the cam seals while changing the timing belt.. I would like to do the work myself but how hard is it ? I got a 94 1500 dodge ram and ive done a lot of work on that truck.. replaced starter, water pump, intake gaskets, alternator etc.. but the avenger is so small and there not much room to work. Can i get some advice ? what really needs to be replaced and what doesnt. Currently the car runs great.. no fuild leaks.. everything is A ok.. let me know what u think... thanks guys and gals ( if there is any :)

Ok got a 2.0 liter 1996 avenger. Need to change the timing belt... now i hear i should replace the water pump, the tensioner and the cam seals while changing the timing belt.. I would like to do the work myself but how hard is it ? I got a 94 1500 dodge ram and ive done a lot of work on that truck.. replaced starter, water pump, intake gaskets, alternator etc.. but the avenger is so small and there not much room to work. Can i get some advice ? what really needs to be replaced and what doesnt. Currently the car runs great.. no fuild leaks.. everything is A ok.. let me know what u think... thanks guys and gals ( if there is any :)

To answer your first question, what you replace depends on how much you want to spend, what the car is worth, what your time is worth to you etc. The waterpump is driven by the timing belt and has about the same lifespan as a timing belt. You don't HAVE to do it now, but if you don't and if it fails shortly after, you will have to remove the timing belt again, basically doing the whole job over (I *think* that you can leave the crank pulley on and just let the belt hang down for the water pump). That's your time and what it's worth to you.

As far as the tensioner goes, it's *probably* OK to leave as it is, BUT if it's bearing goes bad, it could take out the timing belt, and crash your valves into your pistons and ruin your engine. So it's a tradeoff of spending a little money now (probably unnecessarily) as a guarantee against having to spend a LOT of money later. Your choice.

The cam seals don't sound like they need replacing, but...they're cheap and if they fail soon after, you have to go back in again or else risk the oil leak contaminating the belt and shortening it's life. Again, your choice.

To answer your second question about how hard it is, I did the job on a Neon (basically the same engine), but the motor was out of the car for most of the operation, so I can't really be definitive. I believe that the hardest part is getting the crank pulley off; on some cars, it simply will not budge and needs to be cut off. Fortunately that's not usually the case and I was able to remove it with a 3 armed puller. I seem to remember there being a reasonable amount of working room through the wheel well, but an Avenger could be different. I would recommend that you spend $15 on a Haynes manual, they usually do a pretty good job of guiding you through. Much better than Chilton, IMHO.

Good luck!

when we replaced our timing belt on our 2.0 the water pump did fail shortly after, so you should probably do that. We didnt replace the tensioner though. That engine is known for bad gaskets, so id replace that one too. mainly the head gasket is what its known for though.

It sounds like your car is ready for a 60K tune up. This normally consists of Plugs+Wires, Timing Belt, Tensioner, Water Pump and a few new seals. On the 4 cylinder the plugs and wires should be easy. The timing belt will be the hard part. My guess is it will probably take 20 minutes to change plugs and wires but the timing belt might take up to 5 hours depending on your knowledge and skill. A service manual is a great investment and I recommend getting one for every car you own if you plan on fixing them yourself. The timing belt should be accessed easiest through the wheel well. Take off the tire and then the spash gaurd, then remove the serpentine belt, then the crank pulley. The crank pulley might require the use of a special tool to get it off. It holds into the front of the pulley allowing you to loosen the bolt. After you get that off pull the timing cover, release belt tension. DO NOT DISTURB TIMING ON CAM GEARS. It would be a good idea to mark there EXACT location. On timing dependent or no tolerance engines the wrong timing can lead to total failure where the valves go through the pistons. Next drain some of the coolant and remove the water pump. Use a new tensioner pulley assembly. Make sure to get all new gaskets and torque everything to spec.

my question is, how the hell do you get the timing belt cover off?? the studs are too long to pull them out so i can remove the cover. the studs hit the wall before i can pull them out.