Replacing the t-belt

[ronhl80]

Hello,
I'm planning on replacing the timing belt, tensioner, and water belt on my 95 rodeo 3.2L in the near future. Has anybody done this job on theirs? If you have do you have any helpful advice or tips or anything that would help? Thanks for all your help!!!

[redbug]

4 times....

You may want to consider changing the tensioner, but maybe not? and the water pump.

If you remove the fan you can cock the pulley to remove the belt without loosening the alternator.

The toughest part of the job will be loosening the bolt on the crankshaft pulley. I made a makeshift tool that clamped around the oblong section of the pulley.

Try to line up the timing marks before you remove the timing belt. It will be easier to get things lined up again.

Don't get it off time, you may bend your valves..... My valves got bent after replacing the 4th belt at 208,000 miles. I think the new tensioner tightened the belt and exposed bad bearings in the head which seized under the new pressure...? I had to change the tentioner the 4th time because the old one had lost it's hold and was making a knocking noise as it went in and out....

Watch out you don't poke a hole in the radiator, it is tight down there....

Good luck... I really miss my Rodeo... Sitting in the yard now, mabye I will fix it if I get some time....

[ronhl80]

so if I line up the timing marks before I remove the belt, will I still need to remove the valve covers?

[2eyefishclaw]

no just be certain its lined up before and do not turn anything once the belt is off

[redbug]

Hello,

2eyefishclaw is right. You don't want to take those valve covers off if you don't have to. I am starting to tear down my rodeo to get at the heads.. I am about 2 hours into it and nowhere near removing the valve covers.....

After you get the timing marks set, with the belt on, you will see that it's not that easy to do just to get the crank mark and the cam marks to line up... Try doing it without having the belt initially on....

I found that reading the bottom pulley was the most difficult. You can't look right at it so you kind of have to hope you are right.... "Was I off one tooth?"...? You may want to come up with some small mirrors to really have a good look at the marks.

After I got the timing belt on I would rotate the engine until they lined up again to be sure everything was in time. (I wasn't particulary concerned about whether the marks on the belts lined up, I just wanted to be sure the camshaft marks and the crankshaft position all lined up together when they should have. Remember, for every 2 revolotuions of the crank, theres one for the cam.

You will also find that getting the tensioner on with the new belt, while the camshafts stay put, is not that easy..... You can't see what you are doing, it is all by sense of touch when mounting the tensioner.... Practice dry fitting the tensioner before you get the belt on for practice. Hopefully you have a manual with the timing marks. Also need to compress the tensioner and put a pin in it to hold it down (should be described in manual). I needed to rotat the cams a small amount to remove the slack between the cams, and between the right cam and the crankshaft.... Of course valve spring tension would sometimes cause the cam to spin, so it was a big job getting everything just right......

Good luck, may the force be with you!