2.0 non turbo timing belt question

[duckman028]

On my 98 eclipse... My timing belt broke when I went to crank it over this morning. Does this mean my valves are bent and if so how hard is it to change the head and belt.

[david-b]

Originally Posted by duckman028

On my 98 eclipse... My timing belt broke when I went to crank it over this morning. Does this mean my valves are bent and if so how hard is it to change the head and belt.

Depends on how far the motor rotated. Since you just were cranking it it may not be bad. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

You won't need to change the head... just the broken valves. It's not too hard to do yourself, but depends on how mechanically inclined you are. I could pull the head and get the timing job all done in about 2 hours tops, but if you've never done it before it's a decent amount of work. Then it's just a matter of getting the timing right. A shop will charge you quite a bit to get it done.

How good are you with cars? And do you have time and space to do it yourself?

[duckman028]

Originally Posted by david-b

Depends on how far the motor rotated. Since you just were cranking it it may not be bad. But I wouldn't hold my breath.

You won't need to change the head... just the broken valves. It's not too hard to do yourself, but depends on how mechanically inclined you are. I could pull the head and get the timing job all done in about 2 hours tops, but if you've never done it before it's a decent amount of work. Then it's just a matter of getting the timing right. A shop will charge you quite a bit to get it done.

How good are you with cars? And do you have time and space to do it yourself?

I do have a garage but I never worked on dohc before. I will give it a try and figure out what tools I will need along the way...

[david-b]

Originally Posted by duckman028

I do have a garage but I never worked on dohc before. I will give it a try and figure out what tools I will need along the way...

Buy a Haynes Manual if you don't have one already. The book walks you through step by step. It's really not too hard.

You will have to take off 3 motor mounts (front and 2 sides) so you can lower the motor on a jack a little. Helps a lot with taking off the crank pulley and some timing belt components

The next question is... has the car ever had a timing belt change before? It's recommend to do the oil pump and water pump every 60k-80k miles. And since you're in there... it's just easier. It's also good to replace the timing belt tensioner pulley and the other TB pulley.

EDIT:
I forgot to add...
-make sure you buy an OEM timing belt and pulleys (preferred from the dealer)
-Buy new head bolts
-Buy new head gasket if existing one shows damage