[Reed]

Gents,

Since MKIV.com is down I no longer have access to the install instructions. Fortunately I memorized most of them. However, I have a couple of questions:

1. Does anyone have a diagram of bolts that I am supposed to loosen(the timing belt tensioner)?

2. How do I turn the gears to top dead center? They won't move. What is up with that?

Thanks,

Adam

 

[BrianJ]

2. How do I turn the gears to top dead center? They won't move. What is up with that?

It would be easier if you had someone to help/see. The only was that I know of getting the TDC is by turning/releasing the ignition quickly, until you see both of the gears at TDC.

 

[Reed]

That might be a bit tough since I have all of the hoses disconnected and the battery out of the car.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks,

Adam

 

[Slasher48]

Can't you just turn the crank pulley w/ a ratchet until the marks line up?

 

[Reed]

I will try that.

Thanks,

Adam

 

[Reed]

Alright Slasher that worked! Now I just need to know which bolts to loosen to get the belt loose so I can do the rest. Anybody have a diagram or can anyone explain it?

Thanks,

Adam

 

[Reed]

Does anyone have access to the diagrams from the service manual or a photo? My car is sitting there lifeless until I get some assistance.

Thanks,

Adam

 

[Reed]

LIFELESS!

 

[Grant]

You've got to loosen the timing belt tensioner. Its right above the alternator (might be easier to remove the alternator). Don't remove the tensioner, just losen it enough to slide the belt off the gears. I can't really describe what it looks like, but I believe its 2 12mm bolts. Hard to explain w/o a picture...

Remember to make sure the cam timing wasn't thrown off before you put everything back together.

 

[Lonestar Dawg]

As you lay under the car, looking up , the tensioner is next to the alternator. You do not have to remove the alternator. The tensioner looks like a small cylinder about 3" long and 1" in diameter with a small flange for 2 bolts. Just loosen the bolt closest to the alternator, then remove the 2nd bolt. You will need a ratchet with an extension. Be careful and do not let the tensioner come completely off the car or you will be very sad! If you are reusing your timing belt don't forget to make 4 marks on it (1 on each side of TDC for each gear) and match the marks with TDC on the new gears.
Good luck, Richard

 

[Reed]

Thanks Lonestar and Grant The job is done. It went very well. The only problem that I had was that I torqued the head off of one of the timing belt tensioner bolts when I was putting it back in. It was supposed to be bolted at 15 lbs but I could see that there was still a gap there so I figured that I just needed to crank it harder. As you might imagine, that did not work. It seems to be working fine with two bolts though.

I set the exhaust cam gear at -3 degrees.

Thanks again,

Adam

 

[Lonestar Dawg]

Adam,

If you twisted the head off of one of the timing belt tensioner bolts then you should only have one bolt holding it in place. If it fails, your timing belt will loosen and jump and you will develop a very large hole in your wallet.

Richard

 

[pwpanas]

...I torqued the head off of one of the timing belt tensioner bolts when I was putting it back in.

With only one bolt holding your tensioner in, it will fail. A friend towed his mkiv to my house to fix this exact problem (after his tensioner fell out onto the street!). I had to drill and screw-extract the TWO broken bolts out! What made this job much more difficult is that the bolts are about 1 foot deep from the bottom of the engine - which means that the drill bit(s) and screw-extractors all have to be over a foot long. Trust me - this is no fun at all - fix that one bolt ASAP.

Oh - one last tip - get reverse (left-hand) spiral drill bits and drill them out counter-clockwise - that way if the bolt catches on the drill bit it will come right out rather than being further tightened into the hole...

 

[Reed]

Maybe I am not referring to it correctly. There is a 3-bolt tensioner of some sort just below the cam gears. I torqued the right one OFF. I torqued the center(top) one and left one at 17 lbs.

Do you guys really think that this will be a problem?

Thanks,

Adam

 

[pwpanas]

Maybe I am not referring to it correctly. There is a 3-bolt tensioner of some sort just below the cam gears. I torqued the right one OFF...

Are you talking about the timing belt tensioner or the accessory belt tensioner? Either way, I'd strongly recommend screw-extracting the bolt that is broken off and replacing it.

 

[Reed]

Anyone have any tips on screw extracting? I have never done that and it is a tight fit(if you know what I mean). JK

It is the tensioner that is just below the cam gears and faces the front of the car; not the tensioner that faces the ground.

Thanks,

Adam

 

[pwpanas]

Anyone have any tips on screw extracting? I have never done that and it is a tight fit(if you know what I mean). JK

- Get the "square" rather than the "spiral" screw extractors.
- NB: Select a drill bit that is just slightly smaller than the diameter of the 'core' of the bolt that you're extracting, (do not include the thickness of the threads in the diameter). Do not necessarily use the size of drill bit recommended on the package of the screw extractor - it all depends on the bolt that you're removing. If you use a bit that is too small, you won't have enough leverage to unscrew the bolt and you'll break the screw extractor in the bolt (then you're really 'screwed' - pardon the pun). If you select a bit that is too large, either your drill bit or your screw extractor will eat into the threads in the bolt-hole and you'll be stuck either drilling & tapping a new bolthole or helicoiling it (both of these have significant downsides).
- Use a counter-clockwise (left hand) drill bit, so that if the bit bites on the bolt, it'll come out rather than getting further tightened in.
- Drill a hole all the way through the exact center of the bolt.
- Tap the extractor into the hole you've drilled with a small hammer.
- Turn the extractor counter-clockwise to remove the shell of the bolt that remains, using either the screw extractor "T" tool, or 2 small crescent wrenches (one on each side). If the extractor didn't 'bite' on the bolt shell, tap it in a bit harder with the hammer.
- Get a pro to do this if you're unsure.

It is the tensioner that is just below the cam gears and faces the front of the car; not the tensioner that faces the ground.

That doesn't help. There are 2 tensioner pulleys "below the cam gears", but only one is for the timing belt tensioner. They both face the front of the car. The timing belt tensioner pulley is behind the plastic timing belt cover, and the accessory belt tensioner pulley is in front of the plastic cover. The timing belt tensioner assembly has 3 bolts: 1 that the pulley swivels on as it applies tension to the timing belt, and two that hold the tensioner to the block. Also note that there's a tensioner 'shock absorber' located in front of the accessory pullies - this dampens movements in the accessory belt tensioner, but does not appy any tension to the accessory tensioner pulley.