97 1.9 td - cam belt changing - riko360
hi all new to the forum, my question is as above really. i have just bought a gates cam belt kit which has a cam belt, tensioner plus another roller. i have also bought a new auxillary belt.

the car is a 306 1997 (face lift) d turbo 1.9

right im going to do this myself and have not changed a belt on one of these cars before so i thought i'd ask on here before i try if there is any specail tools i need, or if there is any info i might need while doing the belt (left hand threads, things that are a pain). any help will be much appreciated thanks :)

engine year details edited into the subject line - as per the three requests made before you posted

Edited by Webmaster on 19/03/2008 at 17:41

cam belt changing - Screwloose
Rick

Don't even think of doing a cam belt, on any car, without a Haynes or Autodata book. You don't want to find out the essential settings the hard way!

Look on e-bay for an old copy of AD's cam belt book - should be pennies.
cam belt changing - riko360
sorry i should have stated i have a haynes for it! just i find sometimes with haynes things arent always as the manual puts it if you know what i mean :)
cam belt changing - Screwloose

Poor old Haynes must have their work cut out just keeping up with all the dozens of changes that PSA constantly delight in. As soon as they've published; everything gets changed....

An obsolete Autodata timing belts book from e-bay should have additional info; as they're published and revised yearly, they are better placed to keep up.
cam belt changing - riko360
ok, ill have a loko on there but i was hoping to give the belt a go on friday so i wont be able to get one in time!
cam belt changing - thomp1983
basically it goes something like this,

1, park car, handbrake on
2, loosen drivers side front wheel bolts,
3, crawl under car use 22mm socket and breaker bar to loosen the crankshaft pulley bolt, it'll probably be quite tight, once undone nip it up again not to tight,
4, open bonnet,
5, jack drivers side of car up, put on axle stand
6, remove wheel
7, loosen and remove intercooler bolts, then intercooler
8, find 6mm allen key
9, behind the starter motor there is a hole in the gearbox housing, put the allen key in it, (may be easier to undo and remove the 3 starter motor bolts)
10, get a 22mm socket put it on the crankshaft pulley bolt, turn the crankshaft bolt clockwise whilst at the same time pushing the allen key into the hole (easier with an assistant but can be done solo) keep turning until the allen key drops into the hole(you'll understand when you do it, may have to turn the engine for quite some time reasonably slowly),
11, thats the engine now on it's timing marks,
12, now put a trolley jack and block of wood under the sump and jack it up until it takes the weight of the engine,
13, remove the left hand side engine mount, basically move the fuel primer to one side, remove the rubber bung if there, then carefully undo the 4 5/8 size bolts and remove the top half of the mount (careful engine doesn't suddenly slip of jack and trap your hand),
14, now remove the 10mm bolts holding the front cambelt cover on, then do the same for the rear cover, except there is one bolt at the back of the cover which is 11mm,
15, now looking at both of the exposed pulleys you will 2 timing holes with a threaded insert behind, on the cam pulley it's at about 4 o clock and i think 2 o clock on the fuel pump, now find the 2 short bolts from the intercooler, they are the right size to fit in the timing holes,
16, now under the arch, remove the crankshaft pulley bolt and pull of the pulley,
17, now remove the lower cambelt cover, all 10mm bolts,
18, now look at the new belt tensioner and you'll see a square hole in it, find the same hole on the car, a short 3/8 socket extension will fit in there and you can then use a ratchet to apply or release the tension,
19, undo but don't remove the two bolts holding the tensioner, now use your ratchet to push the tensioner towards the windowscreen, whilst holding it there use your other hand to release the belt from behind the tensioner,
20, with the belt now loose remove it from round the rest of the components,
21, now replace the waterpump,
22, now replace both the tensioner and idler pulley, to do this you'll need to remove the rest of the metal engine mount, the bolts are quite obvious,
23, replace the belt in the same manner you removed it,
to tension the new belt pull the ratchet towards you then tighten the tensioner bolts at the same time,
24, with the tensioner tightened push the belt in the middle between the two pulleys you should have about half an inch of deflection if correct (check the old belt before removing to give you an idea),
25, now remove the two timing pins in the pulleys and the allen key,
screw the crankshaft pulley bolt into it's hole (leave the pulley off) if you keep screwing it in then the engine will turnover,
26, turn the engine over by hand at least 8 times, then put the timing pins back in as you did at the start, if you've done it all right it'll turn over with no issues
27, recheck the tension again,
28, if alls well then refit the lower cambelt cover,
29, refit the crankshaft pulley,
30, refit everything you've removed, torque all required bolts correctly (except crankshaft pulley which is done last)
31, remove the allen key (2 intercooler bolts will have already been done when fitting the covers and intercooler,
32, turn the engine over again by hand to check there's no rubbing on the cam covers or any other issues,
33, if alls well then top up the engine coolant as you'll have lost alot when doing the waterpump, bleed it properly,
34, put the road wheel back on, lower the car to the ground then torque up the crankshaft pulley bolt,
35, job done start her up then tidy up

think that covers the job, haven't done one for a couple of months so may have missed something but nothing major i don't think.

whilst doing it id replace the intercooler seal (dealer only bout £3) and the cam cover seal as they always leak and are easy done when the intercooler is off, make sure you don't overtighten it though as that's why most leak.

chris
cam belt changing - DL
Cor blimey Chris, what a comprehensive writeup there!
cam belt changing - manic
dependant on the mileage i would think about replacing the water pump to
cam belt changing - thomp1983
you could say ive done a few before dl

chris
97 1.9 td - cam belt changing - stevegee
I consider myself a technical expert on timing belts. I have done the belt from the Suzuki Swift twin Cam 16V GTi on three occassions and two belts on the 2.5L VZv21 Vee6 24 valve Quad Cam Camry engine. The latter two both done on engine stands before fitting the engine.
I can but imagine what technical problems you would find fitting this belt in car. 9100,000 k service I am told cost over $1000).
I am about to buy a 306 XtDt and a replacement engine for it. You guess it the timing belt broke and broke the camshaft.

I went0 to the PUG dealer here in town and he showed me a 405 SR engine in-car and I made up my mind to go buy the factory hand book,, the factory timing belt or at least a Gates, sit down with a beer and a spare afternoon and read up on the exact way to change the belt.

Once i know what is required and have all the tools to pull the harmonic balancer and take off the timing belt covers, I will make sure I have locked the car in TOP DEAd cnetre and marked the old belt and the pulleys at the correct timing mark
And then only then proceed with no interruptions to fit and to correctly tension and time the new belt exactly as the manufacturer states in the book.

If you get it wrong and are one tooth out on timing you will surely regret the day you tried to do it.

2 c
97 1.9 td - cam belt changing - thomp1983
it's virtually impossible to get the timing out on one of these engines, there are threaded timing holes in the head for the camshaft and injection pump, and a hole in the flywheel for the crank. if all of these are locked in place then the timing will be exactly spot on when you refit the new belt

chris
97 1.9 td - cam belt changing - stevegee
Thanks Chris, My new engine does not have the flywheel on yet so do you suggest I fit the flywheel onto the new engine from the old before removing the covers to do the belt?

Also is it tight on the bolt of the harmonic balancer as I have no way of locking the engine at this stage to get it undone?

What is best belt (gates?)

What is best water pump (OEM?).

Any tricks doing the water pump?


How the heck do you bolt the air conditioner back on?





97 1.9 td - cam belt changing - thomp1983
i normally use a contitech kit, i find buypartsby.com cheapest for the cambelt kit and waterpump, easiest to phone them to order it.

by harmonic balancer do you mean the crankshaft pulley? if so yes the bolt is on quite tight, is your new engine in the car? if so i normally undo them by having someone apply the brakes then undo it. you'll need the flywheel on for the timing hole in it for the crankshaft. no real tricks for the waterpump, just undo the bolts, catch the coolant, use a scraper to remove the old gasket then refit new pump with new gasket and tighten up.

never had the joy of working on one with air conditioning, and never actually seen one where the aircon works.

chris