Timing belts (the easy one first)

After replacing the fuel lines on the left side of the car, I can now focus on the right side of the car. This means, replacing the timing belts. There are some great resources online and I followed the great how-to by Birdman on timing belt replacement. I started with the rear timing belt, since that's the easy one. First, I had to make myself a device to lock the camshafts. I made this with two piece of oak and four bolts.



The purpose of this device is to lock the camshafts to prevent them from turning. During the timing belt replacement, the camshafts and crankshaft must not move. Here's a shot of it in action. You can see that all it does is clamp around the cams so they can't move. You can also see the marks I made on the old belt. I transferred these marks to the new belt so it goes back on in exactly the same place as the old.



With the cams locked and belt marked, I remove the belt tensioner bearing nut and try to pull the bearing off. Hmmm...no dice. The bearing is stuck. Since I'm replacing it, I don't care if I need to destroy it to get it off. After some persuasion of the hammer kind, the bearing comes off (and apart).



Good thing I didn't wait to replace the belts and tensioners. All the grease in the bearing was basically gone. What was left was dry and crumbly. The belts didn't look so hot either. The new belt is soft and flexible. The old belt is hard dry and cracked.



Well, only got one replaced tonight. I'll save the other one for another day.