timing belt change

while the winter is here I would like to change the cambelt ext, only worked on engines that are situated in the front of a car, i,e. fords vauxhalls... have been quoted £350. but I know once I buy the peace to hold the ring gear I will be halfway there. just that it looks like a nightmare to do, anyone tacked this, if so can you give me a few pointers to watch out for, thanks in advance.

It's no harder than a front engine car apart from the access is a bit tighter than some.

Thank you, and wish me luck.

I saw the guy from the wheeler dealers tv series do it in a smart way. He cut through the old belt in the length of it leaving the half belt on and therebuy preserve all angles of the wheels.
Then he slides on the new belt over the free half of the wheels. At last he cuts through the remaining half of the old belt to slide the new one further on its place and done!

Has anyone done it like this?

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I tried it two years ago, it was a nightmare. I had all the tools needed, the problem were the pulleys, where I could'nt find the correct teeths, so it went one tooth out, as my mechanic told me later (he fixed it). Another problem was the automatic tensioner bolt, he also had to screw a new one in.
I swore never more to touch the timing belt anymore.
Regards
Christof

I changed my belt a while back on my 135bhp tf....I found it easy enough after watching plenty of vids on youtube...then studied the manual...it's easier than you think....once you've taken the engine cover off you have done the hardest part....my 2004 had the automatic tensioner on...so to check the tensioner while adjusting I used a mirror inspection kit..because access is tight...I did not remove the engine mount to feed the belt in...I undid the bolts and lowerd the engine slightly on a jack and fed the belt in....having the correct tools is what this job is about...the new tensioner did not come with a patch lock bolt...I could not locate one in time for my chosen day so I cleaned the old bolt and replaced it with some loctite thread lok on it...normally while tackling this job most change the water pump and alternator belt at same time.
This is in turn gives you a little more work. .has the water system has to be drained and bled accordingly when refilled...the alternator tentioner is often siezed so replacing this with a modied system is about another £25...but I drilled my siezed tensioner pin out and replaced it for a metric 8 pin...glad I did the job myself..has I went through everything including checking the crank dampener ..ther rubber insert on the crank pulley..sometimes you can see these bonded centre rubbers oozing out..eventually the crank pulley becomes 2 parts has it disintegrates...mine was in good nick so the total cost of doing the job shaved a lot off your quote.. the 160bhp has another belt for the vvc mechanism..I used gates belts because they are good quality.

Wheeler dealers ..brill but really cutting a timing belt in half and pushing a new one on....I think doing the job properly gives you better piece of mind knowing your tensioner has at least been checked...some people change the belt to fall foul of pulleys etc failing shortly after..others drive around just wondering what condition the belt is in...my car did not have anything written in the service records to state the cambelt had been done...so I bought everything I needed and looking at the old belt it had been replaced at some point..it didn't look that old...but the new kit went in regardless because I was itching to have ago after my nights of studying cambelt changes..and with the gates belt kit came a sticker to write in mileage of cambelt change...I stuck this in my service book with some other details...

I have taken your advice and looked deeply into this, the only problem worrying me is the bolts on the alternator bracket, `also do I jack the body up and axel stand it on the driver's side?. then jack up the engine with my trolly jack with a block of wood to protect the sump then lower it to undo the top engine mount to slip the new belt in??. any advice given. or I will be forced to pay someone to do the job for me. which is not possible at this present time with Christmas coming up.

The engine mount over hangs the engine..undoing the bolts at the top my engine was supported with a suitable piece of wood on the jack and the engine only lowerd a inch ot 2..the bolt to adjust the alternator tention is usually a metric 6mm in size and is built in the alternator casting and when screwed in pushes on a flat of the alternator bracket...to do away using the m6 bolt..there's a stainless adjuster sold on ebay which most go for if there bolt is siezed in.

This is the stainless kit you will need if the alternator adjuster is siezed solid...a simple but effective kit...when I did mine these kits dissappeard off ebay for a while so I didn't use one..I've had a new alternator since..so copper greased the bolt and left as standard.

Thank you and wish me luck

I had both road wheels removed and on axle stands..but firstly I made sure I could undo the crank pulley bolt...I used my 3/4 drive breaker bar on a extention...I coverd the body work with protective covers has I was pulling the bar close to my paintwork..so take no chances..you will disconnect battery and remove the starter...all contacts cleaned ..the tool I have to lock the crank goes in the starter motor hole to lock the flywheel...the little blue one for locking the cams was about £5..and the black crank locker about £25.00

Above the 2 locking tools I used for the job...advertised on ebay are 2 types of locking tool for the flywheel..they are for 2 types of gearbox..the pg1 and the pg2...the tool for the pg2 has more holes and does both models