Timing belt at 34k

[lostatoll]

Timing belt was changed at 107k PO tells me.

Car is at 141k right now. No problem there. Rock on.

Finally find out when was 107k was...

1997.



Got all the parts. It'll be my first time, and the only thing I'm worried about is making sure the tension on the belt is right. Reading I've come across something about the tensioner being attached to the water pump? also replacing that.

Any suggestions/tips regarding proper tension would be mucho appreciated. Also replacing the tensioner spring. Should I do the pin too?

I'm hoping it'll be along the lines of, if all the bolts are torqued the right amount, it'll figure out the tension itself, am i close?

Thanks guys.

[riceh8r]

pin should be good. it and the spring rest on the pump, the spring will give you the proper tension. good luck

[Harry's E30]

this diy should be helpful im in the middle of replacing my timing belt the hardest part for me was breaking the fanclutch bolt loose.http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=158446

[lostatoll]

Awesome! Best writeup I've seen yet, thanks.

[blefevre]

I just did this job last weekend for the first time. It is very, very easy. Yes the spring will set the correct tension. Just follow a write-up, take your time and have fun!

[MTechnikII]

Yes it's a good rightup but is mission one very iimportant point
I'm now on my 5th Tbelt change.
when installing the belt if you are not carful, after tenssioning it the timing will change, and the marks won't line up as they are supose to.
if you look at the belt before you remove it, it is under tenssion on the oposit side of the tensioner roller, directly between the cam and crank gears, when you place the new belt it has to be the same.
the trick is to hold the belt tight on the crank pully while you are stretching and placing it on the cam gear, if that portion is not stretched correctly the timing will change after you push in the roller.
Henry

[blefevre]

Make sure to turn it by hand once the new belt is on to make sure timing lines up when it's tensioned. That's what I did because I was nervous my first time.

[lostatoll]

awesome.. yeah I'll be trying to line it up right and then spinning it a bunch of times to check. What was someone saying about putting it on and taking it off again is really bad? Or were they just talking about tensioning it down multiple times.. not sure. but if it's a tooth off or something, I'm gonna have to take it off and realign in.

Things to be done this saturday and sunday:

TB + tensioner and spring
air filter
ignition rotor
plugs
thermostat
cam seal and o-ring
transmission fluid change
differential fluid change
rotors ( slightly warped )
water pump
hood shock - shot
valves and gasket
coolant flush (just distilled water I think)
rear shock mounts ( i think this is the ridiculous creaking/squeaking )


I'm pretty psyched.. I love wrenching all weekend.

[MTechnikII]

is it a 325e? or a 325i they are slightly different from eachother.
what you have seen or red is mostly for an i engine.
and don't feel bad if it takes long, just take your time and do it right, my first belt change took 12 hours . now I'm down to 3 , without removing the radiator and draining the coolan't.
PS: make sure you put the right amont of tension on the roller , if not the belt WILL slip and miss a tooth or two which can be costly to fix.( not too much tension but not too loose either.my tensioner doesnt have the pin and the spring I have just tensioned it by hand and tightened the bolt, I don't remember the spring putting enough tension on the belt.
Henry

[lostatoll]

it's a 325e.

yeah, I'm fine with it taking long.. i've set aside a lot of time to do a lot of things to it.. gonna be well prepared.

I didn't know you could do it without removing the radiator. Nice.

I am aware of the general amount of tension one should put on a belt. So that it moves smoothly without being too loose or stretching. I just have to apply it to this belt I suppose. But I don't know if I'm confident enough to just tighten the bolts down without the spring. I guess I'll use the new spring and hope the tension feels right, and if not, maybe help it some.. dunno.

[MTechnikII]

the e engine has a balancer in front of it, it's a heavy thick wheel around the crankshaft gear, tap it slightly with a hammer and just pull it out , there is no pins no bolts( at least there wasn't any on mine) the T belt is behind that wheel.
tighten the timing belt a little more than you tighten a fan belt, there is no room for sliping on a T belt,
if not confident with the tenssion ask somone who has done it before to check it out, you defenetly don't want to mess up the engine,
but don't worry it's not a jet fighter , you can fix it .
Henry

[lostatoll]

thanks man, noted. Just hoping it's nice enough out tomorrow. This chicago weather is killing me.

[Gruelius]

one thing when setting the tension. you let off the spring but then crank the engine manually through two rotations before doing up the nut on the tensioner. the spring is designed to initially set the tension, you do up the nuts on the tensioner to keep the tension for the next 2-4 years

[lostatoll]

haha gruelius, wish I could have read that before I called it quits for the night.

Here's my current status:

started at 11:00 this morning. by 6 I had my new water pump on, torqued to 23 newton meters, new thermostat in, new plugs, old timing belt off, and boy is my engine clean. Well.. you should have seen it before, damn oil pressure sensor I replaced a month ago. Degreaser worked great.

The 6 crank bolts were probably the toughest, mainly because I couldn't see them. But with the help of my lovely special lady friend with a 22mm on the crank, we got em all off. She's the best helper ever. Wants to take a shop class now, I should probably go with her.

I decided it was a good place to stop because I was having trouble getting the belt on, and was super confused as to why the tensioner wouldn't move at all once I tightened the bolts even a little, nowhere near the proper torque.

Gruelius already answered that question. But yeah, I found on other pages that the spring is just meant to give you proper tension, and then it's pretty much useless after you tighten the bolts. interesting.

So that killed my number 1 confusion. Number two is that I struggled for 15 minutes to get the new belt on to no avail.

So I buttoned up my friends garage for the night and will be returning first thing in the morning to hopefully finish by 6-8 for a friends bday party.

I just read that it's easiest to put the belt on everything with a loose bottom bolt on the tensioner, then bolt the bottom bolt. Does that sound like the way to do it as it seems really tight as is. I have been trying with the tensioner all the way to the left, but both bolts on with no luck. Order was crank, intermediary, cam, and then tensioner. But I just could not get it. I just assumed the tensioner would be last because of having no teeth to deal with. Tips would be greatly appreciated as it's a tight whore the way i was trying it.

Other then that, I wanted to do the cam seal but don't have the star tool. Any suggestions for alternatives? Also I was worried about taking that sprocket off as since i'm paranoid about the marks being the same, I have made sure I didn't move the crank or cam at ALL. But now I'm realizing that the sprocket has that indent to keep it exactly in place. So I just need that tool then.

So yeah, thanks again. Don't know how much shops would charge to do this, but I'm getting laid off on friday and every dollar counts.

I want to mention how great my previous belt looked. If I'd have known that it looked so good, I probably would have driven it another 10k at least. oh well, better safe then sorry. I'll now be taking that 4 year max as a suggestion.

[riceh8r]

just push tensioner all the way to the left and tighten it in place. belt around crank gear first, stretch tight up to cam gear next. you will need to work it slowly onto gear, all of your slack will be on the left side. slide over top of tensioner and you're done. biggest thing is getting tight on right side. you should have to stretch to get it into slots on cam gear. sounds like you are off to a good start.