Trouble installing timing belt on an M20

[chrisca70]

I have read almost every timing belt DIY, bentley, you name it. The whole process have been smooth BUT...
Im stuck trying to install the new belt. I have the right belt, the tensioner spring fully compressed and held by its bolt, then I wrapped the belt around the crank sprocket and on the oil pump sprocket, but it does not have enough slack to be wiggled into the cam sprocket and then on the tensioner pulley, it does not go in easily!!

What am I missing, elbow grease? any tips, tricks, suggestions...

[AndrewBird]

Are you sure you are routing it correctly? Should look like this:



Double check and make sure the tensioner is also fully out of the way.

[chrisca70]

yes, just like in your photo

[Northern]

Like the picture, except that your cam and intermediate shaft gears should be the updated ones that don't shear off and destroy your engine.

[Exodus_2pt0]

Take one bolt out of the tensioner, route the belt, and then use the entire tensioner as leverage to get the bolt back in.

Bing bang boom.

Most timing belts on any car do not go on easily.

EDIT: It's been a while since I've done one of these, so this may not be exact, but it should give you a push in the right direction.

[chrisca70]

Take one bolt out of the tensioner, route the belt, and then use the entire tensioner as leverage to get the bolt back in...

This approach wont work here because when the tensioner has a strong spring that would be a PITA to put back. Also with the tensioner spring compressed all the way it almost touches the water pump, so really there is no room.

Any one else wants to share their tricks?

[chrisca70]

Here is the magic!

this guy had the answer>LINK but I have my own discoveries and tricks to share...

basically you just loosen the tensioner bolts as much as you can but leaving a few mm of the two bolts threaded in, then just compress the spring with a screw driver and the belt will wiggle in super easy. Now when you do this there will some slack on the section of the belt between the cam and oil pump sprockets which will disappear once you turn the crank a little bit, then you fully tighten the tensioner bolts. Then check for the TDC and OT marks after the cam sprocket does 2 full turns. In my first try, my crank mark was a bit off, this was because of the slack I mentioned, when I turned it the slack caused the misalignment. I removed the belt and moved the crank sprocket about 10 mm counter clockwise, and repeated the process, once I turned the crank the belt got proper tension and the mark was aligned. I turned the crank so that the cam sprocket turned twice and they alignment was there again, I rechecked this like 3 times and the alignment was perfect. Finally I tensioned the belt a bit more by pushing the spring holder end with a screw driver and torqued the tensioner bolts to spec. \\voila!!

[noid]

First thing is first, make sure you have the correct belt (tooth count). Second make sure the tensioner spring is fully compressed (use a long big screw driver from drivers side).

To get the actual belt on, what I do is take a really small screw driver (think SD used for electronics) , go under the belt (so the underside of the belt is resting on the shaft of the screw driver), and then the tip of the screw driver should rest on one of the sprocket indents. When you pry up on the screw driver it will provide you the stretch you need to guide and lift the belt back on.

[YosemiteSam]

One time I used zip ties to compress the spring and then when I had the belt on I just cut them off.

[digger]

also only wrap it around the leading 5mm of the int gear and idler until you get it on the cam gear as well, it gives you more slack. definitely fully compress the spring as mentioned

[JohnH]

You use the water pump to compress the spring. You need to remove all water pump bolts except the top /right one. You can then pivot the pump.

This is why a belt change is seen as an opportunity to replace the pump.

[mpowerful]

this guy had the answer>LINK but I have my own discoveries and tricks to share...

basically you just loosen the tensioner bolts as much as you can but leaving a few mm of the two bolts threaded in, then just compress the spring with a screw driver and the belt will wiggle in super easy. Now when you do this there will some slack on the section of the belt between the cam and oil pump sprockets which will disappear once you turn the crank a little bit, then you fully tighten the tensioner bolts. Then check for the TDC and OT marks after the cam sprocket does 2 full turns. In my first try, my crank mark was a bit off, this was because of the slack I mentioned, when I turned it the slack caused the misalignment. I removed the belt and moved the crank sprocket about 10 mm counter clockwise, and repeated the process, once I turned the crank the belt got proper tension and the mark was aligned. I turned the crank so that the cam sprocket turned twice and they alignment was there again, I rechecked this like 3 times and the alignment was perfect. Finally I tensioned the belt a bit more by pushing the spring holder end with a screw driver and torqued the tensioner bolts to spec. \\voila!!

This is how i do it more or less.