Easy cam belt change ?

[noobie]

I was watching car sos recently and they were working on a Nissan gtr and they had to do a cambelt change but the way they did it surprised me.

To change the cambelt they simply ran a Stanley knife 3/4's of the width across then cut the whole length along whilst hand cranking the engine so they were able to remove about 3/4 of the width of the old belt leaving 1/4 in place.

Then they slipped the new belt on as far as it would go over all the pulleys, then cut what was left of the old belt away and finished sliding the new belt on. No need to worry about timing marks or special tools.

[Ali123]

i can imagine getting the new belt round the tensioner being a struggle?

[noobie]

Most have a tensioner somewhere so this needs to be backed off but as it is not toothed it is not a critical component to getting everything on the right place.

Most tensioners are simply a matter of putting a ring spanner on the pulley bolt and easing against the spring tension to give enough room to get the new belt on

[Ali123]

I know how a tensioner works haha , some belts are a pain in the arse as it is to get onto the cam pullies etc so just in my mind without touching the tensioner getting the belt over everything would be a pain in the arse

[Gandi699]

Seen it done on an MG rover forum - looks like the ultimate bodge work to be honest, probably possible but I wouldnt attempt it. Once the tensioner is backed off how does the old belt stay on the pulleys without popping off?

[Ali123]

I'm under the assumption from the first post you don't back off the tensioner?

[Bedford126]

This is as old as time, works great until the belt gives in and slips and you have no timing marks, much easier to do it the proper way

[Gandi699]

exactly, too much possibility for the cam pulleys to slip so you may as well lock the pulleys and having done that you could have done it properly.

[Cam]

Wish It was that easy on my car, mid-engine cambelt change is a PIG.