Hello, here is my how to guide to help those with changing there cambelts on the saxo vtr engine (use this guide at your own risk, changing a cambelt yourself is a risky process only take this job on if you are confident and competent, you have been warned, if you blow your engine up its at your own risk to follow this guide and i take no responsibilty if you damage you engine - proceed with caution)::A:
1: The first step is to remove the upper part of the timing belt cover, first unclip the pipe leading from the manifold which secures on top of the cover, then remove two 10mm bolts- one in each side of the cover, then lift cover up.
2: Next unbolt the ECU bracket only, there will be one 8mm nut and two 8mm bolts, remove those and lift the ECU towareds the suspension turret so it is out of the way
3: Next you can begin to remove the alternator belt, to do this you must loosen off the 13mm nut on the bracket and the lower alternator securing bolt(17mm)so the alternator can slide along its adjustor, wind the 10mm adjuster bolt thread anticlockwise to slacken the tension from the belt. remove belt, inspect the condition of the belt, if the belt has cracks along its ribs and appears to be perishing you should replace the belt.
4: now you can remove the crank pulley, there will be three 13mm bolts holding the pulley on, when trying to undo these bolts you will find the pulley will just turn stopping you from loosening them, get a friend to sit in the car with it in gear and there foot on the brake (this locks the crank enough to stop it turning) , now you can remove the bolts, the center 22mm bolt remains in place and never needs to be removed, but you use the center 22mm crank bolt to rotate the crankshaft so you can access all three 13mm bolts.
5: now you must place a jack or block of wood to suitable size under the engine, a jack is easier as you can adjust the height of the engine when removing the engine mount (ensure the jack has a rubber mat on it or place a small block of wood on the jacks lifting cup to avoid damaging the sump) once the jack is just in contact with the sump, give the jack another pump to ensure all the weight is taken by the jack- this ensures the engine will not drop at-all, remove the three 15mm nuts from the engine mount and the two 13mm bolts then lift the mount from the engine ( if the mount wont budge you probably havent jacked the engine enough and it locks on the three studs at an angle- so take the jack and raise the engine higher so you can remove the engine mount with ease.
6: Next you must remove the four 10mm bolts holding the bottom timing belt cover on, this cover is a pretty tight fit and is fiddley to remove but it will come out, just take care when doing so.
7: now you have full acess to the timing belt, before remove the timing belt you must turn the engine by hand using the 22m crank bolt mentioned earlier, turn the engine one rotation clockwise (this ensures there is no slack on the non tension side of the belt) you must never turn an engine anticlockwise as the belt can jump teeth putting the timing out!! now apply accurate paint marks on the camshaft pulley and crankshaft pulley as an indiction of where the pulleys are just incase they move when the belt is off ( if you set the timing wrong and start the engine you CAN and WILL bend valves!!!)
8: once you are happy with your marks -take note of how the belt tension feels so you have an idea of what the tension should feel like on the new belt, loosen off the 13mm tensioner nut and reove the belt from the engine.
9: whilst the belt is off check the waterpump and tensioner pulleys, if the bearing feel rough or noisey at all replace them! When fitting the new belt ensure the old and new belt are identical lengths.
my belt wasnt far from breaking, you can see where they belt is stitched together and there its fractured :O
10: place the belt around the crank pulley first ensuring that the teeth on the belt locate on the crank properly, then bring the belt up around the right hand side of the engine and around the camshaft ensuring the belt remains on the crank and make sure there is no slack in the belt running from the crank up to the cam (all the slack should be on the tensioner side of the belt)- hold the belt on the camshaft pulley and then begin to route the belt around the waterpump and tensioner, now you should be on all the pulleys except the cam pulley -the belt should routed over the top of the cam pulley in an anticlockwise manner so the last bit of belt should pushed onto the left side of the cam near the tensioner , it takes a bit of effort to get the belt around the cam as the belt will be a tight fit, get a second pair of hands to help you if your struggling ( this is the way i chose to do it, you can attempt to put it on the tensioner last as another method)
on the right side on the belt is where it must be kept taught wen fitting :)
11: now you must tension the belt, take care not to over tension the belt as it can produce a whining noise, there are many different views on how it should feel, some say the belt should turn 90 degrees, i have done a few so you just learn to get the feel for it- you will need a square tool to do this ( or you can pry the tensioner with a prybar, once your happy with the tension tighten the 13mm tensioner nut and check belt, now you must turn the engine two rotations clockwise and check your marks are still in line and re-check the belt tension) if they are ok you can begin putting it back together
12: Run the engine at you earliest convenience so you can ensure everything is ok before its all built back up then follow steps in reverse order ensuring EVERYTHING is tight and nothing is forgotton:)
Hope this guide helps you, only take this job on if you are confident and competent, you have warned, if you blow your engine up its at your own risk to follow this guide and i take no responsibilty if you damage you engine.
