My mate changed his timing belt on his MY99 Turbo..took him 8 hours ! LOL !
Would have paid someone to do it !

Then he started the engine.....worked fine...BUT he then realised he'd put the belt running in the wrong direction.....

He says it running fine with no problems....

Do you think he'll be ok ? or worth taking it off and putting it on the correct way ?

 

Anyone out there have any ideas/view ?
Thanks

 

its got an arrow on it for a reason imho.

 

Doing things for yourself is satisfying. At least he has learnt one thing!

 

Take it off and put it on the right way - believe the direction arrow has something to do with the stitched join on the belt.

 

I've got a feeling he'd like to get it the correct way round obviously, i think when he put it on he couldn't remeber which way the engine turned to get the arrows going in the correct direction...

One problem he found was that the cam's on the left hand side have some sort of plastic covers on them with what looks like cogs, is there a special tool they use to keep these cams lined up ? Had real problems keeping all the cams lined up even with the marks and putting in the tensioner....

I think he might just take it in to get someone else to do it....and take the hit.

 

Looking at the engine from the front,the engine turns clockwise.
This might help your mate to do the job right and you dont need any special tools to hold the cam pulleys in place when the belt is fitted.






Mick

 

Be carefull with the passenger side cams, there under tension when your at tdc.. You can put a wooden wedge in to hold them or gentley grip them together with a pair of moles.

I found it was easiest to remove the bottom idler wheel when refitting the belt and putting it back on once all the marks were lined up, Then its just a case of releasing the tensioner and there you go, job done!

 

It does need a knack to do it, otherwise it is straight forward. People with large hand may want to remove the radiator (although I can do them without need to do so).

Tip: Use bulldog clips to hold the belt on the pulleys to stop them spinning round off the cam. Make a wedging device to go between the pulleys as well.

Might need to put the RH pulleys one tooth out (clockwise - or anticlockwise) depending on which idler pulley you decide to fit last, otherwise once tensioned it goes out of alignment. .

Engine should be turned over then set back to TDC and re-check everything aligns....use a mirror to be sure (old door mirror glass is ideal).

 

Thanks guys, he emailed Dayco the belt manufacturer and they said it's a neutral running belt so it can on either way, but if you take it off and refit it you should keep it running the same way.

Thanks to all.