Timing belt replacement at your home or place of work.

Procedures will vary depending on engine design but generally the procedure is as follows:

• Disconnect the battery ground cable.
• Crankshaft will be set to top dead centre, the number one piston will be on its compression stroke.
• Crankshaft pulley will be removed.
• Items obstructing the timing belt covers will be removed and then the timing belt cover removed.
• Camshafts will be locked, as required.
• Camshaft timing marks positions will be noted.
• Timing belt tensioner and idler pulley will be removed.
• The timing belt itself can now be removed.
• At this point, if it is being replaced (recommended), the water pump is removed after the cooling system has been drained.
• Installation of the new timing belt kit can begin, in reverse order as above.
• Mechanic will ensure crankshaft and camshaft are in perfect alignment after tensioner has been set.
• The crankshaft is now turned by hand and the correct position of the timing marks is confirmed.
• Mechanic will now road test the vehicle to confirm correct operation of the system.

Rougher than normal engine operation:

After thousands of miles of operation the teeth on the timing belt can worn down or break. The belt itself could also stretch, this can cause the belt to ‘jump’ position on the crankshaft. If this occurs you will see a noticeable difference in the performance of the engine.

Engine will not start or stops abruptly:

On occasion a timing belt can jump or break even while the engine is running.

Knocking or clanking noise:

Should a timing belt jump, the pistons and valves could collide, this is the knocking noise you will hear, if you carry on driving it could cause considerable damage to other areas of the engine.

Not replacing as per manufacturers guidelines:

The timing belt should be replaced at the service interval as specified by your vehicle manufacturer (regardless of any visible problem or not). This is typically in the range of 70K – 100K miles.