1.8l timing belt vfaq?

[norcal-nonturbo]

i was wondering if anyone knew of a good vfaq or information page for installing a timing belt on a 1.8. i have looked at the vfaq page and all they have is 2.0ln/t and 2.0t. i have the haynes manual but i was hoping for some real pics and some more info. I was also wondering what i am getting myself into as far as time and labor, and how much it will cost to do myself. i have tools but i dont have the tensioner tool. and any part #s are always welcome. i did a search and i didn't come up with much so any help is greatly appriciated.
Thanks in advance
-Jeff

[Blackboost]

You don't need the tensioner tool. That's just for the 2.0 engines since the have the hydraulic tensioner. The tensioner on the 1.8's is mechanical.;)

[norcal-nonturbo]

so all i have to do is remove the belt and put a new one on? that sounds too easy (for a DSM that is).
thanks for the info
-Jeff

[Blackboost]

You also have to replace the balance shaft belt. It's behind the t-belt...

[1992eclipse]

Its not as hard of a job as you would think.... if you have the general know-how then you should do it yourself. I used the Hayes manual and thought it had plenty of info for this job (which was a shocker.)
good luck,
Dennis

[norcal-nonturbo]

i was looking at the haynes book and it looked like it was lacking but it probably makes more sense when you are looking at the engine. thanks for the info.
peace
-Jeff

[ginsu417]

It's pretty straight forward. So much so, that I'll give you a FAQ right here. Why can I recite this from memory, including the socket sizes? Well... I've been in there 7 times this year... :)

Disconnect the Radiator fan relay. (The book say to disconnect the battery. What a bunch of crap. Just don't short out the alternator and you'll be fine.)

Remove the front engine mount. 14MM - 2bolts, and 2 nuts.

Remove the upper timing cover. 10MM - 3 bolts.

There's a dot on the cam to line up with the mark on the head. If your head isn't marked, line the dot up with the centerline of the cam. The cam should be taught, and just about to push against the springs. This should be TDC for the head. Without accurate timing marks, that's the best you're going to get.

Loosen the water pump pulley bolts. Use the tension on the belt to break it loose. Don't remove it yet though. 10MM - 4 bolts.

Remove AC belt. Tensioner has one bolt on the pulley that you need to loosen, and then turn the one on the top of the tensioner counter-clockwise. It's important that you loosen the pulley bolt first or you'll break the tensioner top bolt. 14MM, I believe.

Remove Power steering belt. The tensioner bolt it's right behind the pulley in the front of the car. Use a 14MM open end wrench for that one.

Remove alternator belt. Tensioner bolt has a tall head, kind of looks like a barrel. 12MM

Remove water pump pulley. 4- 10MM bolts (should be loose now) Use a 10MM box wrench. You don't have clearance to spin a ratchet.

Remove the AC tensioner and tensioner pulley. 2- 12MM nuts. These are in a tight spot and you may need to remove the tensioner pulley first, depending on how tiny your hands are.

Jack the car up. If you're a ghetto-chanic like me, you've already parked it on a curb, or on a brick. :)

Remove the lower driver's side splash sheild. I have no idea how many bolts, or what size, because mine hasn't been on the car for over 2 years. I believe there's 4 10mm bolts and 2 of those stupid snap-screw-rivets.

Remove the crankshaft pulley(s). 4 - 10MM bolts. 4 more if you have AC.

Remove the lower timing cover. 5 10MM bolts, I believe. Maybe 6.

There's 2 belt tensioners under the cover. You'll see them when you get in there. Definitely replace the main one, even if it looks new. IT's not an expensive mistake if you don't, just a P.I.T.A. to tear it all apart again.

The silent shaft belt is a little difficult to get at. The problem is, they designed the car so you have to take the outer crank sprocket off to change the belt. It's not as easy as it sounds.

To get the sprocket off, you'll need a crankshaft sprocket holder tool. I tried to get it off without one and the bolt was so tight, the torque I was putting on it started slipping past the clutch. The book says 96 ft/lbs, so I guess that's to be expected.

Even with the sprocket holding tool, I broke a breaker bar and a crank sprocket holder just trying to get the bolt loose for the first time. I tried heating it, using an impact wrench, a 3/4" drive bar and socket - everything. I almost thought the factory manual was wrong, and that the bolt was a left-hand-thread. It wasn't. The bolt is a standard bolt. But break torque on that bad boy was closer to 400 ft/lbs. After a few... okay, a LOT of cussing and arm waving, a few pizzas, and about 6 hours, me and 2 of my friends, all pulling simultaneously were able to break the bolt loose and take it off. If you're feeling brave, or need to release a lot of aggression, the bolt is 19MM.

The second time I was in there, I didn't go through all that. I just cut the belt off, thinking the silent shaft wasn't worth all that trouble. Later I decided that I wanted the silent shaft. Installing the new silent shaft belt was a little tricky, but it can be done :)If you went through the painful process of taking the crank sprocket off, you're probably exhausted by now, so have a beer, relax and get back to it tomorrow. If you took the lazy-ass method and cut the silent shaft belt off, like I do, your sprocket is still in there and now you're probably wondering how to get a belt on. Pinch the new belt between the edge of the sprocket and the bottom of the timing case and turn the crank to draw the belt through and into the groove where it's supposed to be. Like a kid's hair getting stuck in an escalator :) When you get in there, you'll see what I'm talking about. It feels like it's hurting the belt, but if you're careful it'll be okay.


Now the timing. The book's procedures document the timing pretty well. Just line up the marks on the sprockets with the marks on the casting.

The oil pump (rear balance shaft) sprocket is one to pay close attention to. The rear balance shaft is actually driven off the oil pump drive gear at a different rate than the speed of the oil pump. This means that even with the marks lined up, you have a 50/50 chance of putting the rear balance shaft 180 degrees out of phase (bad). Luckily, Mitsubishi put a silent shaft inspection plug in the rear of the engine so you can slide a "feeler" in and figure out which phase the shaft is in. The plug is located under the intake manifold, about 8 inches down between cylinders 2 and 3. It's 10MM, and should look like a bolt with a real small head when you get it out.

Once you have the plug out, turn the sprocket until it lines up with the timing mark. Then stick a screwdriver in the hole. The sprocket should line up with the timing mark with a lot of play in both directions before the balance shaft binds against the screwdriver. If it binds against the screwdriver and won't line up with the timing mark, the shaft it out of phase. Take the screwdriver out and rotate the sprocket one full turn, then put the screwdriver back in and try again. Basicly, the screwdriver is there to make sure the lobes on the balance shaft are pointing DOWN, which is the correct direction for TDC. Again, when you get in there, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Once you have the marks lines up and the belts are on, you're ready to tension the belt. The front silent shaft tensioner, you can guesstimate the tension for, but the main belt tension should be done as follows:

Make sure the tensioner locking bolt is loose enough so the spring in the tensioner is the only thing putting tension on the belt. Now turn the crank sprocket counter clockwise 2 revolutions, using the torque on the cam to tension the belt. Then tighten the tensioner.

Now you're ready to put it all back together. You should be able to figure out how to do the rest. :) Don't forget to put the silent shaft inspection plug back in the back of the engine or you'll spew oil everywhere :)

-K

[norcal-nonturbo]

holy hell man:D you rock, im gettin real close to having to do it and it seemed a lot easier before you explained it lol. im sure it will all make sense when i get in there and start working. you might want to think of making a VFAQ for people that dont want to ask, pics would definitely be a plus.

new question: was there any difference with the silent belt cut? i dont really know what it does so any info on that would be helpful. also is there a way to remove the balance shaft? and if so is there any benifit/risk associated with it?

thanks again
-Jeff

[ginsu417]

Difference? I put the belt back on after, so there really was no difference. It's just tricky to get it back on. If you Don't put the belt back, the engine will vibrate a lot, which isn't good for your mounts. The difference between a balanced motor and an unbalanced motor is quite noticable. If you're going to remove your balance shafts, you should have a balanced crankshaft. :) If you still want to do it, the free balance shaft removal procedure on VFAQ is pretty much the same for our motors. I haven't tried the kit myself. If you're looking to free up some horsepower down there, the Unorthodox Racing crank pulley is only $50 :)

- EKT

[norcal-nonturbo]

thanks for the info, i think that maybe a mod can quote you and make it a sticky ( i just had to change the day menu so i could find it.) im looking at conicellis parts list and they have the tensioners but which ones are they?
thanks a lot
-Jeff

[Blackboost]

Originally posted by norcal-nonturbo
thanks for the info, i think that maybe a mod can quote you and make it a sticky ( i just had to change the day menu so i could find it.) im looking at conicellis parts list and they have the tensioners but which ones are they?
thanks a lot
-Jeff

You don't have to replace the tensioner on your car...;)

[saturdaynight]

ginsu417, good info!!! :D Now if only I had this info before this month! Would have saved me a lot of agrivation.