Replacing the Timing Belt, Hard or not so much Options

[acenova]

I need to replace my timing belt like last year basically. (maybe a lil exaggeration) But seriously, I know it's hard as hell to replace and you pretty much, if not completely, have to take out the engine, but is it an easy task or should I pay someone to do it and how much do you think it would cost to install. Maybe a good time to get some new gears and pulleys and stuff too maybe???

[YellowTwo]

I got mine replaced for $348.55, which included the $75 fee for looking at it. So yea, if you can do it yourself you'd be paying a lot less. Plus they wanted over $500 if I wanted the whole kit installed and not just the timing belt. BTW this was at the Toyota dealership...

[lagos]

id say pay to have it done...its a lot of work.

[BEEFSTEW800]

if you dont know what you are doing then pay to have someone do it. if you have experence working on cars and have the tools to do the job then go for it. the biggest thing is that when you put the belt on, triple check the timing (it sucks to put it back togther and it not run). our engings are freewheeling which means that if you dont have it in time you are not likely to bend a valve. as far as what is needed to be done to replace it: remover your motor mount, remove valve cover, remove drive belts, remove water pump pully, remove balancer, and remove both timing covers. this is just off the top of my head so i may have left something out. you sould be able to do it in 1 weekend.

[macavely]

if you do the work your self.. make sure you have a timiing gun so you can set check and set the timining..

[Rjb23]

One weekend? You should be able to do it in about 5 hrs or so. But if you don't know what your doing take it to someone who does.

[Coomer]

I helped change my timing belt on my 4A-GE off of the car, and it wasn't too hard, but doing that work with the engine inside the car seems like it'd be very hard.

[BigEdge169]

There's not much room to work really and if you feel the slightest hesistation about doing it then don't becuase then you're stuck with a car that doesn't run. Just take it in somewhere and save yourself the grief.

[lagos]

i couldnt get my crank shaft pulley off.. the bold started to strip, so i said screw it (i hate the cuss censor here) ill pay someone to do it when my car is up and running.

This post has been edited by Coomer: Jul 2, 2004 - 10:19 AM

[Tru_Pol]

Take it in and have it done. If you miss one tog (I belive thats what its called) you throw the timming off and can damage your engine. I had a friend do his own on a V-Tec civic and missed one tog, started it up and it ran for about a minute then died, ended up replance the whole engine.

[BigEdge169]

[Tru_Pol]

[forkee]

just out of curiousity, how would one know they need to replace the timing belt......

im hearing a clicking sound coming from the far left inside the engine block and i dunno what it is

[BEEFSTEW800]