fix one leak only to find another

[jeep-N-montero]

Last week I replaced the rear camshaft seals and was loving life, today I walk out and notice a puddle of coolant under the front of the engine. Pretty sure it's the water pump because the belts squeal when I start the engine and the squeal has gotten louder the past week or so, tomorrow I'll take a closer look at it. Can the water pump be changed on these without doing the timing belt? I'll look up videos in a minute.

 

[DirtyDC05]

From what I remember, the timing belt is in the way. You will need to remove the tensioner and the timing belt turns the pump. So you will most likely need to set the timing again unless you can make sure that nothing moves out of position.

 

[Eric M]

From what I remember, the timing belt is in the way. You will need to remove the tensioner and the timing belt turns the pump. So you will most likely need to set the timing again unless you can make sure that nothing moves out of position.

This is also how I remember it from doing a timing belt job this summer.

 

[blackohio]

make a tool to lock the cam gears in place.

 

[DirtyDC05]

Maybe use something to pinch the timing belt to each cam gear like vice grips(carefull not to damage the belt and gears. Paint with whiteout on the belt and gears together so you can se if the belt moved a tooth same with the gear on the crankshaft.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Maybe use something to pinch the timing belt to each cam gear like vice grips(carefull not to damage the belt and gears. Paint with whiteout on the belt and gears together so you can se if the belt moved a tooth same with the gear on the crankshaft.

I was thinking along those lines but may just do the belt anyway, the current belt is still perfect but if I'm in there already....

 

[BOPOH]

i just used chain bolted to engine to stop cams from spinning, didn't even put a kink on the gears

 

[nckwltn]

I forget how I did it on my '99 3.5, but when I did my '03 3.8, I used binder clips to hold the belt to the cams.

I also found that if I backed the crank back about 3/4s of a tooth counter clockwise, when I turned the engine/crank the slack between the crank and driver's side cam came out and lined up the timing marks on all three gears perfectly.

the driver's side cam can turn freely about a full tooth, and the passenger cam sits right on the spot, but is under a lot of spring tension, so it will jump 1/4 of a turn really easy.

I struggled getting everything perfectly lined up, because the tension between the crank and the driver's cam is impossible to set without the crank sprocket turning a little. This trick worked like a charm

It makes me want to break into my 3.5 and make sure the timing isn't 1/2 a tooth off.

 

[Jay Ayala]

i just used chain bolted to engine to stop cams from spinning, didn't even put a kink on the gears

Yup, I'm a fan of the chain wrench on the harmonic balancer myself. Just use and old AC fan belt between the harmonic balancer and the chain wrench. I used a breaker bar on my chain wrench and a torque wrench on the crank or cam bolt.


1989 Dodge Raider 3.0L
1997 Mitsubishi Montero 3.5L