Timing belt and major service finally finished

[djabie]

Hi all
Just a quick follow up to some of my previous posts.
Finally got the timing belt changed on the gpx mivec. What a job six hours of grief. I wouldnt recommend this job to anyone without a knowleage of engines.
If you do try it yourself be aware of
cams slipping out of place.
cambelt tensioner is a nightmare to loosen as it works off oil pressure.
bottem pully being siezed to cranshaft ( An hour of hammering and wiggling with screwdrivers to get it off).
And make sure you mark the belt exactly as the old one as well as lining up the timing marks.
Anyway its all done now and after all the grief i am chuffed with myself....
Well heres what was done..

1. Cambelt. cambelt idler. cambelt tensioner. £108.
2. ik22 iriduim plugs in both banks from states £40.
3. 5 litres 5w40 synthetic oil. £42
4. Oil filter £ 4.00
5. 7 litres dextron 3 gearoil. £30
6. Gearbox filter £7.00
7. Airfilter £7.00
8. Power steering and alternator belt £18
9. Intake manifold gasket £8.50
10. Waterpump £37.
11. front inner anti roll bar bushes £11.50.
12. fuel filter £11

Still havnt finished yet few more thing to do.
even though it doesnt need them but will do them anyway.
Droplinks/ brakes / springs/ shocks/
Then finally a bodykit.
So there you go the joys of owning an fto lol.....

[Myfeckin FTO]

Thats a very big service to be trying to carry out on your own. Hope you had access to a ramp.

[mcgon1979]

Fair play to you mate. Thats a great piece of work, and yo ushould be rightly chuffed to get all that done so far... well done

[djabie]

Thanks for your comments guys.

No i had no access to a ramp just the old trolly jack an axle stands on the drive way.
Gonna pay for it over the next few days though my back and arms are killing me lol.
But still i am glad i tackled it myself rather than paying the crazy money that garages wanted to charge me.
As i said before anyone with a basic knowleage of cars could do this sevice after all its only nuts and bolts and using the grey matter.
so if anyone needs advice trying this themselves feel free to ask me.
I think i have learned nearly everything about the fto engine the hard way
lol....
Good luck......

[kevinod]

Did the cambelt change myself a year and a half ago, pig of a job alright. Ended up getting tools to lock the cams in place cos they kept slipping out on me.

The amount of bits you have to remove to get at it surprised me (cover nuts are in the most awkward places!) but luckily ended up with no bits left over when I had it back together.

Worst bit I thought was undoing the camshaft pulley bolt, must be a better way than I did it!

You get a bit of an appreciation of why the mechanics charge the money they do for the job though!

[djabie]

yeh the crankshaft pully bolt was a nightmare to loosen with out the use of a compresser and impact rachet.

Both of which i didnt have.

I used a little trick i learned years ago it my seem a bit harsh or extreme but its what i used to crack the nut.

What i done is 22mm socket on a T bar place it on the nut and jammed the T bar against the swinging arm.
disconnected the coil leads to the plugs.
give the ignition a quick flick which engauges the starter turns over the engine about one half turn and there you go bolt loosened.

It does seem harsh and extreme but it was a bmw machanic showed me and it works every time.
But always remember to disconnect the coil leads or it can be a disaster lol.....

[kevinod]

That's pretty much what I did alright, except put the bar against the ground.

Kinda glad it only needs to be done every 100k km!

[steelroe]

You could also make up a tool like this for some scrp metal. Makes the job a lot easier on 2.0L models only.

[kevinod]

Tried that, the only bolts I found handy that would do just bent!

[steelroe]

You need to use high tensile steel.
Had to make this one after one of my drive belts snapped and took the crank angle sensor out aswell. Had to remove crank pulley to replace the sensor

[steelroe]

this is the tool used to get the correct tension on the idler
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MITSUBIS ... enameZWDVW

[djabie]

Thats a great looking tool wish i had something similar the other day.
Any its done now for another few thousnd miles.

I thought the tensioner was self adjusting off oil pressure. I coulnt move it when trying to replace the belt.

So it was a struggle to get the belt on but there was enough play in the belt just the same as the one i took off.

I will check it again in a few days and make sure its ok. I woulnt wanna take it off again lol

[steelroe]

For future reference you need to remove the hydraulic tensioner and push it back using a vice or similar. Then put in a piece of thin wire through the small hole, this will hold the tension pin back, once everything is back on pull the wire out and the pin move forward.

[djabie]

Exellent steelroe thanks
Great tip i wondered how that should be done it would have made the job a lot easier.
I have learned so much off this forum and that was one of the questions i should have asked.
it would saved me all the skinned kuckles and cut fingers i got lol.
just proves one thing
No matter how much we think we know. We still dont know enough!!!
And thats my thought for today
Cheers...

[mcgon1979]

For future reference you need to remove the hydraulic tensioner and push it back using a vice or similar. Then put in a piece of thin wire through the small hole, this will hold the tension pin back, once everything is back on pull the wire out and the pin move forward.

great info! cheers

[kevinod]

Mentions that in the workshop manual by the way, always worth a look before doing a major job on the car. See http://www.fto-ireland.com/downloads.html