[FAQ] Complete DIY How To: Timing Belt/Water Pump Change on a D16Z6 - lots of pics!

[poison]

I`m not sure if this has been done before, but my mom needed a timing belt change on her 93 del Sol Si, so my father and myself decided to take up on the project and I decided to bring the crappy HP digicam into the picture while doing it. Enjoy: The car: my mom's del Sol: The motor: (yes my mom drives a del Sol with intake! crazy IMO lol) First thing is first, disconnect the ground on the battery: Remove spark plug wires: Loosen the valve cover bolts. Just a pointer, these bolts are very weak and should be loosenned/tightened with care! A picture with the bolts loosenned in order to remove the valve cover: Being the valve cover has never been removed (or over a LONG period of time), it will take some "tweaking" and "manouvering" of the valve cover to get it to move around and pull it off. We actually grabbed a smaller flat head and gently put it between the valve cover and the head to get the valve cover loosened up finally. Picture with the valve cover removed: From there, remove the cam gear timing cover. This is held by I believe two or three 10mm bolts. Next thing, drain the coolant. Pictured here is my hand loosening the wing nut on the bottom back part of the radiator. This will depend on what type of radiator you have: To let the coolant out a little faster, take off the radiator cap. This will allow oxygen into the radiator so it will drain faster. Make sure the coolant is not hot! My mom's car has power steering. So, you must remove the PS pump to gain more access. Pictured here I am loosening the tensioner (which is the wing nut) and removing the two 12mm bolts on the side. From here, remove the PS belt. Next thing: (which is not pictured), if your car has AC, then loosen the AC pulley which is on the AC bracket. This is done by loosening the 10mm long bolt which is way down in there (on the bracket), and also loosen the 14mm pulley bolt to loosen the belt. Remove the belt from there. You WILL need to also remove the two bolts pictured here to remove the AC compressor belt: This car has cruise control. So this will also need to be removed. Pictured here is the rachet removing the THREE 10mm bolts that hold the cruise control box to the chassis: Next thing is to remove the alternator belt. Pictured here is the loose 12mm bolt that holds the tension on the alternator belt. Here is a picture of the 14mm bolt that pivots the alternator so you may remove the belt: Next thing, the big one: Crank pulley (19mm bolt): VS: The battle pictured: I made my dad do the work since he wanted to learn, so here ya have it I put the car into 5th gear, and stomped on the brakes. The thing would NOT come loose. So we put the spare tire/donut on the car, dropped it. And tried it again: STILL would not come loose! So, we did the following: I apologize for the shitty picture and the dirty engine bay, but remove the starter! This will gain access to the FLYWHEEL and the pressure plate/clutch area: What I did is put a big friggin screw driver onto the flywheel teeth. And held that mofo right there while my dad FINALLY got the crank bolt loosened and removed. Here is a picture of the crank removed from the motor: If you can see, on the crank there is a little "key", which will come off with the crank pulley. Do NOT lose this! Make sure you store it a proper place with the crank pulley. Next thing. You need to remove the driver side mount in order to remove the timing belt (since it goes around): You need to support the motor by using a jack and a 2x4 piece of wood (or something flush that will hold the motor -- so you will not damage the oil pan. Pictured here is something my dad found that will work. Crappy picture, but next thing is to remove the driver motor mount bolt. This is a long 17mm bolt: Picture of the motor mount removed: Next thing is to remove the LOWER timing cover. This is held by a few 10mm bolts. I believe 5 of them. Very simple to remove. Next thing, LOOSEN the tensioner. This is a 14mm bolt: Next, remove the timing belt from the cam gear: Next thing, remove the water pump. There is FOUR 10mm bolts that are holding this on: Next is one more bolt which is a 14mm bolt on the water pump: Picture with the water pump removed: Picture of the new water pump (you can see the four mounting points and the one 14mm bolt): From there, install the NEW water pump with a new gasket. Next thing, INSTALL the new timing belt. What we had to do is remove the 14mm bolt just underneath the mount POST (which connects the motor to the driver side motor mount). We had to use a hammer and gently tap it to gain a little access and SLIDE the new timing belt onto the motor. NEXT thing. VERY IMPORTANT! -Set the timing Here is the timing. Here is the CAM gear set to TDC: BIG ADVICE: Put the timing belt onto the crank, tensioner and water pump pulley, keep it off the cam gear for right now and install the lower timing cover. Install the CRANK pulley, and put the crank pulley bolt on. Make sure you have that little key I was telling you about earlier! At this point, the crank pulley does not need to be torqued, but just enough to spin the motor. Once that is installed, turn the CRANK to TDC (make sure you keep the cam gear at TDC pictured above). Here is a couple pics of setting the crank to TDC. (sorry for the bad pics): You can see in the picture, where there is a MARKING on the crank pulley and also on the TIMING cover. Simply align that marking with the mark on the timing cover. Again, make sure the cam gear is at TDC: From there, put the timing belt onto the cam gear, and tighten up the 14mm bolt on the tensioner. Install everything as pictured (put timing cover back on, install engine mount, lower the jack, etc..: At this point, torque the crank pulley BOLT. Put that big ass screw driver into the flywheel teeth and hold it there once again, and TORQUE the crank bolt to 130 lbs using a torque wrench. Install the Power steering belt, put a/c belt back on, put alternator belt back on, make sure they are all tensioned up properly, and bolts are tight (as explained above). From there, make sure EVERYTHING is torqued, spark plugs are connected, and of course, re-connect the battery. Start her up, fill up the radiator with new coolant (make sure the wing nut or the drain plug is also tight!), once the motor is warmed up, put the radiator cap back on, and you're done! peace. Modified by poison at 6:21 PM 4/8/2007

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[SLATER97EX]

Nice tutorial man I just had to do this too on my EX. Get an impact wrench dude, I had that crank pulley off in 5 seconds!

[sledgehammer]

DAMN, amazing write up. Love the amount of pictures.

Mike

[VX]

Very, Very Detailed How-To!!! Excellent Job Brandon! Very thorough!

[Caveman74]

Good Job!! Looks like a pain in the ass though.

[bryan305]

Very good write up

[SpdFrk]

awesome write up dude.

[wickedEFguy]

it sucks I couldn't help you with this but thanx for the write up brandon, it really helps alot

[jazz215]

thanks man, awesome write up... pictures are worth 1000 words.

[BauleyCivic]

That is one awesome ass writeup man...and i'll add it to my mini-me thread in case people need more detailed explainations

[silverEH2]

good write up , timing is something i need to learn a little more about

[axhandler]

Nice write up! I do have one thing to add...

The valve cover will pop right off if you tap it with a rubber mallet. This also insures that you do not damage the gasket mating surfaces.

Once again nice job on the write up!

[SICKSOLSI]

very nice writeup and great pics

[AlphaQup]

I couldn't have said it better myself. Great job on the writeup homie.

[Brewer]

Very thorough how-to

[NOSpeed97]

Nice job and tutorial. I changed my timing belt and water pump with the engine out my car.

[BLUTO]

Wow, thanks for the really nice writeup. SAVED to my notepad

[Fred n J_v2.0]

Excellent write-up. you deserve another

[pdiggitydogg]

absolutely phenomenal write-up and great pics

all this work is why i take mine in for timing belt. I know I can do it...its not that hard...but its too much work for my schedules

[zeroracerh]

good write up!

[Smith Wise]

Originally Posted by Caveman74

Good Job!! Looks like a pain in the ass though.

Definitely a PITA

[senpai]

Should be good for the first timers

[EARLdaSQUIRREL]

this should become a sticky, its a shame the pics arent clearer though

[blackeg]

Originally Posted by jazz215

thanks man, awesome write up... pictures are worth 1000 words.

so true. awesome write up. i will inevitably be doing this soon, and i got a feeling this thread is gonna be my bible

[Jmunk]

You don't need to remove the valve cover to remove the top timing belt cover. Use a screw driver and put pry the plastic out.