Dealer had the spring for about 5 bucks.

I got the engine turning this afternoon. New oil, coolant, W/P, and all belts.

I ended up using a tool from Napa auto Parts to hold the crank pulley. It worked well, and is universal, so I can use it again on something else.

K-D Tool P/N Ser 3471
$31.00


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what lbs/ft do you torque the crankshaft pulley to?

 

I believe that the spec is between 116 and 122 ft/lbs....

I had a tough time loosening it, using the K-D ser-3471 pulley tool in one hand, and a 1/2" breaker bar on the 21mm bolt head. I could barely loosen it!

So when I tightened it, since my old Snap-on torque wrench only goes to 100 ft/lbs, I tightened it a much as I could, working under the car. It should be close...
I'm not a huge guy.

Good Luck,

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Thanks. I plan on picking up one of those pulley tools and a torque wrench to do this. My roommates have air tools but they took them home for the summer, bastards. My dad's only 6 pt sockets are 3/8" drive, is that too small? His 1/2" sockets are 12 pt, go figure.

 

http://protege5.ugly.net/

This will likely be helpful to you....

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I lied!

The torque spec is 116-122 ft/lbs.

I would try to go get a 21mm socket that is 1/2" drive, and a matching breaker bar... It shouldn't cost too much, and the lug nuts on my car are 21mm anyway, so you'll get good use out of it in the future.

It doesn't say so in the manual, but you'll have to remove the right front wheel, and that plastic splash shield that forms the inner fender/wheel well. That's really the only way to have a decent access to the crank pulley bolt.

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PS. Since I've done this job, the engine feels really solid and torquey in the low and mid ranges, BUT!
I seem to have a squeal that come out sometimes when I engage tha A/C at idle...
Not sure what's happening yet, maybe a A/C clutch problem, or the belt slipping when the clutch is engaged. The belts are all new.

 

Why not a torque wrench? Isn't it important to get the crankshaft pulley torqued back to (at least close) spec?

 

I think that I'm close to spec. I used to turn a lot of wrenches back in the day, and I' confident that the pulley wont fly off....

If I had had a torque wrench of the proper range, I would have used it, but I didn't have it at the time.

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That squeal that I mentioned above seems to possibly be the alternator...
When there is a load on the electrical system, like when the fan is on and the headlights, I get the noise....

And when I shut off the H/L's, it goes away!

I'm going to be REALLY bummed if it's the new water pump I installed with the new timing belt! I doubt it. The alternator was a tiny bit noisy before I did the work on the engine. I think the new belt installed a little tighter finished it off, maybe...

Today, I'll be removing the P/S-A/C belt, and running the engine to see if the noise is still "available" without that belt on. Then I'll have narrowed it down a bit.

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I did my timing belt and both drive belts yesterday. I'm at 110,000 and I don't think the previous owner ever had either replaced. Wow, what a lot of work to get at the timing belt. Timing it up properly was def a 2 person job for me, but I am a bit of a mechanic noob. Starting it up for the first time was a tense moment, but everything seems good!

Question: Are our engines non-interference? Like, if I put the timing belt on any-which-way, would I stand a chance of snapping off all my valves?

 

I read somewhere that the valves would NOT hit the pistons if the timing belt broke.
But I think that most engines are interference, so it's better anyway to do it.

Congrats on completeing the job!

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PS.
I hear the hot tip for the timing of all the cams/crank is to cut most of the old belt off, and leave about 1/3 of the old one on to keep all parts clocked as the were, while slipping on the new one. After the new one is started, then cut off the remnant of the old one....

 

Thanks.

The hardest part of timing is holding the cams in place. The valves make them want to rotate into certain positions. I had two 14mm wrenches on the ends of the camshafts, and my dad had a 21mm on the crankshaft. I lined up the cams and held them in place and put the belt over them, then my dad slipped the bottom of the belt on underneath. Very easy after trying for almost an hour by myself and always getting it a notch or two off.

 

Yeah having two wrenches on the end of the camshafts helps a lot. If you're replacing the belt entirely the trick I've heard is to cut off half of the timing belt so that you can slip the new one on.. then cut through the rest of it