Timing Belt And Water Pump Replacement

[B-rice]

Ok i pulled my timing belt out several times because i had a whirriing noise coming from the timing belt area. On the second time i thought i might aswell take pictures there might be some people who think this is a too difficult job to do.I was quoted $850 with me providing parts, did it in less that a day will buy myself something with that cash.

Proceed at your own risk this is the way that i tackled this problem.It may or may not be the best to your situation.So I would not be held incharge for the damage it could cause to your car.This is a guide not an actual manual of doing this.

Difficulty: 4.5 -6 /10

Anyway it took me about 4hrs first time but ended up taking 2hrs the last time i took it off.

For the job here are the tools that i used.Your gonna need some demineralised water and coolant if your mix it yourself or just buy a premix.

Step 1.

Take the engine undertray off if you have one the middle section only no need to take undo the wheel trays. Took a flat bucket placed it under the radiator drain plug located at the left of the radiator. It is a rubber seal with a Phillips type head for you to undo it.TAKE CARE NOT TO STRIP THE HEAD OR ELSE YOU'LL HAVE TO ORDER ANOTHER FROM NISSAN. Open the radiator cap and remove the top hose using a pliers or long nose pliers. Remove the bottom hose located the right side of the vehicle.DO NOT THE CLIP TOO FAR AS IT WILL BE HARD TO PUT IT BACK WITH THE SPACE THERE.

Step 2

While its draining you might want to start undoing the clutch fan bolts. You will need an M10 spanner . To make your job easy you might want a ratchet type spanner as it will make your life easier for $12.85 from Bunnings, took me a while to get these off with my fat arms.The spanner will be great also putting them back in.After undoing slip the fan out via the left, near the battery.

Step 3

Undo the bolts fastening the radiator two of them at the top of the radiator M10 nuts. Pull out the radiator some liquid may drip out.

Step 4

Take out the CAS by undoing the three bolts in place. Take out the cam cover by removing the five bolts bolting it onto the engine. You may want to draw an outline marking where the CAS sits. NOT DOING THIS COULD SCREW UP YOUR TUNE. Un-clip the CAS from the wiring connector and put it away face down.(ass up)

It should all look like this now except with the belts on.

Step 5

Now we undo the belts starting with the power steering belt. Losen the circled bolt with 5 turns.

Then undo this long bolt till the nut is about 15mm to the end of the bolt. Didnt take a pic of the ut but its similar to this on the alternator side

After undoing the long bolt undo that holds the front of the long bolt. Its is pictured below.

After undoing that bolt you should be able to swing the power steering pulleys towards the right, this will untension the belt enough to take it off.

Step 6

The middle belt requires you to go under the car and undo bolt one slightly 3 turns and the second until the belt can be taken off. The order indicated in the picture.Then you can push the tensioner up and the belt will be loose to take off.

Step 7

Undo the alternator by loseing the main bolt. Then losening the long bolt and the one fastening the long bolt to the alternator.Before you take the long bolt lose mark it at the end with a marker so you will not under/over tension it when putting it back.make sure you mark each belt to where its coming from as they are different lengths. I placed the alternator belt on the right side of the car since its on the right and the power steering on the left and the other infront on the car.

Step 8.

All the belts are off its should look like this.

Then now we grab the breaker bar and 27mm socket.The crank bolt is inside the harmonic balancer, The car should be in 5TH gear with the handbrake on , before you attempt to undo it.After completely undoing it tighten up the bolt again with 5 turns max.Place your gear puller with the center supported the the crank bolt adjust the levers to that they are pulling of the same lip. turn the puller on the balancer to see if the three levers have been attached properly. To start removing the balancer turn the center shaft clockwise. It may take two or three turns till it starts showing signs off coming off.As soon as you see it move, do not keep turning the shaft as it will pull and damage the balancers lip because the crank bolt is actually stopping it from completely coming loose, therefore your just fighting against a bolt that can be taken off. Take off the bolt and pull out balancer watch that the key does not fall out and get lost.

Step 8

Put the bolt back in and finger tighten. Put the car in neutral and bar the engine clockwise NEVER ANTICLOCKWISE. Line up the marks on the Cam cover to the exhaust cam and the inlet cam, at the bottom line up the crank gear to the groove.

After lining them up undo the idler and the tensioner. M17 AND M14.Might want to compare the part numbers.Put the car back in 5th gear and remove the timing belt without moving the cam gears or the crankshaft gear.To undo the idlers you need to remove the plastic cover same bolts as the cam cover.

Step 9

Removing the water pump involves removing 6 x M8 , 4 X M10 , 1 X M6 bolts. Put the bucket under the pump as there will be some coolant in there, tap the pump off lightly with a hummer and it will come off. It will looks like this. Make sure you pay attention to where the bolts came from mainly the M10 bolts as the washers make them a bit different in length.(From memory single washer goes on the top two bolts also securing the alternator bracket, but please check this when undoing)

Wipe away all the coolant as much as possible some will still drip out a little. Put a rag inside the holes to suck up all the fluid then using the wire stuff used to scrub pots.You can use that to remove the gasket sealant left behind. Make sure the mating surface is clean and free from and oil or dirt.

Step 10

Installing the studs to the new water pump you will screw in the studs as far as possible with your hands. Then using the bolts to secure the fan belt. Drive the nuts on the longer side of the stud until its finger tight then use a ratchet to tighten it right to the end of the thread. It will act like a bolt head and when you tighten it the stud will be firmly screwed into position.

Add a continuous stream of gasket maker on the mating edge of the water pump aprox 6mm thick even around bolt holes.Put two bolts top and bottom and put the water pump in place. Finger tighten every bolt making sure each bolts has grabbed its thread. After this you may tighten all bolts untill you see the gasket maker flanging out. Stop and let it set for an hour and get yourself a break or something.Depending on the instructions given with the gasket maker.

After sufficient time has lasped torque down the bolts with a torque wrench if you dont want to break bolts or under tighten them also do it slowly as rushing it makes a bolt easier to break even with a torque wrench.

Nm kg-m

M6 = 17 - 21(1.7 - 2.1)

M8 = 20 - 23(2.0 - 2.3)

M10 = 35 - 47(3.6 - 4.8)

Use these to tighten them down extracted from the R34 Service manual might want to check if its different with 33 and 32s.Remember to put thread locker on all the bolts

Step 11

Put thread locker on the idler bearing and tighten it down to (43 - 58) Nm or (4.3 - 5.8)kg-m. Put the tensioner on and spring loaded it to the stud and finger tighten the nut.Getting the belt on you need to align the belts timing marks if its comes with them to the exhaust and inlet cam gears and cover. The same should be done to the crankshaft gear.Place the belt gripping by about 5mm on the cam gears and the tensioner and the rest of the width of the belt hanging off. When you move the tensioner using a allen key it should give the belt more slack enough to slip it onto the idler with a bit of effort.Once its on the idler you can tap the belt with a rubber mallet making sure its full width is gripping to the cam wheels, crankshaft gear and idler and tensioner. Tap the belt on its its flush with the gears or maybe 2mm inwards. check your old idlers to see how far inside the belt was pushed in. Depending on the belt you have tension the belt adequetly with the gates timing belts you may want to move it 3mm from its original position.Check the belt if its still indicating to be tight enough.Should be able to twist a 1/4 out of the belt. Tighten the tensioner with the torquing measurement given above.

Make sure that the markings are aligning excatly and then proceed to the next step.

Step 12.

Put the engine in neutral and start barring it clockwise align the markings twice.So spin it so that the linigs will align twice in two or the markings revolutions.The marking on the belt will not align but after every rotation the markings on the gear and cam cover holder should always align, if not start again untill it does.

Step 13

After turning it twice put the cover back on and tighten.Put the washer before the balancer then put the balancer back on by aligning the grove with the key. The push it into place put some grease and it should slide in easy. Put some thread locker on the crank bolt and fasten it to the balancer whilst the engine is in 5th gear. The tightening torque is 142 to 152 N.m or 14.5 to 15.5 kg-m. After tightening put the cam cover back on and the CAS following the markings made earlier.

Step 14

Install the belt again starting with the alternator, A/C belt and then P/S belt. Install the radiator back on again ensuring the drain plug is adequately tight. Plug the bottom hose in and maybe your crossover intercooler pipe if you have one first before putting the top hose back on Put the fan back on before the intercooler pipe. Mix up the coolant if you need to or pour it in if its has already been mixed for your.If you mix it yourself use de mineralised water its very cheap from Bunnings or supercheap auto. Lodge down a coke bottle into your radiator and tape it up close to water proof. Start you engine and let it run for atleast 20 mins In between the twenty minutes open the coolant bleed valve to let the air out then close it when a continuous stream of coolant comes out. Rev the engine a little bit some bubbles will come out through the bottle. If the level rises in the bottle open the bleed valve. After a while the bottle will start to melt so you may need two. When changing over the bottle turn off the engine.Put a towel or rag around the bleeder pipe it can be messy. You may just need to spray up your engine bay to get it clean. Take it for a drive and see if any coolant if leaking out. Make sure youve washed down the engine as you can be fooled that coolant is leaking when its the spill from the bleed valve.

Good luck i hope it make sense and detailed enough for you any questions PM me or ask someone will answer. Any additions and subtractions are welcome as its the first time ive done it.

[Duncan]

Thanks for the good write up.

With removing the harmonic balancer, while the 3 jaw pullers work sometimes, these balancers can be really hard to remove. There is another type of puller like this that is better suited. Buy 2 strong (grade 12) M6 bolts of the right length to pull it with.

Also, if you are going to do all that work, you may as well change the timing belt and the idler and tensioner pullies while you are in there; that is normally a 100,000klm job.

[jiffo]

Just a couple of pointers.

On a 5 speed box, NEVER use 5th gear. It's the weakest gear in the box. Use direct (4th) if you go this route with a GTSt.

The balancer has 2-M6 x 1.0mm drilled and tapped puller holes ready for use. A jaw style puller is asking for damage to the rubber compound of the balancer's construction.

Leaving the balancer bolt hanging by a few threads will also catch the balancer when it's ready to drop. The pulleys are very easy to chip if it should drop on the concrete floor.

The photos show a Gates blue belt. These kevlar composition belts must be set looser than Nissan's instructions or the belt will be over tensioned when the engine reaches operating temperature.

[B-rice]

Wish there was a forever edit button to add the things mentioned above. thanks anymore errors please point them out.

[jiffo]

Not errors mate, just tips we've picked up over the years and a forum is the place to pass them on.

Kudos to you for making this effort and posting pics with your DIY.

[ACTIVE-LSD]

hi mate thanks for the write up it's very clear. will help alot of people. thanks again

[B-rice]

did i answer your question in the other thread you posted

[533 RYC]

I'd bar the engine over to TDC #1 before removing CAS (its good practice).

Also, switch your heater to max hot before turning the engine off, as this will help when bleeding the cooling system later.

The 'steering wheel puller' Duncan pictured is the way to go, so as not to damage the pulley/rubber of the balancer. If the load bolt (the one that goes through the center of the puller) is shortened, there's no need to remove the radiator.

There's no need to apply threadlocker to the water pump bolts. They are small bolts. If you overkill the threadlocker, the next time you have pull it off,you might snap the bolts.

DO NOT EVER USE ANY TYPE OF HAMMER TO TAP THE TIMING BELT ON!!!

Before removing your OLD timing belt, check your NEW belt. If it has 3 white lines across the outside of the belt, they are alignment markings for fitting the NEW belt. If there are none marked on the NEW belt, then get a permanent marker (preferably a white paint pen) & mark the teeth then correspond to the cams/crank alignment marks on the inner timing cover & oil pump. Remove the old belt & draw a line across the width of the outside of the belt at the marked timing points. Count all the teeth on the old belt, place a dot at intervals of 10 teeth. Do

the same on the NEW belt, making sure there are the same amount of teeth as the OLD belt.

The first part of fitting a timing belt is sometimes the hardest part, due to the cams moving alittle due to valve spring tension, as you might notice when removing the old belt they move a bit. Don't be too concerned. It should go on if evenly pushed on all the way around. It will require a bit of strength to get it on, but it will go once you get it half the thickness of the belt. Getting the first half of the new belt on all the sprockets, idler & tensioner can be a bit hard, but it will go on by hand.

DO NOT OVER TENSION THE BELT! It will cause premature wear of the sprockets & pulley bearings.

If your replacing the water pump, its good practice to refill your cooling system to check for leaks BEFORE fitting the timing belt, you don't want to put it all back together & have to pull it apart again (there are some dodgy pumps that come in the eBay kits).

When bleeding the cooling system, use a 2L coke bottle with the very bottom cut off, tape as described in OP. fill cooling system with the bleeder removed, you want to get as much air out from behind the thermostat BEFORE starting the engine! Start & run the engine, while monitoring the outside of the top radiator inlet with your finger/thumb. When it warms up, the thermostat is open, & all should be good.

Take for a SHORT drive around the block, then lift the bonnet & have a good look around.

Hope this extra helps, good luck!

[simonl]

Just bought my R34 25GT at 98,**** km's and should probably replace my belt at 100,*** km's but I'm too scared to do it myself and cause more problems, lol.

I was quoted about the same price for someone else to do it.

[Okula83]

I did it today!! All good all new.

But when I started idles fine just noise is coming after 1500 rpm. Now wondering do the new pulleys make noise??

Or I overtightened some of belts?

Or that fan clutch runout of fluid ??

I do not know

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[Okula83]

All day on Sunday I tried to figure it out, and I find that timing belt was over-tighten.

Sometimes when parts are new, they have to seat in. Also silicon from water pump and all new rotating parts make some kind of noise but must be constant all the time and not excessive!! Which happens in my case.

Sunday took me long time to pull apart and solve the problem. I didn't want to take off radiator and harmonic balancer which gaves me hard work but I make it ) tomorrow going for overhead gasket so no more period.

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[sexyatse]

How to undo the harmonic balancer bolt on a automatic r34 gtt turbo??

[iruvyouskyrine]

Rattle gun.

[B-rice]

Im going to be doing this again. I remember that last time i used the wrong puller. Can anyone point me out to thr right puller as Duncans image has been broken?

[89CAL]

 

One like this?

I've used one similar to this in the past with success

The tool pictured is just a Toolpro kit from supercheap. Harmonic Balancer puller kit

[iruvyouskyrine]

I have used two types of the one pictured above and both have been shit. Just a medium sized 3 jaw puller works best for me. Have done 15+ engines and it always works first time every time. Just take care when setting it up to have all the arms equal length so it comes off straight

[Duncan]

I've got to say that is not my experience, I use the type pictured all the time, and as long as you have the correct length bolts screwed all the way into the balancer I've had a lot of success; that style means it pulls off nice and straight.

3 jaw ones can be difficult to get under the balance lip evenly because of the oil pump lip, and if they are not even and central they pull the balancer off at an angle making it way harder...

[iruvyouskyrine]

Yes I agree about the setup being a pain but if setup correctly it works well. I used a generic ebay puller like the one pictured above and it broke then tried to use a mates and it just couldn't pull the balancer off, felt like it was about to pull the threads out of the balancer.

[B-rice]

Just to update this thread. When I did it last time. I didn't mark the CAS and the engine was not in TDC.

Could I get some advice on this. Seems like I got away with it last time. Not sure if I will again. There are marks on the balancer. Which one should I be using and what do I line it up with. In terms of marking the CAS before removing, am I just marking an outline of the case relative to the timing belt cover?

[89CAL]

Yes, just mark the CAS to the cam gear cover to get it roughly correct. I would still double check and adjust the base timing if needed, but marking it gets pretty close

The CAS doesn't really need the engine at TDC to be installed if that was you were talking about? If you are talking about your timing belt, Wind the engine over (use a socket and bar/ratchet) till the marks on the cam gears line up with the marks on the backing plate. Double check the crank gear when you pull the ballancer lines up with the mark on the oil pump.