Timing belt

[Mopars-Only]

Did you change the belt yourself? If so, did you follow the service manual closely, as in putting the allen wrench in the flex plate, and pinning off the camshafts as the manual says?
I figured drill bits would work fine for the camshaft pinning, but I am not sure. A metric drill bit set would hopefully contain the right size, but then I don't know what that size is yet. Hopefully some of you did it that way and can tell us about it. I note it says remove the power steering pump pulley, how difficult was that?
If you changed your belt out yourself, please post any advice or warnings and so forth, for they would be greatly appreciated.

Mopars-Only

 

[Billwill]

Did you change the belt yourself? If so, did you follow the service manual closely, as in putting the allen wrench in the flex plate, and pinning off the camshafts as the manual says?
I figured drill bits would work fine for the camshaft pinning, but I am not sure. A metric drill bit set would hopefully contain the right size, but then I don't know what that size is yet. Hopefully some of you did it that way and can tell us about it. I note it says remove the power steering pump pulley, how difficult was that?
If you changed your belt out yourself, please post any advice or warnings and so forth, for they would be greatly appreciated.

Mopars-Only

Go to the CRD section at L.O.S.T Jeeps Offical Web Site - For Jeep Owners

They will give you all the advice you need to know about CRds in general and changing the timing belt in particular.

 

[1stdeuce]

I've been putting off changing the timing belt on my GF's KJ with 135k mi on it for a while now, and finally decided to take the day and do it, or at least do as much of it as I could manage. I started about 11:30 AM after a good pressure washing of the engine with the cover removed. It's now 2:30 and I'm done. Completely done. It was NOT that big a deal.

The only special tool I used was a timing gear holder set that I got on loan from Oreilly's. It was necessary, but that's it.

I mostly did what I saw in a writeup for a 2.5L on LOST Jeeps. There are no timing marks to line up with anything on a 2.8L, so you basically just make marks, install the tool on the cam gears, and then put the new belt on and make sure the crank and cam gear marks still line up. I turned the belt tensioner by gently grabbing it with a pair of vice grips. It turned fairly easy, so I don't think the tensioner tool is needed.

I also only pulled the shroud and of course fan, not the radiator and intercooler. There was plenty of room to work once they were out of the way.

To all you with some level of mechanical skill, I say go for it!! My 3 hour ordeal included coming in here to see what I was missing (nothing...) and washing the front of the motor while the belt was off and letting it dry for 10 minutes or so after blowing it off with the air compressor.

Of note is that the two idler pulleys for the serp belt are LH thread. Other than that, it's all very straightforward.
Chris

 

[Billwill]

I've been putting off changing the timing belt on my GF's KJ with 135k mi on it for a while now, and finally decided to take the day and do it, or at least do as much of it as I could manage. I started about 11:30 AM after a good pressure washing of the engine with the cover removed. It's now 2:30 and I'm done. Completely done. It was NOT that big a deal.

The only special tool I used was a timing gear holder set that I got on loan from Oreilly's. It was necessary, but that's it.

I mostly did what I saw in a writeup for a 2.5L on LOST Jeeps. There are no timing marks to line up with anything on a 2.8L, so you basically just make marks, install the tool on the cam gears, and then put the new belt on and make sure the crank and cam gear marks still line up. I turned the belt tensioner by gently grabbing it with a pair of vice grips. It turned fairly easy, so I don't think the tensioner tool is needed.

I also only pulled the shroud and of course fan, not the radiator and intercooler. There was plenty of room to work once they were out of the way.

To all you with some level of mechanical skill, I say go for it!! My 3 hour ordeal included coming in here to see what I was missing (nothing...) and washing the front of the motor while the belt was off and letting it dry for 10 minutes or so after blowing it off with the air compressor.

Of note is that the two idler pulleys for the serp belt are LH thread. Other than that, it's all very straightforward.
Chris

Glad you could do it with no problems!

There has been a long discussion on Lost about whether or not the alignment of the Bosch fuel pump is critical or not and the general consensus is that it can affect performance if the pump is not timed correctly.
Hopefully if you set the motor up at TDC and mark everything including the fuel pump then all will be well when tightening everything up.:emotions34:

 

[Mopars-Only]

Glad you could do it with no problems!

There has been a long discussion on Lost about whether or not the alignment of the Bosch fuel pump is critical or not and the general consensus is that it can affect performance if the pump is not timed correctly.
Hopefully if you set the motor up at TDC and mark everything including the fuel pump then all will be well when tightening everything up.:emotions34:

The factory service manual does not caution you to align the fuel pump sprocket, the fuel pump is just a very high pressure belt driven pump. I read that Lost list for a while several years back; I noted a good bit of misinformation on that site. I worked for over 30 years in a diesel truck shop, working for the trucking company that owned and operated the trucks. I started out washing and fueling trucks, worked my way up to Fleet Maintenance Mgr. Having said that, it is always nice to speak with people that have worked on the engine you are about to work on, to get their insight. I swapped my belt recently, and had no issues. Runs just as good as it ever did, and I did not even so much as look at the fuel pump sprocket other than to route the belt on and off it properly.

Mopasrs-Only

 

[Billwill]

The factory service manual does not caution you to align the fuel pump sprocket, the fuel pump is just a very high pressure belt driven pump. I read that Lost list for a while several years back; I noted a good bit of misinformation on that site. I worked for over 30 years in a diesel truck shop, working for the trucking company that owned and operated the trucks. I started out washing and fueling trucks, worked my way up to Fleet Maintenance Mgr. Having said that, it is always nice to speak with people that have worked on the engine you are about to work on, to get their insight. I swapped my belt recently, and had no issues. Runs just as good as it ever did, and I did not even so much as look at the fuel pump sprocket other than to route the belt on and off it properly.

Mopasrs-Only

Great....if you are happy then I am happy:shrug: