Montero Sport - Timing Belt Change

#1

Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread

12-11-2009, 10:48 PM

mantis270 Junior Member

Join Date: Nov 2009Posts: 9

'03 M-Sport timing belt change photos

I'm working on a 2003 Montero Sport LS. We bought it used a few years ago and it now has 110k on the odometer. It's been arelyable vahicle but has become somewhat sluggish on accelerations.

I just finished up changing the timing belt, water pump, plugs, wires, cam seals and valve cover gaskets. Took a day longer than Iexpected but it's done and seems to be running well. During the dissassembly, I took several photos for my reference ... thought I'dput a few up here in hopes they'll help some other DIY-ers...

In the beginning...there was an engine...disconnecteth the battery...draineth the coolant from the radiator and block...

First thing was to take off the air-filter assembly...

After disconnecting all the wires and hoses, I pulled them all aside and removed the throttle and upper intake...

'03 M-Sport timing belt change photos - Mitsubishi Forum - Mitsubishi En... http://www.mitsubishiforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=253949

1 of 8 2/18/2011 10:15 AM

Then the lower...

Then I took off the radiator hoses so I could remove the radiator to give me some room to work...


2 of 8 2/18/2011 10:15 AM

#2

12-11-2009, 10:59 PM



Then off came the old belts and the front bracket to expose the water pump and timing covers...


3 of 8 2/18/2011 10:15 AM

I tried everything I had to get that D#*M crankshaft bolt loose...I ended up renting a small compressor and impact wrench...threequick pulses and she rolled out. I was then able to remove the timing covers...

The belt had some serious cracks in the backing and the auto-tensioner was extended all the way out with some slack in the belt.

The timing marks still lined up so it hadn't skipped a tooth...yet. The passenger side cam seal had a slow weep of oil so I removedboth sprockets and replaced the seals.


4 of 8 2/18/2011 10:15 AM

#3

12-11-2009, 11:15 PM



Then off with the old water pump...

The passenger side valve cover gasket had a pretty decent leak down the back of the engine. So...I pulled off the covers and removedthe old gaskets. They were so hardened that I had to literally chip them out with a knife and pry the plug gaskets off with ascrewdriver.

Here you can see the covers off and the new water pump, idler and tenisioner pullies and auto-tensioner installed.


5 of 8 2/18/2011 10:15 AM

The valve covers cleaned up with the new gaskets..

With the covers off, I was able to get to the rear cam seals and replaced the o-rings...

Here I have the new belt on and I'm putting the prescribed tension on the belt while torquing down the bolt.


6 of 8 2/18/2011 10:15 AM

#4

#5

The pin in the auto-tensioner slid right out with no resistance. I also measured the auto-tensioner piston runout at 0.17" with acaliper...right where it should be. Here's the belt all installed and ready to cover up...

After that, I did everything in reverse with new spark plugs, gaskets and wires. Since this is my wife's vehicle, she got to do thestartup honors...cranked right up. There was a tapping sound for a little while but that died down. It's easy to feel an increase inpickup from a stop or while accelerating.

I hope these pix are useful to someone.

12-15-2009, 12:00 AM

sidney004 Junior Member

Join Date: Dec 2009Posts: 7

These pix and description are EXTREMELY helpful. I just became a member of the forum to see what this job entailed and your postwas the first one I found! I went to the dealer to inquire about the 60,000 mile service and he quoted $1600. What was the trickiestpart?

12-15-2009, 10:34 PM



That quote sounds about right...I paid about $450 in parts plus the $20 subscription fee for the online Chilton manual.

Trickiest...there were a few. There is a lot of disconnecting of wires, sensors, vacuum lines, etc. involved so taking lots of pix toremember what goes where was a big help for me.

Getting the crankshaft bolt off was a BEAR!! An impact wrench is the way to go! I actually didn't have to use anything to hold thepulley still when I hit it with the impact wrench. When I torqued the bolt back I used a strap-wrench to hold it still.

The rear cam seals are not easy to get to but having the valve covers off made it more bearable. Be sure to cover the valves andintake with a clean rag to prevent stuff from dropping in. I pressed the front seals in with a piece of PVC pipe and rubber mallet.


7 of 8 2/18/2011 10:15 AM

g p pp g p p p p

I didn't have the 'special tool' for applying the tension to the timing belt so I made one from a chunk of steel and two drill bits forpins...here's a pic of that...

Just keep track of where bolts are coming from and pay attention when torquing them down...it's easy to strip aluminum threads!


8 of 8 2/18/2011 10:15 AM

Montero Sport - Timing Belt Change

Documents

Transcript of Montero Sport - Timing Belt Change