Unless the belt skipped 4 teeth I don't understand how that could have happened if all the parts are correct. I'd check them closely against the old ones. On mine the belt can't be stretched that much regardless of how much the tensioner pulley has been over tightened. Make sure your timing gear and the camshaft gears are keyed in properly (not spinning on the shafts). I will try to dig up the recommended torque and related procedure from the manual for setting tension and post it possibly later today 05/03. The factory check is that you should be able to reinsert the pin without interference when at the correct tension. Turn it over twice and try again to slip the pin in and out with minimal hand pressure. When turning your crank very slowly with as little leverage as possible you should be able to feel any interference or contact and avoid bending a valve. Spinning the camshafts, however, is a different story when the rocker spring loading is applied because the spring pressure forces the cam around at various lobe positions. If you need to turn over your camshafts again, when in doubt, either back off the rocker bolts enough to relieve the spring pressure and/or use a wooden dowel through the spark plugs holes to make sure your pistons are not near TDC when turning the cam on that side of the engine. Make sure its long enough so you don't lose it down the plug hole.

 

Proper pre-load on the tensioner pulley is exactly as Niobrara says - you have to be able to freely spin/move the pin and and out without resistance once pre-load is set. If you have to force the pin - the pre-load is incorrect (could be too much or too little) Regarding being 4 teeth off on the camshaft, I don't think over tightening will do that. Most likely that you had ether did not set initial timing correctly, or had some slack between crankshaft and first camshaft. This would allow crankshaft to move some and tighten the belt before moving the camshafts. Make sure you are using correct timing marks for the camshaft gears. Also - beware of the parallax error when looking at the timing marks and pulleys. I find that it is helpful to have a small mirror and line up the view point right along the tooth of the pulley towards the timing mark. If you eyeball it any other way - you'll be off. If you need to re-set the tensioner, you can remove it (leave the timing belt in place) and carefully compress the plunger of tensioner in the vice. Once the pin hole is aligned - reinsert the pin (make sure you inserting it in correct orientation).

 

Just picked up a '01 MS with 146,000 mi. Guess what I'm going to be doing? Well, actually it has a check engine code I gotta take care of first, then this.

 

I just finished replacing the timing belt, water pump and related pulleys and gaskets. I replaced the radiator (which was rather beat up) and the t-stat as well. I followed the FSM procedure to the letter and it worked very well. Probably spent about 9-10 hours on it. I've done many water pumps, alternators, etc, but being my first timing belt swap, I'm pleased it went well and it runs like a top. I've never seen a water pump inside the timing belt before.. is that rare? Setting the timing was the trickiest part, and i was off by a tooth on the right cam sprocket when I did the quarter-turn check. I will sleep well with a fresh timing belt. Cheers.

 

Glad your timing belt swap went well. Having the FSM and following it definitely helps. Water pumps driven by the timing belts are more of a norm on the newer vehicles. Be thankful that on the Montero the water pump is sitting on the outside of the engine (even if it's behind the timing belt). I ran into the situation working on one of the Fords, where the water pump is sitting over the oil pan. Because of that dumb design, any time the water pump starts leaking - coolant goes straight into the oil! Talk about "brilliant" design on that engine.

 

I did mine with no problem until i came to the bracket behind the ac compressor bracket.it takes a little effort but i snaked it out. also ground a slight taper to the bracket and it went in with no problem.

 

I know this is very old and likely the creator(s) of ot aren't even on here, but from a new member just want to say THANK YOU for the thread! Going to tackle this job soon and the knowledge here gives me the confidence to do it myself. Thanks!

 

Welcome to the Montero world! Nice rig!

 

No problem...I'll be getting my 3rd Montero Sport soon. Really miss the 1st one I had though.

 

twofortyfan@icloud.com