Well, once again, my optomistic attitude may have gotten the better of me,.... picked up a Chilton Manual at pep boys and the procedure sounded simple, so I made the decision to do it myself.....bad choice, as I have to be back on the road Thursday Morning at 7:00 AM. ..... That means that I have tomorrow to get the water pump and timing belt changed on my Montero.

I removed the shroud, radiator hoses, battery and tray, Power steering pump(just moved it out of the way) and also moved the A/c compressor out of the way, and alternator,......all are released and moved out of the way,.....I removed the fan and the mount/bearing for it, and the cam belt covers and the entire bracket that has all the belt tensioners attached to it............what an ordeal,.....................

Hears where I am stuck! I didn't realize that I was going to need to remove the cranshaft pulley/dampner assembly, and, there is also a separate lower cam belt cover assembly, that can't be removed unless the crank pulley/dampner is removed,......

Also, need to set all the timing marks before I remove the belt. and I can'g see where the timing marks are.

so, here's where I need help.

On the 95 Montero 3.0 LS Where are the timing marks for the timing belt .......AND.......How do I get the crank pulley/dampner off?

This vehicle is an automatic, so I can't put it in gear and use the drive line to keep the engine from turning while I break the big Crank pulley bolt free.

Also, I did buy a front main seal to replace the old one,......not sure how to get the old one out or the new one in and,.....the original one looks like its holding..............nice and dry......so, I may just not bother with this unless someone tells me its an easy replacement.

There is also a rubber seal that runs seals the edges of the cam cover in front,......................its all cracked and brittle. Does this need to be replaced?? Or, is it OK to assemble the Cam covers without the rubber seals/gaskets.

Can anyone tell me any torque specs I need when I am reassembling

One further problem,.............since the Montero is down,............I only have a motorcycle and backpack to carry any tools I might need to buy tomorrow to get this done..............

Thanks in advance to those of you who have suggestions

 

I have done that procedure on the exact same car. However, it was a few years ago. I can answer some of your questions.

Crank bolt removal. This is difficult. There are a few options. The dealer has a special tool (shown in the Chiltons manual) which has two pins that fit in the two holes on the crank pulley. Some people wrap an V-belt around the pulley and grab it with a chain wrench. I took mine off by grabing the back of the pulley with a large channel lock (yes it scratched the pulley a bit). Another option (that can have disastrous consequences) is to put the wrench on the pulley, rest it against the frame and crank the starter (the "starter trick"). The "starter trick" can work very nicely, but it has been know to break things. One guy I saw made a tool from misc. metal parts from Home depot which matched the Mitsu tool. The best method is to use an impact wrench.

One more thing there is a TSB on the crank bolt for those trucks. Mitsu has a newer designed bolt. I did not know about that when I changed mine. When you take yours out call the dealer and describe it to him. The newer one looks much different than the older design.

Timing marks; There are marks on the cam pulleys as well as the crank pulley. I did not have any trouble finding them, but I cannot remember distinctly where they are.

As far as those rubber seals on the cover, they just keep dust and dirt out of the timing belt area. They are nice to have, but not critical.

When it gets time to compress the tensioner, you will need a vice or a strong C-clamp that can open at least 6" wide. Most vices do not go that large. I purchased a 6" cast iron C-Clamp. Just compress the tensioner very slowly.

The tensioner pulley bearing tends to wear out so you may want to replace the pulley too.

You might as well replace the AC and alternator belt since they are off already. The radiator hoses too. The thermostat since the coolant is already drained. Glad to hear you are replacing the water pump.

Sounds like you have removed most everything needed to complete the job. However, you did not mention that you removed the radiator. It definately needs to come out to give you good acces to that crank bolt.

I have not changed the crank seal or the front cam seals. However, I have heard that other people replace them during the timing belt replacement.

The chilton manual has the torque specs.

How many miles on your truck?

I will check back later to see if you have more questions. Plus, I want to hear how it works out. Dont worry, it looks daunting at first, but in the end you will see that it is not really that bad. Plus you have saved yourself about $750.

 

Any updates on your project?

 

bcollins,

A little update on your project would be appreciated.

 

Hi I own an auto repair shop in Pa .here is what we do to hold cranks it sounds crude but works great, from under the vehicle at the transmission on the bottom of the bell housing drill a 1/4 inch hole directly over flywheel ,drill only thru aluminum bell housing ,stick a good heavy chisel to hold flywheel teeth,loosen bolt while an assistant holds chisel , the hole will not hurt a thing as some vehicles have a hole for excess oil accumlation .Sometimes you gotta think out of the box . Good luck Bob

 

On my gen I 3.0 SOHC v6 there was no need to drill out a hole. I just removed the starter and used a big screw driver on the flywheel gear teeth to stop the crank from turning.

 

i kow this so old and i'm sorry. but to remove the crank pulley, do i need pulley puller. and if so what type. I have been on this job for a week and i am too broke to pay a mechanic (student)

also can i just line up the marks on pulleys to the marks on car. car was just givin to me but it had no timing belt. i towed car home. can i just match marks, put belt on and start the car.