To answer number 2, on an Accord crank pulley bolt (a notoriously difficult bolt to remove), I used a Ridgid high-torque, 1/2"-drive electric impact wrench on its number 2 power setting. It took over 3 minutes of continuous banging for the Ridgid to finally break the bolt free.

Continuous banging time is where an electric has the advantage over a pneumatic, IMO. To keep a high-torque pneumatic wrench pounding away for 3 minutes, you must have a compressor that's capable of supplying it without pressure or volume drop. I doubt if any 120v could do it and even a 220v is going to be hard-pressed.

When I took our old Accord to a local Honda dealership to have an axle nut loosened, it took their commercial pneumatic unit over two minutes to loosen the nut. After I bought the Ridgid, it removed the other axle nut in about the same length of time. The Ridgid was far less expensive than the impact wrench and compressor at the Honda dealership.

If you don't have an electric, do yourself a big favor and rent an electric wrench that has either a 3/4 or 1" drive.

 

1) i think the most time consuming part was figuring out how to move the engine. There were just lots of little steps. Changing out the spark plugs took about as long as changing the timing belt...for the same reason.
2) We had the ability to use a lift system, so we had plenty of room to put a pipe/breaker bar into the crank cog to prevent it from turning.
3) We lowered the vehicle close to the ground, then lifted the engine with a floor jack just enough to remove the engine mount. No need to disconnect anything special.

 

Hello fellow DIY'rs.

I am on vacation and ready to change the timing belt on my 07' Outlander 6cyl, but am unable to secure the specific crankshaft tools from Mitsubishi. I am looking for 3rd party universal tools to serve the function of crank pulley holder (when removing crank bolt) and crank wrench (for turning the crank). I am thinking that I can remove the pulley, reinsert the bolt and use that to turn the crank. but for holding the crank pulley, I see a lot of flimsy tools and would like to know what others have successfully used.



Much appreciation for your responses.

Emery

 

I had the luxury of a lift, a lot of room, and a 6' pry bar to hold it steady.

 

Update -

I live in MD and saw the weather gods were going to smile on us this week, so while on vacation I decided to go forward with changing the timing belt on my 07' Outlander. Man O' man was that a major effort. I now have a complete appreciation for why this job costs so much. I was doing this on my own and have some important observations.

I purchased the service manuals (PDF) online and viewed the very good YouTube video featuring the Mivec engine, so I felt well prepared. After jacking the car and removing the service panel I used my old Devilbiss 230lb impact wrench (80psi/20gal compressor) and to my surprise, the crankshaft bolt was off on the first attempt in about 5 seconds.

Supporting the engine with a heavy duty jack and hardwood block, I was able to easily completely remove the drive belt tensioner and engine mount giving me access to the timing belt cover, which I learned is pretty brittle and fragile. Once I got to the timing belt, I pulled it and inspected it and found absolutely fine. Not a single crack, fray or other anomaly. I replaced the belt, timing belt tensioner & pulley and the idler pulley.

Setting the cams and crank to TDC was fairly easy, as was installing the belt, although I had to reinstall it a couple of times because I was off one tooth on one cam. Reassembly was fairly straightforward, but very time consuming. It could have been that I was really exhausted at the time and was growing impatient.

The most difficult part of the entire job was working with the drive belt tensioner. This device looks simple enough, but there is a bolt on the top interior that was very difficult to maneuver.

If you are on the fence about doing this job yourself, my suggestion is that you let the dealer do it. Unlike the books and videos, if your only choice is to work on the engine while mounted in the vehicle, then much of your time will be spent trying to access bolts in very difficult to reach locations. Secondly, you must have the proper tools! I found myself running to HomeDopot for wrenches and extenders. If you do not have the right tools, you are in for a fight. The day after all of that pulling, twisting, tightening, reinstalling, my body feels like I've been in a fight with Mike Tyson.

I know I saved a lot of money and am very glad that this is a very rare service item and now that I have done it, I feel very good with continuing to do so, but for those weekend warriors who may handle some very light-duty stuff, this is a major job requiring a major investment in time. I was not rushing and it took me about 9 hours in total.

Ugh - its the middle of the day and my eyes want to close, but I wanted to capture my experience for the benefit of others.

Thank you to all the people who responded to my earlier questions!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

 

Fantastic story!

Good for you!

You saved yourself a pile of money. Instead of paying a stealership to do the job, you paid yourself to do it. And the best part is that you know with certaintly that the job was done correctly -- something you would not know if you let anyone else do it, including a Mit stealership.

Again, Congratulations on completing a pretty tough job.

 

congrats on the change. it is a bear.

 

I think the lesson here is that always buy a car with an engine with a timing chain . All the interference engines should have timing chains. You wont have to worry about a belt breaking and old timing chains give you plenty of warning when they start to stretch/loosen. Give me metal any day over rubber. Does anybody know about reliability of the Lancers? I'm thinking of buying one cause I like the 10 year powertrain warranty on both the transmission and engine.

 

I don't know anyone that's made it past 150k miles with a timing chain. My dad's 06 xterra needs his timing chain system redone. Tensioner or some other pulley has gone bad and it's extremely loud and about ready to die. He's taking it in as soon as he gets his tax rebate check. $1500 repair, and the xterra only has 120k miles on it.

Another friend has a grand vitara, the timing chain is slapping against a guide or something, making a really loud noise. It needs to be fixed also, $1500.

Another friend needs their water pump replaced at 150k miles. Again, while they're in there, they could just as easily replace the timing belt.

You might as well just get a belt and associated pullies replaced at 100k miles and never have to worry about it. Chains are more expensive to replace when the do go bad, and a decent shop will only charge $600-$800 to do a timing belt and water pump using an aftermarket kit. While timing chain kits are usually about $300 more than timing belt kits and timing chain kits aren't as readily available for many makes and models, whereas timing belt kits always are and can be had from several manufacturers.

 

The point here is, if a rubber belt breaks on an interference engine, then the engine is kaput. You almost always have warning signs with a timing chain . They don't last forever but they give you a heads up before they go. That is why all the manufacturers are putting in timing chains with an interference engine.