timing belt edge catching ?

[RichardW]

No, you need to jam the crank somehow. The bolt can be tight, so it should really be done with a toothed tool that engages with the ring gear - the flywheel timing pin is probably not strong enough either.

[tomj25]

Hi well all done new pully is in and sounds great, ive ordered the timing kit and water pump from local parts dealer and will be here tomorrow can i get some advice on how to lock everything in place ready to change belt
Thanks tom

[tomj25]

Ok im in trouble after a good day sorting pully out i decided i would make a start while it was still nice ready for belt change in the morning and like a bloody fool i dived straight in and didn't lock anything removing the crank pully as soon as i realized what i was doing i tightened it back up but when i started the car the crank pully belt is now wobbling like crazy and it sounds like the exhaust is leaking so can i assume i have knocked the timing out off synch, i could bloody throttle myself !!

[Hell Razor5543]

So long as you are an intelligent bloody fool you should be OK. Intelligent people never make the same mistake twice (they find a different way to foul things up completely! ). Now all you have to do is get the timing corrected.

[tomj25]

well that sounds like me alright , so before i wreak anything else where do i start in timing her back up again, one good thing i get a day off work tomorrow in this awfull weather

[picassodad]

I would not tend to rely on the crank locking pin thru the hole down by the starter and locks into flywheel to lock the crank for undoing the crank pulley bolt, its in very tight and would probably break something.

On a pug 306, some have used a "windy gun" to undo the crank pulley bolt but i used top gear and the brakes, when i did the cam belt on a 2000 306.

When you have the top cam belt cover off, check to see if there are 3 outer bolts and a centre bolt for the cam shaft.

Do your research before you "go in".

When i did the cam belt job I also replaced the "noisey" crank pulley. The first one I got from the local motor factors came in an opened "gates" box but the pulley did not have a gates ink stamp and seemed as if it had loads on movement. It turned out to be a FAKE!!

The next one again came in a gates box but was sealed, and the pulley had a gates ink stamp. The machining on the face that the cam belt would contact against was very very "rough" and would have really damaged the cam belt, so I smoothed it off before fitting. I e mailed gates about these problems and have still not had any feedback. I have lost all confidence in "gates" products and will not touch them with a barge pole!

[picassodad]

Oh dear, just seen page 2..........

is the crank pulley sitting on the key properly, wobbling like crazy, by how much??

[picassodad]

So, a 3 bolt cam sprocket??

I am not completely sure but if the crank is pinned, the pistons are a TDC?? 1 and 4 at TDC

If so, do not rotate the cam shaft.

If the crank when pinned is at TDC, you could turn the crank anticlockwise 90 degrees with the cam belt off, so pistons are at mid stroke. You can then safely turn the cam shaft ( sohc NOT DOHC ) to the timing pin hole position and pin, Then turn the crank clockwise to the tdc and pin, then fit the belt and tension.

Can someone confirm if the crank is pinned properly, the pistons are at TDC please?? 1 and 4 at TDC??

[tomj25]

Hi guys sorry for late reply had a family problem so been back and forwards sorting that and the car, ok so inbetween things I've managed to get car done, for my piece of mind before i went any further i got a mobile mechanic round to check timing and it was all good thankfully, so ibe done the timing kit change as well as new crank pully and belt, ok now thing's strange, it ran and started 1st time no problems until yesterday when i was on a duel carriage way all of a sudden it went full revs ans black/grey smoke poured out off the exhaust i lost all power steering and luckily managed to get it onto the grass verge with smoke plumes still coming out i turned it off but it continued to stay running for a few seconds which scared the death out of the wife, so recovered home by the great service of green flag i checked everything under the bonnet thinking id snapped the cam belt but no all belts are still on so maybe i shouldn't have but i thought well nothing to lose ol turn it over and to my surprise 1st time on the key no smoke and ticking over lovely ! So guys im picking your brains as to the the hell happened . Thanks tom

[sparksie]

Runaway.
It was running on another substance that combusts in a similar fashion to diesel.
Usually, this is engine oil, from a failing turbo seal, but it can be any oil that finds its way into the inlet.
Since yours stopped without you needing to stall/quench it and without blowing itself up, I think it must have exhausted whatever alternative fuel source it was running on. Check the other fluids and see is one dramatically low.
I can't imagine how power steering fluid could have found its way into the inlet, but if it did, the engine would be quite content with it as a fuel and would redline itself until it was all gone.
Keep in mind that you may need to stop it mechanically, when you start it again, until you find out where the alternative fuel supply is coming from.
If it's a manual, with a good clutch, you can stall it in a high gear.
If its an auto, you need to find a way to block the inlet air. I've seen someone use their hand for this, but I don't recommend it. Apart from anything else, that puts your head in the line of fire if it goes bang before you stop it! Better to use something disposable, with a bit of a handle, so you can block the air from beside the car, without leaning over it. Practice with it stopped, so you can do it quickly, if you need to.

[GiveMeABreak]

An HDi diesel can keep running because it doesn't use a spark. So the engine likely isn't stopping because the fuel pressure is too high. The ECU probably isn't cutting the power to the diesel injectors until the rail pressure has dropped below a certain value. Getting it on a Lexia may provide some further clues. Another reason could be a failing turbo oil seal, allowing oil to get sucked into the intake. That's pretty serious, so I would get it looked at pretty soon.

It won't be anything to do with power steering fluid - that is a completely separate circuit.

[tomj25]

Ok bit wet this moring but i had a quock look over her this morning as again cant see an reason for what happened all looks nice and dry however i was getting round to doing a oil and filter change thia weekend but as say weather is awfull here anyway i checked the dip stick to make sure it still had oil in it and it had more than enough in fact its approx 60mm above the correct level on the stick could this be the reason ?

[GiveMeABreak]

Overfilling is a bad thing because over a certain level the crankshaft will start dipping into the oil and aerating it. When this happens, the pump has difficulty in pumping the oil around the engine, causing oil starvation. Oil can also be drawn through the engine breather system and get into the intake manifold - so effectively it can get into the combustion chambers and start running on oil vapours as sparksie mentioned. This might lead to an increase in revs - but not good as it can lead to the conrod going eventually. So first thing I would do is take some oil out first, then allow the car to warm up to operating temperature then check the oil level on a flat surface.

Even some dealers have been found guilty of this - the customer takes their car in for a service and it stays waiting for a few hours or so. They may drain and top up to a certain level but I doubt they wait and run the cars to temperature to check for the correct level, as ramp time is money... So never hurts to check yourself.

Always check your oil level when the engine is warmed up - because the oil expands when warm, so if you top it up when cold, the oil level will obviously rise once it is heated and expands which will mean you have more oil than you should.

[tomj25]

Thanks for that i will get it all out when the weather clears up at bit and do oil change and filter, will keep you all informed. tom

[picassodad]

Get a co2 fire extinguisher for a "run away" moment which can be quite spectacular!!

I have never seen one apart from on u tube, but i have heard one, a transit which was parked way down the street and around the corner revving away like billyo, then BANG!