V6 cam belt replacement

[Stempy]

I have in my posession a shiney new cam belt for the V6. Having had a look at the procedure in DocBackup there are several special tools mentioned. Are these essential for doing the job or can I get away with more general tools? Alternatively, does anyone have the correct tools for hire?

Belt tension is stated to be not below 70 or above 100 SEEM units which apparently equates to between 373 and 533 Newtons. This is not particularly precise which leads me to believe that getting roughly as tight as the old one will be near enough.

Any words of wisdom gratefully received before I dive in....

[CitroJim]

You should be able to get away with drills as timing pins Stempy and use a big Torx in the centre boss stud to move the cams.

SEEM readings are irrelevant as the C5 uses the spring-loaded auto tensioner which we retro-fit on earlier V6s.

The whole job is easier than it looks...

[citronut]

you should never rely on duplicating the tension/feel of the old belt, as this maybe slack/slacker that its meant to be through age/use

[CitroJim]

You can't Malcolm as the tensioner is entirely automatic in operation

[Stempy]

You should be able to get away with drills as timing pins Stempy and use a big Torx in the centre boss stud to move the cams.

SEEM readings are irrelevant as the C5 uses the spring-loaded auto tensioner which we retro-fit on earlier V6s.

The whole job is easier than it looks...

Well that makes me feel a bit more confident, especially not needing any of the special tools and not having to think about belt tension.

[citronut]

You can't Malcolm as the tensioner is entirely automatic in operation

is it one of them there types you have to line up the pointers Jim,

if so i have seen them not set up corectly,

window cleaner customer of mine bought a petrol Pox all Ashtray the seller had just had the cam belt fitted,

on bringing the car to me saying it had absolutely no get up and go and was drinking the go go juice like it was going out of fashion,

first thing i checked was the cam timing only to find the pointer way off of were it should have bin,

i re/did the tension which sorted the running and fuel economy,

i have seen this tensioner on some cars were it sits down opposite the chassis rail, and you cant look straight at the pointer to line it up correctly,

orible idea

[CitroJim]

You can't Malcolm as the tensioner is entirely automatic in operation

is it one of them there types you have to line up the pointers Jim?

It is indeed Malcolm

I'm staggered they can be mis-set as they are so easy and logical. Not French at all!

Have these people never heard of a mirror? I keep an old rear view mirror for just such jobs...

[handyman]

JIm, is this auto tensioner off the later V6s, a la C5? Do you know the part number? I'll be doing the cambelt on the V6 soonish & if this mod is a set up to efficient motoring, I'm up for it.

H

[CitroJim]

Yes it is Handyman. Not sure of the part number yet but if you do retrofit it you'll eiter need the later water pump or chop off a redundant and interfering lug on the old one..

I'll try to establish the required part numbers for you...

[Stempy]

I seem (no pun intended) to remeber now that when I had the belt done on my old V6 Xantia, they said the tensioner they fitted was the later C5 type as the original one was no longer available.

[handyman]

Chop off a redundant and interfering lug...

Yes, I'm all for the removal of lugs.

H

[Mandrake]

I haven't done a V6 timing belt yet Stempy, but Richard and I had all the covers off mine to check the cam timing was correct - and it wasn't as daunting a job as I expected. There is actually quite a lot of room beside the engine with the covers off, a couple of the timing belt cover screws were hard to get to but not a biggie.

The most difficult thing we found was getting the engine mount back on. The recommended procedure for doing the job is to support the engine with an engine lift crane but we used a jack under the sump (with a wooden load spreader of course) and in doing so the engine has a tendency to try to lean forwards.

When it came time to put the engine mount back on it wouldn't come remotely near lining up even with one person trying to push the engine while the other slipped the bolts in. The solution was to use a second jack more towards the front of the engine to tilt the engine back, and by adjusting both jacks we were finally able to get the angle and height just right so that the engine mount bolts could go in.

So I wouldn't attempt the job without two floor jacks so that you can precisely control the tilt of the engine during reassembly - especially if you're trying to do the job by yourself. But other than that, it doesn't look too difficult, and I feel a lot more confident now that I could probably manage the job by myself if I wasn't trying to hurry.

[Stempy]

I will hopefully be tackling the job this coming week. I've just overhauled the rear calipers and fitted a gasket between arm and caliper so now I'm squeak free, cam belt is next job on the list. I'm in no rush to do the job as long as it's done by 4th July for my trip to Yorkshire and Le Tour.

[Stempy]

Is there a secret method to getting a new cam belt on? I've spent all afternoon trying and followed the method on Doc Backup to the letter but it just wont fit over that last pulley. One of those jobs you wished you'd never bothered with, especially as there seems to be bugger all wrong with the old one.

It started well, everything came apart lovely. No siezed bolts or stripped threads, then the badness started. Halfway through my first attempt one of the fuel pipes decided to squirt petrol all over the new belt, so it's probably knackered it now anyway but I gave it a good wash in detergent and kept trying, but to no avail. After several more attempts and much letting of blood I ran out of patience.

So I've given up and hit the beer and await inspiration from the more mechanically deft folk that inhabit this forum.

[CitroJim]

Yes, there is. Remove the valley (the one at the top between the banks) jockey roller and fit the belt and then fit the valley jockey roller. You should then be OK...

Enjoy the beer!