It's time to change my timing belt. I'm wondering how hard it is to do it myself. I've changed lots of things on vehicles before but never a timing belt. I got quoted from the stealer for $450 for this job. In the manual it doesn't look that hard. Any tips would be great. I don't wanna spend that much money when I can get the parts for roughly $50 (belt and pully)

i'm not sure on a 98 sport, but on my 95 it was closer to 710 dollars to do the t-belt, water pump, etc.
i believe the job is very LABOR INTENSIVE, which is why it is pricey.

Well I don't mind spending a Saturday on this project. If I can save a few hundred bucks by me doing it, why not.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by Juancho:
<strong>Well I don't mind spending a Saturday on this project. If I can save a few hundred bucks by me doing it, why not.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">I am pretty sure you were 24v dohc... correct me if I am wrong. If it is dohc...400 dollars is an excellent price in my opinion.

Get them to do the cam seals... waterpump... and front main seal whille they are in there.
Either way, make sure you install a new water pump, t-belt tensioner and spring, and seals whille the belt is off.

Get a mitsu tensioner and belt. They were designed to last the extra miles of the california emmisions requirment.

<small>[ April 23, 2003, 06:06 PM: Message edited by: DougH ]</small>

You will find this to be a tougher job than you may think. while I can whip through them pretty good, I've done close to a hundred of thease. if you do it plan on having a couple of days, do not!!!! turn the motor when you have the belt off(It WILL bend valves). & if you can come up with a way to lock the cam gears in position. it can be a bit*# to keep them lined up. in addition to the w/p & seals you may want to toss a new tensioner in there. I'm begining to see them fail on the four cam engines at an alarming rate.
Peace,

Oh, of you have the single cam 24 valve by all means give it a try. & yes the a/c pump & mount must be removed. there is no way around it.

Thanks for the input guys. I gave the wrong price. It's actually $850 and yes it's the 24v DOHC. So what I here is that if it's the DOHC it's too complicated and take it to the dealer?

Help me out guys, I'll spend the whole weekend doing this. Time is not a problem. I'm trying to save money I don't have to spend right now. But I do want to change this before any other mods since I bought the truck with 74,000 miles on it (now 82,000) and don't know if and what services where done to it. Slowly I have been doing the services, plugs and wires, brakes, oils (synthetic all around), and tires to name a few. Thanks to all.

Juancho,

I just did my timing belt this past weekend. My engine is the SOHC 3.0. I replaced the timing belt, water pump, and front crank seal. It definitely took a while to do, I think close to 10 hours of labor. For a while I'll be checking the conditon of my radiator fluid and front crank seal to make sure there is no leakage. So far so good. One thing I find an advantage doing the timing belts is having a 5 spd manual. For one, when you need to align the marks you simply put the truck in 5th gear and push it till the marks line up. And then when you need to remove the big crank nut, you put the truck in 5th again so that when you crank on the nut the engine won't budge and thus the nut comes off. I'm kinda at a loss for what to do in those situations with an auto trans though. I'd say definitely do it yourself if you feel confident in your skills. Just be fully concentrated and patient when you are putting the new parts in. It'd really suck if you had to go back in to do something over again.
Parts are pretty cheap too so I figure you'd save a bundle. Plus if you have the time on the weekend its actually quite fun. I just marvel at the precision of these engines as I'm doing the whole thing.

(EDIT) just my opinion, but when my trucks hit the first timing belt service period (70,000 odd miles) I didn't feel the need to change the water pump or front crank seal. I managed to have no problems with three trucks on the first belt change just replacing the belt itself. But definitely on the second or third belt change I would definitely do it (though I didn't on one of my trucks, just replaced the factory water pump at 170,000 miles past weekend 3rd timing belt job). Of course water pumps aren't too expensive so... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Roll Eyes]" src="images/icons/rolleyes.gif" /> might as well but maybe not the front crank seal unless you've done oil seals before. They can be tricky since they are 1 delicate and 2 must be aligned in perfectly straight (at least I believe). Ok I'll shut up now. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="images/icons/smile.gif" />

Adam

<small>[ April 23, 2003, 11:51 PM: Message edited by: Adamont ]</small>

motorhead recently did this to his 1991 Montero. He did a little bit of a write up and took some photographs. Check this thread.
Motorhead, how did the timing belt change go for you.

I realize that they are not the same vehicle years but it will give you an idea of what the job will involve.

The DOHC is a bit complicated...

If you've never done timing belts before, this engine is NOT the one to learn on....

Similar to the 3.0dohc, lots of front covers and accesories to take off....plus an interesting belt path...

PLUS !!! You have 4 cams to make sure are dead on!! It's not difficult, but if even 1 is off 1 tooth...well...time for a new engine as it's an interference engine... either that, or it'll run like crap and then you gotta take it all apart again. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Embarrassed]" src="images/icons/blush.gif" />

A local auto person can do it between $350-$500 depending on the person..the Stealer is just too much..

If you look on the FTP site and download the 6g72.pdf file and look at the 3000gt DOHC engine, that'll give you an idea of what's involved.

It's also best to take off the radiator is this is your first time..

<img src="http://www.montero4x4.com/images/dohc1.jpg" alt=" - " />
<img src="http://www.montero4x4.com/images/dohc2.jpg" alt=" - " />

<small>[ April 24, 2003, 11:50 AM: Message edited by: Jason A ]</small>

Adamont and Jason A thanks for that info. Jay thanks for the link. I'll let you guys know what happens. Time to get my hands dirty.