[Goldminer63]

I would like to thank everyone who posted info and pics regarding Timing Belt Installation, Single Mass Flywheel Conversion Kits and Rear Main Seal Replacement. I read this forum for a few of days trying to get as much info as possible and you guys know what your talking about.
When I talked to the dealer, they wanted $3500-$4000CDN to do all of the work, and that was just an estimate over the phone. I'm sure they would hold the car hostage for more cash when the job was complete. Not only did I not have the cash to pay the Stealer, but I couldn't afford to purchase the special tools for these jobs.
The timing belt, tensioner pulley, roller and water pump replacement went smoother than expected. I made the cam locking tool from an old screwdriver that I cut to proper lenght and it fit perfectly(6mm dia.x 80mm length) if my memory serves me correctly. The crank locking tool was made from a flat piece of steel that I drilled holes to fit and locked the crank.
The rear main seal took alot of time as I made about 6 attempts to get it on straight and TDC without folding the teflon seal, as I didn't have the special seal pressing tool.
The Valeo SMF conversion kit is also time consuming when done alone, but there isn't really room for two.
I took the car for a test ride yesterday and it runs like a new vehicle. There was no SMF rattle at all in neutral or with the cluth peddle to the floor. Didn't see any oil under the car this morning. As soon as I got home from the test drive and mentioned to my wife that the car runs like new, she replied with "Oh, I think the brakes are squeeling and need to be replaced." Can't a man wallow in victory for just a couple of minutes before he has to battle again?
This was the biggest maintenace/repair I've ever attempted.

So thanks to all of your posts. I couldn't have done it without everyones help.

A special thanks to "chittychittybangbang" for the detaled instructions and pics.

 

[chittychittybangbang]

The engine speed sensor is in the rear main seal. How did you get it indexed correctly without the tool? Any tips or additions to the article to help improve it?

The rear main seal tool is pretty expensive but the crank locking tool is cheap enough so that I would have bought it. I do rent TB tools upon request too! If you made your own crank lock, how did you locate the arrow on the tool to match up with the arrow on the crank?

Oh, and good job! You can now upgrade your experience level to "can speak from experience"!

 

[Goldminer63]

After I removed the flywheel, I turned the crank so that the hole in the seal lined up with the grove at the top of the flange, then removed the the old flange and seal. When I installed the new flange and seal, I made sure that the bottom of the new flange was resting on the oil pan and with a slow and even pressure, pushed it into place with a thumb on either side of the seal. The orange plastic alignment thing is useless, but the inner guide sleeve is very helpfull. After you get the seal about halfway into place the guide sleeve comes out. Then you can make sure that the hole in the seal lines up with the groove at the top of the flange. If it's not lined up, then it's easy to take back out and try again. I then took a small piece of wood, placed in on the seal and flange and lightly and slowly tapped side to side, top to bottom with with little ball peen hammer. It did take a few tries to get it right, but you can feel that it's not right if the teflon seal goes on crooked or the teflon seal folds.

I've seen your pictures of the crank alignment tool and noticed that the arrow on the crank is about 1 o'clock. I turned the crank so that the arrow was about 1 o'clock then went up to the cam and made small adjustments to the crank until I was able to get the cam locking tool in place. If the cam locking tool went in fairly easy and the arrow on the crank was about 1 o'clock, then I knew I had TDC. Before I removed the belt, I scribed a line from the arrow on the crank to the block on the engine, then removed the belt. I placed the new belt over the crank first, then check to make sure that the line and arrow still lined up and locked down the crank. The cam and crank are now locked and the belt is ready to be installed.

 

[larrysmiths1]

Most timing belts can be replaced without any holding fixtures / tools. One needs only to use a bottle of touch-up paint. put the engine somewhat close to TDC and paint one tooth on the cam cog and 2 teeth on the belt edge, on the pump, (if you have one, or any other balance shaft etc.) paint 2 teeth of the cog and 3 on the belt edge. At the crank do the same, and if it makes you feel better put a small paint dot on the engine @ all 3 locations.
Remove the old belt and lay the new one on top of it and paint the new belt, carefully aligning teeth as you go. You can count them also if it makes you feel better.
Although this may be scoffed at it has 3 distinct advantages (1) IF you have been given the wrong belt by the parts seller, the tooth count won't work out and you will know immediately!
(2) when the belt is back on the car and all of the marks line up everything is in time, NO question. (3) you don't need to buy /rent/ borrow any tool. my two cents

 

[chittychittybangbang]

Most timing belts can be replaced without any holding fixtures / tools. One needs only to use a bottle of touch-up paint. put the engine somewhat close to TDC and paint one tooth on the cam cog and 2 teeth on the belt edge, on the pump, (if you have one, or any other balance shaft etc.) paint 2 teeth of the cog and 3 on the belt edge. At the crank do the same, and if it makes you feel better put a small paint dot on the engine @ all 3 locations.
Remove the old belt and lay the new one on top of it and paint the new belt, carefully aligning teeth as you go. You can count them also if it makes you feel better.
Although this may be scoffed at it has 3 distinct advantages (1) IF you have been given the wrong belt by the parts seller, the tooth count won't work out and you will know immediately!
(2) when the belt is back on the car and all of the marks line up everything is in time, NO question. (3) you don't need to buy /rent/ borrow any tool. my two cents

This works on most engines but not most TDI engines for one main reason - the sprockets must be loosened to put the belt on and have even tension across the belt. The sprockets have no key and can rotate 360 degrees. Therefore, any paint mark on the sprocket will not work...correctly. Yes it can work but not all the time due to how sensitive the injection pump IP position is. The PD engines are much easier since the camshaft sprocket has an index window and no IP.

If you try to not remove the sprocket you'll find that injection pump timing will be way off. In addition, if you lock the cam-injection pump sprocket instead of loosening them, even if the injection pump sprocket is correct, after tensioning the belt and releasing the lock, the sprockets will move out of position because belt tension was not even.

By doing it the OEM method, tension is set before you release the lock so that injection pump and camshaft timing will stay the same before and after releasing the lock.my two cents