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My incomplete procedure notes....
Posted by David Ingram (more from David Ingram) on Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:24:00
In Reply to: 2001 9-5 V-6 Timing belt, nordictom , Sat, 27 Dec 2008 19:30:08
...This will serve as my memoriam for my 2000 V6 wagon, dearly departed in the prime of life.

1. Search the archives for more information. Specifically, figure out which timing belt setup you have. There was a change in the setup but I don't recall the model year. Other writeups will probably contain more info that I'm missing or skipping. Rehearse it in your mind a few dozen times.
2. RENT THE DAMN TIMING BELT TOOL! Can't remember the site I found mine from but they provided all the needed locking and adjusting components. It would be possible to do a rough job without the tool but getting it right is a snap with the tool. Rent it.

NOW GET TO WORK!

3. Jack up front of car and support on jack stands
3. Remove the plastic engine cover
4. Remove DI cassettes and remove spark plugs, to make it easy to crank engine over by hand. After removing plugs place back the DI cassettes in their holes to prevent debris falling into the cylinders.
5. Remove passenger wheel and wheel well liner
6. Place a jack under the engine oil pan (pad the jack with a block of wood) to support the engine
7. Remove engine mount and mount brackets. If the bolts seem reluctant to come out, you may want to jack the engine or lower it a little to ease the pressure on the bolts. The engine mount bracket bolts to the engine are 16mm. You will want a good, relatively long box or open end wrench to turn them, as there is inadequate clearance for a ratchet and socket.
8. With the serpentine belt still installed, break loose the bolts for the water pump and power steering pump pulleys.
9. Relax the serpentine belt tensioner and remove the serpentine belt
10. Remove the serpentine belt tensioner. It bolts to the block from behind. To make this easier, remove the alternater cooling duct behind it, otherwise the mounting bolts are obscured. This simply pulls out. I put some bright white paper towels in the alternator's cooling port so I would be reminded to reinstall the duct on reassembly.
11. Remove the water pump and steering pump pulleys. You may need to pry firmly but gently (if that makes sense) to get the power steering pulley free of its hub. Take care not to bend or chip the pulleys.
12. Unbolt and remove the plastic timing cover
13. You now are looking at the timing components. Congratulations!
14. Crank the engine over to TDC. The crank pulley is a very large external torx bolt, but I just used a regular 17mm six-point socket and a breaker bar.
15. This is a good time to make sure you have the right parts! I elected to buy the timing belt kit from eEuroparts, which was comprised of a belt, tensioner assembly, and idler pulley. Depending where you buy your parts, there's some variation in timing belt length apparently, and in tensioner setup.
16. Follow the directions to install the belt and time it up. Use the tool for this, as the precise timing is possible only with the tool. Otherwise you're making your best guess.
17. While you're replacing the idler pulley, compare the backing washer thickness between the old one and the new one you received. In my case, they were different, and I used the old washer. You should too if there's any variation.
18. If you are smart, you'll take this opportunity to do the water pump and thermostat. You're staring right at them at this point so it saves you some time. I had to do them in separate procedures and did the thermostat from above, by removing the intake manifolds, but I understand the thermostat can be done while doing the timing belt, although I suspect you'd then have to remove the camshaft sprockets, which I didn't want to do. But the water pump certainly begs for replacement while you're at it.
19. Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly.

Additional resources I used were the Catera owners group on yahoo, and Saturn Fans website. I found my tool rental resource from one of these I think.

It's really not a bad DIY if you've done this sort of work before. Tool rental runs $150 so you don't necessarily save THAT MUCH on labor I suspect, but it's satisfying of course, and you know that nothing was missed.

posted by 71.235.98...
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