cam belt

[Brian (up north) Morris]

hi chaps well im getting to the point where i need to change the cam belt on the sierra. iv never done a cam belt before. should i pay someone to do it or is it easy. any feedback welcome :-)

[Brian (up north) Morris]

i read a forum and this guy cut his timeing belt in half..pushed the other one on half way. removed the old belt. then pushed the new belt home ......lol 

[Dave Price]

Fully agree. The cutting it in the middle for the full length is a piece of cake. Just a case of turning the engine a few times as you cut and then sliding the new one half on before cutting the remainder of the old belt. It did it on my Pinto

[Paul Thomas]

I like Gates belts

[Steve Kerswell]

Get in touch with Adrian, he will sort you out. As Paul says, bottom pulley can be bitch.

[Brian (up north) Morris]

will do :-)))))

[Adrian Southgate]

Timing belt £6.44 + postage.

That's a QRS belt.

Gates belt is also available at £7 + postage

Gates belt and tensioner kit is £34 + postage (probably cheaper on ebay to be honest)

[James Doulton]

The only problem is getting the bottom pulley off so that you can feed the belt onto the crankshaft, the rest is easy. I hadn't heard of the 'down-the-middle' trick.

[Adrian Southgate]

You need a bottom pulley puller ... dependant on how much clearance you have they can be cheap and cheerful or downright stupidly expensive.

[Brian (up north) Morris]

no way id get a puller in. thinking about splitting the belt sounds the easyest way to me....

[Paul Sheridan]

My 2 penneth for what its worth ..... do it properly!  take it all off clean it up, time it up and fit the new belt.

If you get any debris trapped in between the new belt and the crankshaft pulley it can become embedded in the belt and cause premature failure. 

[Brian (up north) Morris]

ano its a bodge splitting the belt. ill sleep on it thanks everyone 

[Steve Kerswell]

Its OK splitting the belt as long as the new one will enter the space at and behind the bottom pulley, it is tight. You can end up in unfinished land if it goes wrong. There is a dust/stone shield which makes it even tighter.