ZETEC Timing Belt Replacement

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ZETEC Timing Belt Replacement

I am putting this together for the weekend mechanic who has some skills and tools or believes they can do something with outside help such as this procedure. It contains pics, notes, and tools used. I will do my best to stay within the requested limit of 15 pics but may stray over some. Keep in mind this is what worked for me, your mileage may vary.

A bit of an intro. It’s a 2002 ZX5 and my DD with 155k, and sees 100 miles per day. Throw in several long road trips and you arrive at my mileage. Barring any major repairs that just won’t make it cost effective, this car will be around for several more years. So far I have changed the oil every 5-7k miles, replaced the front brakes at 100k, end links at 145k, and at least 3 batteries and 1 alternator. Somehow the timing belt replacement was missed, old age maybe (mine). I was hoping it would last until November’ish when temps cool down out here in the desert. I have been reading up on the change out, printed a procedure from the net, linked here, and ordered the bar and timing pin kit last March.

So anyway the wife is driving down the road about 65’ish when it looses (in only a wife’s description) all the power. I was in Vegas , she called, and I told her to either call AAA or drive it home. She was 3 miles from the house and drove it at 25mph which turned out to be about all it would do. I get home the next day (Monday) at 1000 (military time), change cloths and hit the garage. I wanted to take it for a short spin around the block to get a feel for what’s going on. Upon starting it up the engine visible shook pretty good. Took it around the block and could tell it had lost power and just did not have the exhaust sound I am used to hearing after 155k miles. Still didn’t really have an idea yet so hooked up the laptop into the PCM and immediately saw the timing jumping from 25 to 35 degrees and moved with the engine. That’s when the light came on, timing belt. Crap.

I have a garage, air compressor, 2 hydraulic jacks, 6 jack stands, blocks of wood, and lots of metric tools, pneumatic tools, a refrigerator, stereo and a partridge in a pear tree. So I’m set to go.

As for my mechanical skills. I can tear down an engine to parade rest but have never put one back together. I have replaced brakes, rotors, wheel bearings, cylinder head gaskets. Swapped out a carburetor on my CJ7 to a chevy throttle body fuel injection. So I have some skills.

New parts:
Timing belt kit from NAPA, contains the belt, idler pulley and tensioner
Water pump
Serp belt tensioner
Serp belt idler pulley bearing, no one in town had the assemble but found the bearing.
2-O2 sensors
P-side motor mount
Oil and filter

Labor was free but still, all told about 17 hours. In the end the timing belt had slipped and jumped on the crank pulley 2 teeth or 36 degrees of timing. I did not see the importance of installing the timing pin. So I had to take it all apart twice.

Here are some links of interest.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/2004/eb90428.htm
http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/r...520Timing.html This is the write up I followed
http://www.handsontools.com/OTC-6486...html?iorb=4764
http://www.focushacks.com/index.php?modid=56

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