CF Veteran
Yeah that looks like a headache to me good luck.I got big hands working on anything fwd or modern is a pain for me sometimes.
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All comes in one kit. Tming belt, tensioner, pulley, water pump, and seals. Cost me 130 bucks for the Dayco kit through RockAuto. Worth it though, rather than having to go through that tear down all over again.Originally Posted by dmill89
Make sure to do the water pump too while you're at it, it is driven by the timing belt, and it would really suck to go through all that work and have to do it all over again if the water pump starts leaking a few thousand miles later.
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Nah... that rear window's fine. NOTHING like the camaro, that's for sure. But the car is cush, for sure, and definitely has *****. Especially in the "auto-stick" mode.Originally Posted by andrewmp6
The timing belt shouldn't be that hard since the engine points foward but probably still a big job.I will say these cars do ride really good and has some ***** if you floor it.Only really bad thing to me is the back window you can't see out of.
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Here's how tight the engine compartment is:
Overall they're nice cars, tons of space, very practical, handle well for a full-sized car, and are pretty quick with the 3.5L (about on-par with supercharged 3.8L Buicks), but they are hell to work on.
Don't let that plastic piece that covers the radiator support fool you. Once you remove that, there's about 7-8 bolts holding the rad support on. Once you remove THAT, there's quite a bit more room than that, once you remove the fans- even MORE room, when the belt drive is off - more room still, and then by the time you drop the bumper and radiator, it's defintely a lot more room and much easier a job than a transverse v6 (i.e. buick, pontiac) car.Originally Posted by dmill89
There is almost no clearance between the engine and rad/rad support so you pretty much have to take the whole front of the car apart, and of course have to pull the serpentine belts and accessories off of the front of the engine to remove the timing cover.Here's how tight the engine compartment is:
Overall they're nice cars, tons of space, very practical, handle well for a full-sized car, and are pretty quick with the 3.5L (about on-par with supercharged 3.8L Buicks), but they are hell to work on.
I've already had all of that (save for the belt drive and the radiator) off trying to solve my belt problems.
Well.... it started overheating. Ironically the same day that I had planned on replacing the timing belt. Kinda convenient, but not for time's sake.
So I replaced the timing belt, belt tensioner pulley, hydraulic tensioner, water pump, thermostat and housing gasket, and flushed the radiator as well as what I could of the coolant passages.
Still overheating. After more research, it seems as though a flaw with the cleaning up of the casting process combined with the stupid HOAT anti-freeze causes the coolant journals in the heads to clog up.
So now I have to pull the heads, clean 'em out, and replace the head gaskets along with all the other gaskets in the top end.
FML
So I replaced the timing belt, belt tensioner pulley, hydraulic tensioner, water pump, thermostat and housing gasket, and flushed the radiator as well as what I could of the coolant passages.
Still overheating. After more research, it seems as though a flaw with the cleaning up of the casting process combined with the stupid HOAT anti-freeze causes the coolant journals in the heads to clog up.
So now I have to pull the heads, clean 'em out, and replace the head gaskets along with all the other gaskets in the top end.
FML
****FALSE ALARM!!!!!*******
Ended up being air in the system. I got a jug of the HOAT or OAT or whatever the Prestone GM/FORD/CHRYCO compatible stuff is, a couple gallons of distilled water, a huge funnel, and an antifreeze tester on my way home from work last night and began the drain, fill, and bleed process.
Scary part about it was, I opened the draincock on the radiator and NOTHING came out. The system was bone dry. Air pockets in the system cause it to overheat. When it overheats, it starts to boil in the resevoir tank, then it goes to the overflow and boils out there... well, not too long ago, I put a new belt on and I had the bright idea to remove the upper radiator hose to have more room to work (even though I hadn't ever had the need previously)... when I did, I didn't replace the coolant that came out. So, most likely, it started boiling more and more out until it boiled itself dry.
I "filled it" and "burped it" kinda like we do the XJ closed systems, but that's not how it works with these. Gotta open the bleeder valve at the front of the engine on the top of the intake, clamp the return line that goes from the overflow to the res tank, and seal the cap opening with a large funnel and fill it up... letting it sssssllllloooooooowwwwwllllllyyyyyyy push the air out of the system.
But it runs and drives perfect now. YAY ME!
Ended up being air in the system. I got a jug of the HOAT or OAT or whatever the Prestone GM/FORD/CHRYCO compatible stuff is, a couple gallons of distilled water, a huge funnel, and an antifreeze tester on my way home from work last night and began the drain, fill, and bleed process.
Scary part about it was, I opened the draincock on the radiator and NOTHING came out. The system was bone dry. Air pockets in the system cause it to overheat. When it overheats, it starts to boil in the resevoir tank, then it goes to the overflow and boils out there... well, not too long ago, I put a new belt on and I had the bright idea to remove the upper radiator hose to have more room to work (even though I hadn't ever had the need previously)... when I did, I didn't replace the coolant that came out. So, most likely, it started boiling more and more out until it boiled itself dry.
I "filled it" and "burped it" kinda like we do the XJ closed systems, but that's not how it works with these. Gotta open the bleeder valve at the front of the engine on the top of the intake, clamp the return line that goes from the overflow to the res tank, and seal the cap opening with a large funnel and fill it up... letting it sssssllllloooooooowwwwwllllllyyyyyyy push the air out of the system.
But it runs and drives perfect now. YAY ME!
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My username is basslicks on there too... just officially paid my first years dues yesterday Originally Posted by dmondeac
You should join the 300M club ! I would post pics of Mintrepid but...
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YEAH! I remember ya, you commented in my NEWB intro thread lol.Originally Posted by dmondeac
Cool, I 'm on there as well.
http://300mclub.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=33892
Newbie
Yep that was me, there are several of us that have LH platform cars that have Jeeps as well. Maybe too many toys and too many websites, LOL.
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hahaha.... yeah, you're probably right. Never would've thought I'd bump into you here. WELCOME, btw... I see you're pretty new here.Originally Posted by dmondeac
Yep that was me, there are several of us that have LH platform cars that have Jeeps as well. Maybe too many toys and too many websites, LOL.
You gonna post a build thread or pics of that XJ of yours? Specs look good. Bet it's a killer jeep!
Same can be said for most vehicles on an automotive forum.
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Nice! Clean lookin' jeep!Originally Posted by dmondeac
I just remembered that I did post 6 pics of the Jeep, they are on the Title block.
Newbie
Thanks, it still needs a few things, ARB front bumper, 17 " rims to finish the big brake conversion, updated lighting, and a blower for the stroker.