konakat

I am gearing up to do my first balance/timing belt change and am planning to buy standard tools rather than the special offset 27mm wrench and pin spanner. The problem is that I can't find a pair of large needle-nose vice grips or 90 degree needle nose pliers to use in place of the specialty tools. I have checked Craftsman and Kobalt websites, any other suggestions?

divil

Have you looked in stores? A curved nose pliers is a pretty common tool, I see them in Sears, Harbor Freight etc. all the time.

While a curved nose pliers should be fine for counter holding the pulleys, I'd stongly recommend getting the flywheel lock and some kind of tensioning aid for this job also. If you can't borrow them from someone, Arnnworx is the way to go. They also have the special wrench and pulley holder too.

bonus12

Harbor freight has good 90 degree pliers.

konakat

Thanks for suggesting Harbor Freight. I normally avoid them due to quality issues I've seen in the past, but the reviews seem pretty good. Now I just wish I had known this before I drove past one yesterday afternoon.

bonus12

They are at hardware stores, too. Good luck!

mytrplseven

I bought the flywheel lock since I plan to keep my 944 and as such I have used it 4 times already. I bought the 90 degree long handle needle-nose pliers at Harbor freight. As for tensioning gauges, you can spend the money if you want but after a lot of research, I chose the "backyard mechanic" method which has served me well: Tension the timing belt to the point where you can barely turn the water pump pulley by hand. On the balance belt idler, there should be about a credit card clearance between the idler and the belt. As far as tension on the balance belt, I twist the longest (vertical part) section to where it's more than 90 degrees but not as far as 180 degrees. These belts visually appear sloppy compared to any other belt on the car. Don't worry about that. After you've finished turn the motor by hand and recheck the tension. After the car is running, if you hear a whine from the belt area, it could be the balance belt is too tight. After 1500 miles for the belts to settle into the gears, you should re-tension them again for the long haul. That should be good for around 35 to 40 thousand miles (or 5 years). Water pump should be replace "every other" set of belts. Have fun.

F40LM

Yep, think I paid $6 for mine. Works like a charm.

I purchased the lock from Rennbay IIRC. Made my own thin wrench (27mm?) for the rollers etc.

Michael

bonus12

The only special tool I used was the flywheel lock. But also a right angle screwdriver was helpful in getting all hose clamps tight enough. Some of those clamps are in awkward places.

Arominus

The pin spanner is worth $50 if you have a spring tensioner car. Makes it super easy to retract. I would get it.

V2Rocket

For the tensioners/idlers I took a spare 3/4 wrench and ground it out to 27mm, then ground the sides down to about 3/16 thick. It has survived probably 50 belt jobs over the years without a problem.

The $50 pin tool is well worth it, and doubles as a hammer in a pinch.

Grandpa#3

The below is about the best I've seen for changing out the Cam / Balance Belts also Water Pump. It is in 3 Parts. You really need to buy the Flywheel Lock in order to maintain a positive (TDC) Top Dead Center.


Cheers,
Larry

HICKS

Arnnworx

william_b_noble

the spanners to hold the rollers are easy enough to make with a piece of scrap steel or two and some pins - just weld it up. You can loosen the bolt before you remove the belt, take the drive roller to your shop, put a couple of pins in the holes and weld them to your piece of steel and have a proper spanner in 5 or 6 minutes. The wrenches are easy to find stamped out of metal, you don't need much strength.

Dash01

Costco used to sell a blister pack of about 6 different pliers, including jumbo long needlenose 90 degree and 45 degree ones, for about $18 for all six. I just wrapped electrical tape on the tips of the 90 degree pliers, which then fit perfectly into tensioner pulley holes, the tape keeps the pliers from scratching. Works as well as or better than the factory tool, and has all the other uses of pliers vs. single use factory tool, at a tiny fraction of the cost.

Krikit tool has been used for decades by too many people to be faulty: If it weren't up to the job, we'd know by now. Also, note the tension specs in the book, and that there is a considerable margin +/-. This tells us that the tension setting is not all that critical.

As an alternative, I believe some of the US cars have tension tools for use in similar belts, and are available pretty cheaply. Or, using the torque forumla, you could rig up a tool made of wood and a hanging weight held at the proper distance from the axis of the pulley, i.e. X torque = Y pounds at Z distance from the pivot. No gauge tool can be more accurate than that, but, again, the exact torque is not all that critical.

A local mechanic just uses the twist-belt-by-finger/thumb method, for decades, with no ill effects reported.

konakat

I managed to get the balance shaft pulleys using the 90 degree pliers from HF. I had read somewhere that you could do the belt change without pulling the crank pulley bolt, so I didn't get the flywheel lock, but I didn't realize that I had no choice if I was doing the water pump too. I figured out that a stout flat-head screw driver wedged between the flywheel and ground works really well if you jack the car to just the right height. Now I am on hold until I can run out to get retaining ring pliers for the thermostat. I almost get a pair while I was at HF just because they were cheap, I didn't realize that I would need them for this job. Grrrr.