Mama Mia! (Here I go again.)
 

Through an slightly insane series of circumstances, I have my buddy's '85S in my garage needing a timing belt change, a tensioner rebuild, and a new distributor rotor. I'm also planning on doing the rest of the belts, and maybe the cam cover gaskets while I'm in there. I'm starting get things apart and it's going a lot more smoothly than the last time I tried this (you may recall my previous thread of epic tomfoolery).

At this point, I'm trying to get the left hand timing belt cover off. The bolts are all out, but I'm having trouble getting the lower corner to clear what looks like a bracket for the PS pump. Does anyone have any tips for this operation, like a way to twist the whole mess?

I'll throw up a pic later.

Here's the cover. You can see that the bottom corner is tucked behind some sort of bracket. Do I need to remove the bracket? I can pull the cover forward at the top, but it doesn't quite clear the distributor rotor enough to lift up and out.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...fd53b92bb1.jpg

Remove the distributor rotor. you are going to need to remove them to set the cam timing when you're done with the belt anyway. that being said you are also going to have to remove the alternator/power steering pump bracket to get the lower belt cover off, so it really doesn't matter which order you do it in.

Shawn, that looks like the alternator bracket. Loosen the belt tension bolts and the bracket itself to get some space between it and the cover. I can't remember if it was when I was working on the belt, but you might want to back the bolts out and hang the MF to the side, it's heavy, If you do, it is a biatch to maneuver (from below) and get the bolts threaded again. For reassembly, put a jack or blocks under it for support.

Know your enemy....Here's what it all looks like minus the PS pulley and PS belt. I seem to remember it being an #%$e to remove the PS belt even with tension slackened..good luck
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...faf760c8a9.jpg

Taking the belts off shouldn't be an issue. Just remove the crank bolt and take the crank pulley off.

Cool! Thanks! I was hoping for a pic of the bracket for reference. What a monster! I don't remember anything like that on my '82.

I did figure out a way to get the cover off: I loosened the PS reservoir and pulled the top of the cover forward enough to clear the cam sprocket. I'm now at TDC with the flywheel lock in place (and the flywheel cover and bolts in a Ziploc along with the keys to remind me to remove the lock before I try to start the car this time!).
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...d54a0ac039.jpg
Removing the cover after loosening the PS reservoir bracket.

I was a little taken aback when I got the cover hiding the tensioner off. Does this look infected to you?
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...dffebb6829.jpg
No bueno!

At this point I'm trying to figure out how to get the tensioner off. It looks like there's a bracket coming off of it what also supports the air pump.

Still going better than when I did my '82!

Is that bits of belt scattered around, or just little blobs of grease that got knocked off?

Looks to me like they bypassed the tensioner warning system by attaching it directly to that ring terminal and i'm assuming grounding it at one of the belt cover bolts. also loooks like the belt is climbing off the front side of the tensioner pulley. That tensinoer is going to need some work, or this may be a good candidate for a PKT.

Is that belt even tight? from the photo it looks like the run from the passenger cam to the water pump is slack, but it may be an optical illusion of the photo.

I installed a Porkensioner and the new bracket that goes with it.

But as always, there are two schools of thought on this modification. I've been happy with my selection.

Yes, that's what was done. My buddy copped to doing that when he last changed the timing belt.

Nope, not an illusion, the belt is completely loose. I'm lusciously thankful it didn't de-time and shred itself while I've been driving it.

It's not my car, and I don't think my buddy will want to pop for a PKensioner. I have the tensioner out and apart and I'm waiting on a rebuild kit from Roger. When I pulled the tensioner out, the piston/spring assembly came apart in my hand. The boot wasn't clamped on, and the tensioning washers were dry. The lock bolt was frozen, and it took some heat and WD-40 to break it loose. Once I got the bolt out, I found the tensioning washers and piston were frozen in place, so I let it soak in Kroil for a few minutes while I scraped away the old gasket. After that, the tensioning washers and piston came out, but the sleeve is still in there. The washers are dry or gummy with old oil, and rusty to boot. They'll need a soak and a cleaning, but I know that they have to be in a certain order, so I'm a little concerned about taking them apart. I'll try running a length of 550 cord through the center so that I can clean them individually and keep them in order.

Overall, I'm happy with my progress so far. It took me days and days to get here when I did the TB on my '82.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/rennlis...77dcfe9aa0.jpg

Any idea on when that belt was last changed? Can't wait to see the water pump.

I think the belt was done a while ago (more than 10 years), but the car only gets a few hundred miles a year, tops. I really wasn't planning on doing the water pump, but I guess I'll ask my buddy what he wants to do. I'll at least give the pulley a wiggle and see if there's any play in the shaft.

Its true that as you do this job a 2nd or 3rd or 4th time you get much faster. I did my GTS in an afternoon. But I'm finishing up my S4 now and have probably spent a month at it,, mostly because I'm not in a rush and enjoy spending 20 minutes on it here and there exactly when I feel like working on it. Also, unlike my GTS my S4 is a complete mess and there are lots of secondary problems so everything is getting cleaned and checked carefully. Which actually makes it more fun when you are just playing.
While that car is not as oily and my S4 was, its is a bit. Might want to have a close look at the front main seal and oil pump seals. On my S4 both were leaking while the cam seals were clean. Simple and cheap (from Roger) to replace while doing the belt. Also tightening the pan gasket bolts helped.

I gave it a wiggle and it's tight. A tiny, tiny bit of movement - I think. I pinged my buddy and his take was that if it's not broke, he's not worried about fixing it.

This car has years of accumulated oil. My '82 was bad, but this is worse.