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12-11-2009, 10:48 PM #1

mantis270 Join Date: Nov 2009

Posts: 9
Junior Member

'03 M-Sport timing belt change photos

I'm working on a 2003 Montero Sport LS. We bought it used a few years ago and it now has 110k on the odometer. It's been a
relyable vahicle but has become somewhat sluggish on accelerations.

I just finished up changing the timing belt, water pump, plugs, wires, cam seals and valve cover gaskets. Took a day longer than I
expected but it's done and seems to be running well. During the dissassembly, I took several photos for my reference ... thought I'd
put a few up here in hopes they'll help some other DIY-ers...

In the beginning...there was an engine...disconnecteth the battery...draineth the coolant from the radiator and block...

First thing was to take off the air-filter assembly...

After disconnecting all the wires and hoses, I pulled them all aside and removed the throttle and upper intake...

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Then the lower...

Then I took off the radiator hoses so I could remove the radiator to give me some room to work...

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12-11-2009, 10:59 PM #2

mantis270 Join Date: Nov 2009

Posts: 9
Junior Member

Then off came the old belts and the front bracket to expose the water pump and timing covers...

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I tried everything I had to get that D#*M crankshaft bolt loose...I ended up renting a small compressor and impact wrench...three
quick pulses and she rolled out. I was then able to remove the timing covers...

The belt had some serious cracks in the backing and the auto-tensioner was extended all the way out with some slack in the belt.

The timing marks still lined up so it hadn't skipped a tooth...yet. The passenger side cam seal had a slow weep of oil so I removed
both sprockets and replaced the seals.

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12-11-2009, 11:15 PM #3

mantis270 Join Date: Nov 2009

Posts: 9
Junior Member

Then off with the old water pump...

The passenger side valve cover gasket had a pretty decent leak down the back of the engine. So...I pulled off the covers and removed
the old gaskets. They were so hardened that I had to literally chip them out with a knife and pry the plug gaskets off with a
screwdriver.

Here you can see the covers off and the new water pump, idler and tenisioner pullies and auto-tensioner installed.

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The valve covers cleaned up with the new gaskets..

With the covers off, I was able to get to the rear cam seals and replaced the o-rings...

Here I have the new belt on and I'm putting the prescribed tension on the belt while torquing down the bolt.

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The pin in the auto-tensioner slid right out with no resistance. I also measured the auto-tensioner piston runout at 0.17" with a
caliper...right where it should be. Here's the belt all installed and ready to cover up...

After that, I did everything in reverse with new spark plugs, gaskets and wires. Since this is my wife's vehicle, she got to do the
startup honors...cranked right up. There was a tapping sound for a little while but that died down. It's easy to feel an increase in
pickup from a stop or while accelerating.

I hope these pix are useful to someone.

12-15-2009, 12:00 AM #4

sidney004 Join Date: Dec 2009

Posts: 7
Junior Member

These pix and description are EXTREMELY helpful. I just became a member of the forum to see what this job entailed and your post
was the first one I found! I went to the dealer to inquire about the 60,000 mile service and he quoted $1600. What was the trickiest
part?

12-15-2009, 10:34 PM #5

mantis270 Join Date: Nov 2009

Posts: 9
Junior Member

That quote sounds about right...I paid about $450 in parts plus the $20 subscription fee for the online Chilton manual.

Trickiest...there were a few. There is a lot of disconnecting of wires, sensors, vacuum lines, etc. involved so taking lots of pix to
remember what goes where was a big help for me.

Getting the crankshaft bolt off was a BEAR!! An impact wrench is the way to go! I actually didn't have to use anything to hold the
pulley still when I hit it with the impact wrench. When I torqued the bolt back I used a strap-wrench to hold it still.

The rear cam seals are not easy to get to but having the valve covers off made it more bearable. Be sure to cover the valves and
intake with a clean rag to prevent stuff from dropping in. I pressed the front seals in with a piece of PVC pipe and rubber mallet.

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g p pp g p p pp

I didn't have the 'special tool' for applying the tension to the timing belt so I made one from a chunk of steel and two drill bits for
pins...here's a pic of that...

Just keep track of where bolts are coming from and pay attention when torquing them down...it's easy to strip aluminum threads!

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