perryg114

I did my first timing belt on my 95 Ranger this weekend. It was a mild pain in the arse, having done it once it would not be too bad the next time if there is a next time. The factory timing belt was still on the truck after 190,000 miles.

My first mistake was trying to get the power steering pump off the bracket. The screws that hold the pump to the bracket are just a little longer than they should be so you have to remove the whole bracket with the pump attached which means you have to drain the pump and all that BS and disconnect all the hoses. I found this out after damaging the power steering pulley. My advice is that if you ever have to replace a pump grind the bolts heads off so you can remove them without removing the pulley which is a major pain. This is an engineering oversight and it really sounds like something GM would do. So REMOVE THE AC/Power steering pump with the bracket. Also make sure that the Teflon gasket on the high pressure hose is intact before you put the hose back on. This gasket is $4 at the Ford dealer. It is a washer about the size of a dime. The gasket rides on the shoulder of the hose fitting nut.

I would replace my thermostat at this time and maybe your water pump. I left my still intact factory pump because I have had problems with the Chinese aftermarket crap going bad after 10k miles. If the factory pump does not leak leave it alone. The next problem was the timing belt tensioner. It took me a while to figure out how to put a lever on it to take the tension off of it. You can get one in there between the tension spring and the roller if you move the AC compressor out of the way (it is always in the way). Make sure you align the timing marks first before removing the old belt. Put the new belt on release the tensioner adjustment bolt so the belt tightens then tighten the bolt again. Put the flywheel pulley back. Now turn the engine over a few times to take up any slack. Now loosen the adjustment bolt again to take out any remaining slack and then tighten the bolts and put her back together.

I would remove the radiator before starting. You are going to need it out of there anyway so you can get the crank pulley off with an impact wrench and maybe a flywheel puller.

1. Remove and Drain Radiator
2. Remove Fan and Shroud
3. Remove Serpent Belt
4. Remove AC Compressor bracket and disconnect PWR steering pump.
5. Leave the AC compressor in and move it around to get to stuff.
6. Remove timing belt cover.
7. Alight timing marks on all three shafts.
8. Remove timing belt. This may or may not require you to take the tension off the tensioner.
9. Loosen tensioner adjuster bolt and retract tensioner with lever between spring and roller and then tighten adjuster nut.
10. Install new belt and release tensioner. Tighten tensioner adjuster bolt.
11. Install crank pulley
12. Crank or hand turn engine a few revs (clockwise) then re-tension belt.
13. Put her back together.

Good Luck

Perry

wwest

I just did my '93 this aftenoon. Puzzling thing is why is the timing belt tensioner NOT of the "free-floating" type as is the serpentine belt tensioner.

Bert

If there are any kickbacks, the timing can jump if it's "free-floating".

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Bert