# 87 D21 Timing Belt replacement questions



## arudeguy (Sep 15, 2010)

Hello,

I'm a noob at this level of tinkering - so hopefully my questions arent too stupid. I just don't want to screw it up more 

I'm trying to replace my timing belt on an 87 d21 with the vg301. A mechanic friend told me my symptoms sound like I skipped a tooth or two. I've got all the pulleys off, and am working on getting the crank bolt and harmonic balancer (at least thats what someone told me it was) off. I currently have a chain wrench around the balancer and leaning against an engine part. With this setup, I was able to move that crank bolt maybe about 1/3 of a turn with a regular socket and ratchet, but then it got really hard to move and the chain wrench started slipping a bit. so - my questions:

1) I'm loosening counter-clockwise - is that for sure the right way to go?
2) Is there an eaiser way to get this off? I don't have access to an impact wrench. I've seen the way people do it using the starter - but that scares me a bit because if I am off a couple teeth - i dont want to damage the valves (if I haven't already).
3) Also - I'm a little nervous about being 180 on the crank when i put the new belt on - is there a sure way to make sure I'm not?

Thanks in advance! I really appreciate it.


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

Yes, if you are standing in front of the engine, the crank bolt loosens in a counter-clockwise position. By far the easiest was to loosen it is with an impact gun. I've seen people use the "starter method," and sometimes it works, and sometimes it results in a broken starter housing. You should never remove the timing belt until the crank bolt is removed. If using a chain wrench, make sure you put an old drive belt between the chain and the pulley as the crank pulley can be damaged easily. 

As far as installation of the belt, it is fairly cut and dry. The crank sprocket has a mark that will go in a 5:00 position, lining up with a small notch on what is actually the oil pump housing. The cam gears have marks that will "roughly" align with the marks on the rear timing cover. I say "roughly" because they are typically a little bit out of line with the marks when they are at TDC #1. That's not an issue because the new timing belts will have alignment stripes on the belt to match up with the gear marks. The belt should have arrows on it that will point toward you when you install it. It will have two solid lines on it and one dashed line. The dashed line matches with the right bank cam gear mark (which will be the gear on the passenger side of the engine, or your left as you look at the front of the engine. If all the marks line up, she's in time.


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## arudeguy (Sep 15, 2010)

*update*

SMJ - Thanks for your reply.

So - got the chain wrench in place with rubber from an old bike intertube. Started pulling on the crank bolt and after about another maybe 1/2 rotation it snapped right off  . I guess the moral of the story is to use the right tool, dangit.

question is - What do you think the best way to get the rest of the bolt out without damaging the thread?


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

The crank bolt snapped? If it did, I would start thinking that there's a problem, such as maybe somebody put something on the threads or possibly stripped it into the crank. If the head of the bolt is broken off, then get the crank pulley off and out of the way. Hopefully there's something left of the bolt to grab onto. If not, drilling out the old bolt will be a long and arduous task if it is "stuck" in the crank for whatever reason.


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