3.0 TDV6 Timing belt

[JonW]

With my D4 being a daily drive and wishing to keep it after the lease expires in 2 years, I resolved to do the timing belt after passing the 180k mark.
Having done numerous timing belts and chains before on other vehicles, how hard can it be??

Well good readers, follow along. I will say at this point that I bear no responsibility if you chose to try this yourself and are unsuccessful....

Firstly, the special tools-

A deep well 8mm socket in 1/4 drive
A piece of flat bar steel with 2 x 8mm holes in one end at 50mm centres
Another piece of flat bar with 2 x 6mm x 30mm bolts tapped into the end @55mm centres
A large pair of multi-grips or hoseclamp pliers
Standard normal sockets and spanners and so on
Coolant Red
Camera or good smart phone
Patience
good 4 letter word vocabulary
About 10 hrs


I did not worry about disconnecting the battery as I dont have a winch and the vehicle lives on the street so needs to be locked.

The engine oil and filter had been done at the same time so the bash plates underneath were off anyway, but only the front one is really needed off in case you drop stuff, which you will.

Let me say at this point, there are two ways of doing this, the easy(ish) way, and the reverse of the way the car was assembled. I chose the easier method.

So, to the fun part.

Drain your coolant. This will occur as a natural part of the stripdown.
Disconnect and swing upwards from the air box end, the large intake duct along the top of the radiator. You can only do this from the air box end, the other end is only for people with 200mm fingers and 3 elbows
there is a small 30mm hose under this duct, get a 7mm socket to undo this and remove from the main duct
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Disconnect the 25mm hose that goes to the top radiator hose, open the spring clamp with the multigrips and slide it down the hose a bit so it is out of the way, pull the whole section back under the intake duct and tuck out of the way
disconnect and remove the top radiator hose which has 2 smaller connections to it midway and terminates just under the throttle body in the Vee, until you get the fan and shroud off just leave the hose loose for now
remove the top section of the fan shroud by releasing the clips at each end (painful)
Undo the blue 2pin connector at the side of the shroud and the fan plug (4 pins)in the same location, remove the blue connector from the shroud (ribbed push in fitting), fan plug should release and slide out.
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Pull the 8mm hose back and unclip it from top of the fan shroud and push back over the motor, plenty of length
Make sure the fan harness has dropped away from the plug area.
At this point, I cut the fan cowling at both upper corners to facilitate fan removal but given enough patience you could pull the 8 course thread 10mm screws from the cowl and remove it as one piece, maybe...
With the cowl now open take the flat bar with the 8mm holes at 50 centres. This is your fan removal tool. With the serpentine belt still tight, take out 2 of the 3 bolts holding the fan pulley. You will need to cut away a section of the flat bar to allow room for the fan Hex to rotate.
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Attach your custom made Landrover special tool to the fan pulley and then a 12" shifter to the fan hex. This has a LEFT HAND thread. Undo the fan and remove it.
Take a 3/8" square section of steel like a socket drive and release the belt tensioner by swinging it outwards, remove the belt.
Take your other special tool and lock the idler pulley and remove the 3 bolts with a 10mm 12 point socket. If the socket slips, you can use vice grips as the bolts are not super tight.
Same deal on the crank pulley

Back after tea with more DIY fun

[mr_squiggle]

We in the peanut gallery are standing by for the next instalment.

[JonW]

Part 2

Various plugs, mountings and so on around the top of the timing belt cover need to be removed
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The intake section upstream of the throttle body now needs to go. If you haven't already done it, take out the supply duct from the top of the intercooler to the throttle body. There is a long 8mm bolt in the base and a circlip that holds the two sections together. Make sure the area is clean and free of dust and sand etc before removal.
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Under the throttle body inlet is a small housing fixed to the mounting plate by one 8mm bolt and a pin the seats in a hole in the back of the housing. Take the bolt out and gently work the housing out with the hose attached. Once out you can flip it over the top of the throttle body.
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Underneath the housing are another two long bolts, you will need the deep socket again. Take these out and the bracket can be removed.
Take all the 13 off 8mm bolts around the edge of the cover with 3 in the middle sections at the bottom of a well. You will need the deep socket for some of these. Most of these bolts are semi captive ie they will stay in the cover as you remove it.
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Remove the second idler pulley with a socket and withdraw in from the cover.
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Gently work the cover off the front of the motor, clearing any remaining brackets and so on as you go.
When the cover is off, take a good number of photos until you are happy with the belt routing
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In the cam pulleys are two slots for locking pins that slide into a hole when in the right spot. 6mm high tensile bolts are perfect for this as locking pins but the holes are not threaded.
The motor can be turned over by hand with a 21mm socket, CLOCKWISE looking at the motor from the front of the car. DO NOT be tempted to turn the motor anti clockwise if you miss a spot.
Once in the right place the pins will push in by hand about 40mm. Make sure both pins are even and locked in as if these move when the cam bolts are loose the valve timing will be lost.
As an additional precaution, take a permanent marker and make reference marks on both cam pulleys and crank pulley and mark the engine where these line up. This is very important as a cross check.
With the marks made and the locking pins in, the cam pulley bolts (3 off) on each pulley can be loosened, you will need a socket on the larger centre bolt to hold the pulley when loosening the 3 smaller bolts. DO NOT loosen the centre bolt. Undo the 3 smaller bolts a 1/2 to 1 turn.
At this point you can loosen the belt tensioner and remove it. The crank pulley will not move when you do this. Remove the two idler pulleys as well as replacements for these will have come with the kit along with a new tensioner.
With the belt off the cam pulleys can be moved back and forth 1 tooth on the slots to allow the belt to be seated correctly.
Install the lower idler with the same bolt from the old part unless you kit came with new bolts. Install the upper idler but leave it loose as the belt will not fit between the the idler and the fan bearing carrier. Once you have passed the belt into the spot, tighten the idler.
Attach the new tensioner but leave it loose.
Install the new belt around the crank and make sure it is seated properly. Working in an anti-clockwise direction pull the belt tight around the lower idler and up to the battery side cam pulley, turn the pulley all the way clockwise to get the belt to line up. Make sure the belt remains hand tight.
Pull the belt around the top idler and onto the airbox side cam pulley, seat the belt by turning the cam pulley clockwise. If the belt is in the right spot the teeth will line up.
With the belt seated correctly rotate the tensioner to tighten the belt, a 10mm allen key is needed for this step. Lock off the tensioner with a socket. It is far easier to have another set of hands for steps 18-20.
Check you line up on your reference marks. They MUST BE PERFECT. If not loosen off the tensioner and repeat until it is right. Failure to get this right WILL DESTROY YOUR ENGINE.
When the marks are lined up you can retension the cam pulley bolts 3 each to 14nm.
If the timing is correct the cam locking pins will be able to be withdrawn easily with your hands.
Once you are happy with the line up and the lock pins are removed then turn the engine over CLOCKWISE with a socket and ratchet or breaker bar. As it is a diesel some effort is required but at no point should the crank stop suddenly indicating interference with the valves. Rotate the engine at least 4 full turns to ensure all is right. After the 4 turns your marks should still line up perfectly.
Assembly is the reverse of the above with the following notes- Check new parts are the same as the old part, the kit I bought did not have the right replacement serpentine belt tensioner, so I have re-used the old one. None of the bolts were super tight so dont go gorilla on them when reassembling. Everything will line up with a bit of jiggling. Make sure all the plugs get connected straight and secure, use a smear of wd40 on the throttle body O ring and ensure the section seats firmly and flanges parallel. The tag ends of the circlip face the front of the car when refitting.

[mr_squiggle]

Thanks for the detailed how-to.
Are you able to name the kit supplier, kit part number(s) and the approximate cost?