Thread: D1 300TDI Timing Assistance

Originally Posted by AK83

Don't go too fast! .. you only just started!!

ps. those 4 fan pulley bolts can self tighten if the pulley hasn't been off for along time.
Same issue on mine. I know I don't use gorilla force on my nuts(ah!.. you know what I mean ) but trying to get them off one time .. turned into the same head turning drama you dealt with.
I got some shinier 12mm M8 flanged bolts with larger heads on them(I think 12mm instead of 10mm or 10mm instead of 8mm .. whatever they are std) .. anyhow, one spanner size up.

FWIW: I later found that Kingchromes' 'LockOn' sockets are really good on damaged fixings too!

The full kit for the timing belt includes a fair bit of stuff, but not 'everything'.
From memory: crank seal and dust seal(they look similar so be aware of which is which). O ring behind crank gear, tensioner, idler, belt (of course) gasket, small copper like washer(for central bolt on cover) new bolts for tensioner and idler.
Didn't have the half moon woodruff keys, one for harmonic and one for crank gear. I reckon they should be replaced as they can get a teeny ... half mil of chattery damage to them. No cam seal tho.

Did you get any rubbery dust flung around the inside of the cover?
My first one had a fair bit of it. I dunno how many klms the belt had done before I bought the D1, previous owner said he'd only done about 30K klms in four years. Belt looked OK(compared to the new one in the kit) tho.

My second one was done prematurely, at 70K klms as I had to deal with the leaking front crank seal. I lived with the oil leak as long as possible hoping it will hold out for a few more thousand klms, but got too bad for my liking .. so was all done again at 70K klms. zero rubbery dust, but a fair bit of oil tho as to be expected.

Do you know the history of your Tdi? when was the last belt done .. etc.

Yep, I know those bolts tighten up - but they were so tight they had starting to fold the threads back. Like the IP bolts which I assume were also done up with a rattle gun.

There is a bit of black dust in the cover but nothing too excessive.

With the oil leaks I'd assume that they didn't change the seals last time it was done (about 30k ago).

The car came with the stamped service book and receiptd for the past few years. It's got a fairly new head, good injectors and some other new parts throughout.

The old owner is on AULRO and is a good egg. He didn't know about any of the issues I'm going through and has been in contact since I bought the car from him. I really appreciate that.

I like the sound of those kingchrome sockets. Will have to have a look for them.

I ordered the parts for the timing kit through Mario and Heather. As I hadn't been on the forum much these last 4 non-landy years I didn't know about his health issues. Just gutted for him. He was always so nice to me over the past few decades and my previous 4 landys (a 94 single cab defer, another 97 tdi300 D1 like this one, a 2007 defender that I took around Australia and my D2 td5 that I had for over 10 years). Really glad that I could support him and spend the cash with them.

Just goes to show you need to value life and get the most out of things while you can. You never know what health concerns or issues are round the corner.

So just had a look across components in the shed and cleaning up some surfaces, inspecting the timing cover etc getting ready to install the full kit on its way from Mario. And see the harmonic balancer has some cracks in the rubber on the front face. Back looks fine but I will need to replace it.

So my on the cheap timing belt change has blown out to be not so cheap

Noticed a heap of black dust on the front cover opposite where it runs around the gear on the crank. So glad I'm putting a fresh gear and new belt in too.

Wonder what else will go wrong?

Still have to do rear a frame rubber thingy, rear wheel bearings and rear pads. Then there's the front end rubbers and suspension bushes. Keeping me busy, that's for sure!

So to replace the seal I'm holding, which I assume is the front crank oil seal - not the dust seal, I know about that one, I have to take the sump, aircon, fuel pump and pulley etc off then the timing cover back plate to fit it don't I?

Because I am close to giving up!

The seal is leaking so it needs to be done.

Before I unbolt everything, do I need a special tool to put the seal in?

And please tell me I don't have to unbolt everything!

Worked it out myself. That is the later type front dust cover seal. PHEWWW!

Mine had the earlier style seal so that’s what I replaced it with.

So glad I didn’t start taking extra things off!

At least when I do this next time, I will know what I’m doing!

It's nearly back together! God dam that crank nut is hard to do up the 80nm then plus 90 degrees! Bent my new home made tool doing it but got there in the end. Now just have to replumb in the fuel pump lines and the radiator

Tool the chance to clean the intercooler out well while the front was open.

Hopefully that's it. Should have it back to driveable by tomorrow night. Unless I stuff up something else

Timing cover back on. Yaaaay!

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the mighty 300tdi roars to life!

the 300tdi lives again! - YouTube

So yeah, the timing worked. Idles really well now. No smoke at all on start up.

No power steering leaks either!

Test drive tomorrow!

Thanks AK83 and Blknight. Appreciate your help.

Also found some really useful videos by Britannia restorations. Mike is easy to understand and his videos are peppered with interesting facts. Two thumbs up from me.

Preventing overheating on the 200/300Tdi - YouTube

And she goes awesome. Kids loved being dropped to school in it

Struggled to get out my steep driveway though so played with the smoke screw and wound it in a turn to fix. Now idles up the drive without any problems. No additional smoke under load either so reckon it is just perfect now

Thanks again to everyone that's helped out so far.

And now onto the next bit - wheels (rear wheel bearings and new pads) and lt230 (leaking from both the input and output - double whammy!)

After the next two, it shouldnt even be leaking much oil. Pretty stoked about that