Ultimate Timing Belt DIY!

I did this for everyone who didn't feel comfortable doing this on their own. After reading this you should feel 100% sure you can accomplish it on your own. I think anyone can do this themselves and save a ton of cash!
This timing belt change was done on my 2002 GTI 1.8T
Product Needed
Timing Belt
Timing Belt Tensioner
Timing Belt Idler Pulley
Water pump (with metal impeller)
Coolant G12
Distilled Water
Accessory belt (optional )
Thermostat (optional DIY does not cover)
New engine mount bolts
*Note* Kits are available from ECStuning.com, from mjm, as well as many other places. Most don't come with new stretch bolts so you need to ask for them. Can't say anything about anyone elses kits because I only dealt with ECS but i would highly recommend them. Make sure you get a metal impeller water pump as well!

Tools NEEDED
Jack
Jack stands
Phillips head screw driver
Flat Head screw driver
T25 Torx bit Screw driver
8mm allen wrench (Preferably 8mm allen head socket)
3mm allen wrench
19mm twelve point, 18mm, 16mm deep, 16mm, 12mm, 10mm deep, and 10mm sockets
16mm and 13mm wrenches
2x4 approx. 2 feet long
small breaker bar (unless you're Bruce Lee then don't worry about it)

*HINT* For the 13mm wrench go buy a craftsman ratcheting wrench. This is to remove the Accessory belt tensioner and this tool alone will save you at least 30 minutes when taking that stupid thing off and back on. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Step #1
Jack the Car up, put it on some stands, and remove the passenger side wheel as well as the plastic fender liner. Hopefully your wheel looks as good as this one.


Step #2
Remove - Both engine covers, Upper timing belt cover (with the 2 spring clips), and belly pan.

^Belly pan
Step #3
Remove the lower charge pipe (pancake pipe) using a flat head screw driver or a 7mm socket to losen the clamps and a 10mm socket to remove the nut holding the bracket in place. I suggest removing the clamp on the intercooler and pulling the silicon connection off the IC with the pipe, much easier then removing the clamp on the pipe and trying to pull the pipe out.

^ pancake pipe
Step #4
Remover the sound dampening shield behind the lower IC pipe by prying each one of those little tabs back with a flat head screwdriver then pull straight done. OR get violent and just pull down super hard.
Step #5
Remove the timing plug on the transmission so that you can visibly see the flywheel TDC mark. The Plug is located here.

Step #6
Release tension on the accessory belt using a 16mm wrench to pull back the tensioner enough to align the two holes so that you can slip a 3mm allen wrench through both of them. As Illustated.

Now the accessory belt tensioner is locked in place and you can easily remove the belt. Then remove the intake pipe to the throttle body hose. When finished with all that, use your ratcheting 13mm wrench to remove the accessory belt tensioner and place that out of the way.
*Note* The Black Bracket goes between the bolts and the tensioner not the tensioner and the head! Remeber this or your belt will not be aligned properly.
Step #7
Remove the harmonic balancer pulley. Then crank the engine to TDC with a 19mm twelve point socket. I looked at the cam gear mark to see when i was getting close, then went super slow to align the flywheel mark perfectly.

^ Here is where the cam gear lines up with the valve cover. You can also see the mark on my cam gear and my new belt from the nail polish. They don't line up because the car has been running.

^ Here is where you will see the TDC mark on the flywheel (Behind the timing plug on the Trans) You can't see the mark on mine cause it's not on TDC. Your flywheel may look a little different as mine is a new lightweight one with that sexy blue spec clutch as you can see.
Step #8
Using a jack and a 2x4 crank the jack just so that the engine has support. Make sure the release valve on your jack is tight so that the jack doesn't slowly lose pressure.
Step #9
Remove two screws holding the colant reservoir down as well as the bolt holding down the power steering reservoir (10mm deep socket needed there).


^ unclip that black clamp and take it off the bolt
*Note* Removal of the coolant res and power steering res and/or lines is not necessary but would make the job easier. I didn't remove anything just pushed everything around.
Step #10
Remove the six bolts holding the mount to the body and the bracket located here.Then slide the mount out from the top.

^ The bolts are close to those circles
Step #11
Jack the engine up a couple of inches. Then remove the rest of the engine mount which is attached to the block by removing 3 bolts. You will need the deep 16mm socket to remove at least one of them. After removing the bolts if you can't find a way to get that other piece of the mount out from the bottom don't sweat it. I just left it in there and moved it around as needed, as many others have done it this was as well.
Step #12
Remove the 5 - 10mm bolts holding the middle and lower timing belt covers on.
Step #13
At lucky step thirteen you get to take the timing belt off, but FIRST...
make sure you mark the position of the belt on the crank gear and the cam gear. I used nail polish to do this and i made two marks on the bottom (crank gear) and 1 mark on the top (cam gear) so that it was impossible to screw it up.

^ Here is what my belt looked like after i took it off and it was marked
Now remove the little timing belt tensioner pulley. Then remove the whole Tensioner and finally remove the tensioner idler pulley. Now slip the belt off.

Step #14
Remove the water pump. It is held in with 3 10mm bolts. At this point it's not just gonna fall out. Wrap a rag around the gear and get two hands down in there. Wiggle the pump while pulling as hard a you can. When it starts to leak you're almost there. In the end your prize will be a mess of coolant on the floor and ,if you're doing this timing belt swap because your waterpump broke like me, a cracked plastic waterpump impeller which you will need to reach into the block to retrieve.
Step #15
Replace the water pump. Make sure to moisten the O-ring with some coolant before bolting it back up.
Step #16
Get your new timing belt out and transfer the marks to the new belt from the old belt. Before throwing it in there put the new tensioner idler pulley in there. Now align the mark on the cam gear with the belt. Next route it down to the crank gear and line those marks up. Most difficult part of the whole job right here. Put the New tensioner in. I noticed my old one left an imprint on the block which helped me out with the way it was oriented in there. Then i put that 3mm allen wrench to good use and stuck it through the top bolt hole on the tensioner to line that one up. Then I put the bolt in the bottom hole and shifted the tensioner around until i got it to screw in. Then i bolted in the top one. Make sure the marks on the cam gear and the crank gear haven't moved and when you're confident that you've got that belt on perfect pull the pin on the tensioner. After you pull that pin there is no turning back unless you have the blot to untension the tensioner.
Step #17
Crank the engine over, by hand, at least two times so that you can match up the flywheel TDC mark and the Cam Gear TDC mark, They should match perfectly.
Step #18
Install the middle and lower timing belt covers and bolt the mount back the the block. Then replace the harmonic balancer pulley and the accessory tension pulley.
Step #19
Attach the engine back to the mount and bolt it down.
Step #20
Repeat the steps in Step #6 to get the accessory belt back on. Make sure you have a space between the pulley and the timing belt cover. I didn't the first time, had to tear everything down again to fix it, And got the fright of my life the first time i turned the car on and heard that.

^ Blury picture but you need a space there
Step #21
Finish up by putting the belly pan and the sound dampening shroud back in place, as well as the lower IC pipe. Also reinstall the TB hose and bolt down the coolant reservior and the power steering res. Put your wheel back on and lower the car.
Step #22
Fill your car with coolant before starting. You may want to fill the res about 3/4 full because the engine is going to suck alot in when you start it.
*Note* Mix coolant with distilled water only
Step #23
Start the car and check for belt alignment as well as top off your car with coolant. If you did everything right it's time to give yourself a pat on the back. You did good http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
Torque specs
Engine mount to cylinder block - 45Nm
Engine mount to Body - 40Nm + 90
Engine mount Bracket - 25Nm
Engine mount to Engine Mount on Block - 100Nm
Timing Belt cover bolts - 10Nm
Vibration damper/belt pulley - 25Nm
Timing Belt Tensioner - 25Nm
Coolant pump - 15Nm
If I left anything out or you have suggestions please let me know I'd like to make this as 100% complete as I possibly can!



Modified by Tim_1.8T at 2:41 PM 12-16-2006