/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>818819
In theory it's easy, but in practice it can be a huge pain in the ass. First off, while you're in there you might as well put in a new water pump since you're draining the rad/taking it out, depending on the amount of room you've got to work with.

Tips: Have some rubber or cork or even towels or something to plug up the transmission cooling lines.

Unless you have a bench vise, you may want to buy two tensioner pins. If you somehow fuck up, once you pull the new pin, you're not getting it back in without a bench vice. You can always return one.

Take a photo of all the belts prior to removal

Use enamel pen, or nail polish to make your own TDC mark. This is weird, but sometimes your mark is a half cog off from the manufacturers mark stamped on there. Good luck, I don't know why this happens. Deal with it.

You may want a friend present to turn the cam for you while you slip the new belt on. I always liked to get it close with a ratchet, then progress to and hold it at TDC with a breaker bar. They can move on you, and you'll wish you had 3 hands. If it lurches forward, it's ok to turn it backwards rather than going forward all the way around again

If you do have to remove the radiator, consider a new one. Do you need new hoses? Now's a good time for that, too.

Give yourself at least 2 days, and have a backup plan for work, and a ride to the parts store. Pros can do this job in 2 hours. It will take you longer. Worst case scenario, probably 6-12 since it sounds like you've never done it. Also, you're going to do a better job by cleaning all the bolts and crap and shit off everything because you like your car.

Oh yeah, use a fucking torque wrench, torque all bolts to spec. If your belt slips off, you probably killed your car.

>>818819
the reason you are supposed to make sure you change the belt at with engine at TDC is because at TDC the valves are all closed, if any of the valves are open and you accidentally move the pistons when the timing belt is off the piston can bump into the valve.
if your valve stem bends then your engine is basically fucked and needs rebuilt. big job.

I would say your best friend is light, make sure you have a few of those lamps with cages/clamps and shit, maybe a magnetic one.
the one thing you won't have too much of is light.

take your time, be careful you will do just fine.

you can change your water pump with the belt off which means draining fluid, check the service interval for your car and remember that you need the belt off to change the pump.
just be careful just to not bump or knock or move the cogs and shit. although if its really at TDC it won't matter, if its not and you bump a cog you might bend a valve.

why would /o/ not be the board to ask on this

>>818886
I'm gonna guess because /diy/ has a greater amateur auto mechanic knowledge base, and they know how to speak human.

>>818889
Yep. just checked out the /o/ catalogue. Mostly car porn and teenagers asking what used car to buy. Little evidence that more than 1% of them have done much beyond changing spark plugs.

>>818819
Timing belts don't get noisy. They fail and blow up engine. Accessory belts get noisy. Not saying you shouldn't change it, but accessory belts and timing belts are 2 different animals.

>>818819
Look up a proper guide specific to your car.
Toughness varies by car. Go to Autozone and sign up and you get access to most of what is in a Chilton manual.
A car as old as yours may potentially have a timing chain and not a timing belt. Chains fell out of favor in the 1980s. A few vehicles over the years never switched from chains and some are going back to them.

>>818991
In my experience you are more likely to have a failing pulley or bearing making the noise then the belt.

>>819025
I'm assuming OP looked up info on his car since he's already done research on how to do various repairs.

>>818991
>>819028
OP does not know when timing belt was last changed, and it's a 30 year old vehicle, which is also his only car. You cannot in good conscience underplay the necessity of replacing the timing belt, even if accessory belts are the noisy ones. Recommended lifespan is 60k miles. Once it gets to 80k, it could break at any moment, and bye-bye engine. Guys, 30 year old car... This is crucial preventive maintenance. You do this 1-3 times for every car you own.

>>819035
I'm not even assuming said car has a timing belt. Could be a chain. In fact, more likely, govern it hasn't died yet.

So OP, what are you driving?

>>818819
Thanks for the advice. I didn't even even consider that I might have to take the rad out, but I'll make sure to get some coolant if it's going to have to happen. I won't worry about a new rad, but I will replace the hoses if I'm removing them.

>>818877
I have a headlamp that I use when working on anything. It was the most useful tool I've received to this day. There seems no problem with the water pump, so won't worry about it at this stage.

>>818886
Because they just jack off to pictures of cars, and most likely don't even own one. Useless board that one is.

>>818991
I know the belt isn't making the noise. But it probably needs replacing anyway, so I may as well do it while I have the other belts off.

>>819025
I sussed out my local library actually has a service manual for my car, and the internet doesn't have a free copy. Definitely a belt though.

>>819028
I'm getting new pulleys as well. No point spending hours only doing half the job.

>>819035
Correct, I'm not replacing it because I KNOW it's bad, but I may as well replace it for the knowledge, and to keep my car running.

>>819038
It's an 89 Mazda 121. Got it for $600, and it runs fine besides needing an AC refrigerant change, and this squealing.

Thanks you so much everyone for your input. I also read that for the pulleys, I just use a piece of rough sand paper or something similar to make some horizontal friction to help keep the belt from slipping. Is this good advice, or not?

>>818872
Thanks for the advice. I didn't even even consider that I might have to take the rad out, but I'll make sure to get some coolant if it's going to have to happen. I won't worry about a new rad, but I will replace the hoses if I'm removing them.

>>818877
I have a headlamp that I use when working on anything. It was the most useful tool I've received to this day. There seems no problem with the water pump, so won't worry about it at this stage.

>>818886
Because they just jack off to pictures of cars, and most likely don't even own one. Useless board that one is.

>>818991
I know the belt isn't making the noise. But it probably needs replacing anyway, so I may as well do it while I have the other belts off.

>>819025
I sussed out my local library actually has a service manual for my car, and the internet doesn't have a free copy. Definitely a belt though.

>>819028
I'm getting new pulleys as well. No point spending hours only doing half the job.

>>819035
Correct, I'm not replacing it because I KNOW it's bad, but I may as well replace it for the knowledge, and to keep my car running.

>>819038
It's an 89 Mazda 121. Got it for $600, and it runs fine besides needing an AC refrigerant change, and this squealing.

Thanks you so much everyone for your input. I also read that for the pulleys, I just use a piece of rough sand paper or something similar to make some horizontal friction to help keep the belt from slipping. Is this good advice, or not?

>>819043

Your car is technically a Ford Festiva that was rebadged that year - if I did my homework correctly. Confirm it uses the 1.3 liter engine and I'll post up some info that you can use.

>Wizard level mechanic here.

Attached is the instructions that any shop would have access to via AllData Repair. If it is the 1.3 liter engine you're dealing with, this is one of the easiest timing belt jobs in the world - much like old Volvo's.

I DEFINITELY recommend you give it a shot yourself - it will be hard to botch the job, and you'll learn a lot that you'll take with you in life. The timing belt is likely not the culprit for squeeling however. It's a cogged belt - those don't squeal. Its likely an accessory belt, and highly likely its a V belt. You should change those first if your car isn't scheduled for a timing belt job.

>>818819
Lol every saying if you fucking throw your car out of timing you basically killed it.. ffs. Worse you would do would be bend some valves...

I just had this happen on one of my motorcycles when a chain tensioner failed randomly down the highway and the timing chain inside skipped gears and raped my exhaust valves. Took me 2 hours to replace the valves and that includes chopping up a valve shim bucket because that bitch was stuck in there good. I only had to order a new tensioner the rest I had. And setting the timing was so easy.. but I suppose motorcycle engines have more stuff exposed compared to a car.

>>819047
You did your homework correctly. Same engine, slightly different car.

>>819052
Wow man, thanks for the image! I like to do everything myself, because I know that I can, unless I need expensive equipment. I live the /diy/ life. I'd even cut my own hair if it was easy.

I know the timing belt isn't responsible for the squealing, but if I'm taking the other belts off, I may as well get this out of the way too!

On an unrelated subject; the car has no tachometer (it's a manual, and can't hear the engine with music on). While it will be easy to wire one up, I don't want to screw it to the dashboard, I actually want to make my own instrument cluster to replace the stock one. Has anyone here done this before? Seems like a fun project. I'm thinking it can't be more than tracing out the shape of the old panel, cutting it, then installing my own gauges and wiring them in. What sort of material is good for making the panel? Metal? Wood?

>>819062

Wiring a tachometer is really dependent on what provision there is on the transmission for a sensor. Sensors of that era are gear driven, so if there's not one already on the transmission, you won't be able to wire a tachometer. Short of hooking up a bicycle sensor to a wheel somewhere. ;)

>>819068
I was reading that they're wired to the distributor cap? It makes sense to me.

>>819071

Oh duh, I was thinking of the speed sensor. Yeah, it comes off the ignition module in the distributor. You can wire it to any electronic gauge. And what material you use to make a panel is really up to you. Its an art kinda thing, do what you like.

I've made a panel out of wood before. But I had a band saw and professional paint stuff for staining and clear coating.

>>819072
Cool man, you're a legend. Thanks so much for your help. I don't have Alldata, is it possible to export the entire Mazda B3 manual section easily and upload it somewhere? If it's a lot of effort, don't worry :)

I have a lot of tools to work with. I just want a black panel, so I'm not sure what would be best. Wood doesn't seem like it would last long, acrylic is too shiny, a sheet of powder coated aluminium seems viable. I'll cross that path when I get to it I guess. More focused on maintenance at this point :)

No, I can't export it. If you want Alldata, torrent version 9.8 or 10.

https://thepiratebay.la/torrent/9637407/AllData_10.53_%28Q3_2013%29_-_Install_Disc__US_Domestics__Extras

It's fucking huge though.

>>819076
I saw that, and didn't want to download it. Got a few manuals of Scribd though, found out you can just upload a fake document, then they let you download stuff for free.

Cheers for the help!

>>819025
I second this. Autozone has manuals fir just about every car. Need to sign up for free first.

>>819123

Autozone is garbage. The picture I posted will get you entirely through the job.

The accessory belt(s) are easy, a single tensioner.