SAFETY TIPS

Note that there is very little access around the cambelt on the right-hand end of the engine. It is helpful if you can remove the right-hand headlamp to provide more space, but on our vehicle this proved impossible without major dismantling of the bodywork, due to someone using a non-standard, semi-permanent method of attaching both headlamps to the vehicle in the past.

Before starting work, disconnect the car’s battery.

Keep all nuts, bolts, fasteners, etc, in separate, labelled containers so their original location can be determined.

Only turn the engine in the normal direction of rotation when running (clockwise, viewed from the right-hand side of the vehicle) and never in the opposite direction. It is easier to rotate the engine if the spark plugs are removed first, eliminating compression.

In theory, if you begin by rotating the crankshaft slowly clockwise to Top Dead Centre (TDC) on number 1 cylinder, the manufacturer’s timing marks should be evident, and align between the camshaft sprocket and the engine, the crankshaft pulley and the timing belt’s lower cover, and the crankshaft’s timing belt sprocket and the engine. If no such timing marks are visible, as with the engine on our car, you can make your own reference marks between the sprockets and the engine using dabs of quick-drying paint or typing correction fluid.

Avoid turning the crankshaft and/or the camshaft while the cambelt is removed.

Never use the cam sprockets to rotate the engine.

In the cambelt run towards the front of the engine bay, the belt connects the camshaft and crankshaft sprockets, then towards the rear of the engine and moving upwards from the crankshaft, the belt passes around an adjustable tensioner wheel assembly, just above which is the beltdriven water pump. From here the belt travels upwards to the camshaft sprocket (see Step 38).

Before detaching the water pump, place a bowl underneath the car to collect the escaping coolant. You must dispose of coolant in an environmentally-friendly manner.

On reassembly, apply the torque settings as recommended by the manufacturer (see above).

Note that, in the instructions provided with the new water pump, there is a warning that the new pump might leak during the first three hours of running as it beds in.