300tdi timing belt change

[rovernut]

Hey there guys, I am about to embark on changing out the timing belt on my disco. I have the tiiming belt, front crankcase seal and the timing cover gasket. I was wondering what else i might need, i have all the tools already minus the fuel pump, flywheel and camshaft locking pins is there any way to get around that??

any hints and tips would be well appreciated.

cheers Matt

[tony cordell]

yes IIRC a 9/16 drill is the same size as the locking pin for the injection pump
for the crank drill a hole in a wading plug look at the slot in the crank first
to see qhich drill bit shaft fits the slot in the crank then use this drill to make th ehole in the wading plug.
you may ned to keep it in place with a jack as the L/R pin is spring loaded.
undoing the crank nut if yoours is impossibly tight you can place a decent sized breaker bar against the chassis rail (protected with a piece of wood) a short crank on the starter will undo the nut (just make sure your sockets are good quality and you choose the correct chassis rail
then the only prob could be not having a crank pulley puller, I know a method but you'd better look int this yourself incase you damage the timming case.
for explicit instructions see

http://www.difflock.com/servicing/index.shtml

[Bush65]

Matt,

Do you know if yours has the updated crankshaft pulley? There have been a few changes to rectify the problems that lead to damage of the timing belt. If not you should change to the flanged crankshaft pulley.

The timing pin I use was made by turning down the shank of a bolt to 9.44 mm dia.

I used a long length of pipe on a breaker bar to loosen/tighten the bolt for the harmonic balancer/pulley (bloody tight). The keyway in the crankshaft flogs out if the bolt is not tightened enough.

Getting a suitable torque wrench to tension the timing belt was the hardest part for me. You need a dial or radial scale and pointer type, the type that break or release a pin when the torque is reached, are not suitable. My maual says torque to 15 Nm for new belt and 12 Nm for used belt. I have heard that rover sent out a service bulletin that reduces these values a little.

As I recall, the difflock site that Tony gave has good information on this topic.

[justinC]

Hi Matt,

Just a quick addition to the above...

A 3/8" diameter bolt will suffice for a timing pin into injection pump.

DO NOT forget to remove this pin BEFORE turning engine!!!!!!!!
( I will NOT say why I am warning you of this...)

As Bush65 says, tension is all impportant, the injector pump front shaft bearing WILL fail/ flog out if too much tension put on belt, Not enough will result in poor performance due to fluctuating timing.

The ZEUS gear set conversion is a good idea, but are very expensive.
They are a little noisy, even after running in, and the potential for disaster IF the vehicle EVER runs low on oil, is horrendous. IE destruction of timing case and complete seizure of gears.
At least a properly maintained belt, IE tensioned correctly, new idler and tensioner, replaced every 60 to 80K, will provide good service. In my experience, belts just don't fail for no reason.
If the belt does fail, then in an emergency, straightening of the push rods and fitting of a new belt etc will rectify the situation to get the vehicle going again, until new pushrods etc can be fitted...
There is no need to remove the head/ valves etc, as the valves are in dead flat contact with piston tops, and will not usually bend. ( I've never seen it)
It is true that the timing gear conversion does give SLIGHTLY better performance, but the above mentioned will bring the whole thing into perspective I hope.

Have fun and DON'T FORGET TO REMOVE THE TIMING PIN BEFORE TOUCHING OR EVEN LOOKING AT THE IGNITION KEY....

JC

[uninformed]

i've heard that the zues timing set will improve perfromace notiably???? also heard that the gears are helical cut and may have too much helic angle creating thrust problems???
serg

[red90]

Here you go: http://www.lrenthusiastforum.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=LR_technical&Number=96334&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=all&fpart=all

I dare you to read that and buy a Zeus kit.

and this of course:
http://www.rovingtheglobe.com/default.asp?sec=jal&url=Sections/Equipment/Vehicles/Technical/Obsolete/ZeusTimingGears/Introduction.asp

[sclarke7171]

I was talking to a guy who i'd met on a train in Aust, He just had his Zeus gears removed after a failure.
Install cost and converting it all back was in excess of $10000 Aussie Bucks. On top of the $16k to recover it from a remote part of the simpson
He went back after a gear failed after 30k km.
Hence it was like breaking a cam belt. He was doing 50kmh at the time and the head and valves were stuffed as were the rockers and push rods.
He is in a legal battle at the moment to my knowledge.
He's not a happy bloke.
He was told that it would give him more HP and better economy.
Well it was until it cost him $25k
Sadly it was only a late 90's Defender with the last of the 300's
He thought it would be a good exersise to convert it to the gears.

The defender has been returned to its home land of Africa where he lives.
Shame he's not still in Aust as i'd get him to fill me in on the Goss.