Junk ebay timing tools

[dambat]

Went to do my daughter's new 1.6 WT fiesta timing belt. Bought the tool kit off ebay ($60), and this happened to the crank holding tool when I tried to crack the crank bolt.



It's a casting, and the quality looks terrible. Not sure why when it could have easily been made on a punch. I now have a 5mm piece of casting in my bell housing somewhere - hope that doesn't cause a problem.

Now I need to work out how to undo and redo the crank bolt without this tool. Does anyone in North Brisbane have a loaner? Should I just hold it with the engine in 4th gear to undo, then to redo, use the crank holding pin for the first torque setting, then engine in 4th to angle torque?

My impact I think is not big enough for this job.

Damien

[Junkyard-Dog]

Damn that sucks! I would be stressing out big time about the small piece left in the bell housing... but most likely that won't cause problems. Hopefully the quality of the metal is so poor that it merely gets smashed into powder if it comes into contact with moving parts.

[dambat]

Yes, I thought about sending a magnet down into the bell housing, but I could lose it and that would be really bad.

[dambat]

Now I seem to have pushed it out of time angle torquing the main crank bolt. Piston contacts the valves at 180 degrees. Will need to call a mobile mechanic. All this could have been avoided if they keyed it (or I bought a decent tool).

[redvxr8clubby]

Maybe not applicable to a Fiesta, I had a 2012 Fiesta but sold in December 2017. I recall looking at the timing cover, and wondering how the hell I'd even get my hands in there (looking from the top). I also have and still have it, a 2008 Subaru Forester, I changed the timing belt on that myself back in August 2015. I did see special tools to hold the crankshaft (on ebay), but at about $120 from memory, shipping from the UK. I made my own from some decking board. They Subaru crank has 4 holes, First I used a 66mm decking board (the treated pine type), and when I went to use it, I just split it as the holes were too close to the edges of the board, and also it's just softwood. Next I got a piece of 90mm Merbau decking board and I had success with that, much stronger hardwood, plus the holes not as close to the edges. I still have that piece of board and 6.5 years on, I maybe using it again. I'm not sure if this could be useful on a Fiesta or not.

Edit,

I just found this in another thread by Top_Ghia. I've pasted Top_Ghia's comments below. Very useful information before you start the job!

Do not do it without the tools.
Do not do it without the tools.
You need the tools to lock up the crank and cams as nothing is marked or keyed. If you take the balancer off without the tools it’s game over and a new engine may be required.
I’ve seen it happen.
Do not do it without the tools.

[dambat]

Well, it's back together and running. The last comment by topghia " If you take the balancer off without the tools it’s game over and a new engine may be required." is not correct. If you go out of time you just re-time it using the two tools (crank pin and camshaft spider). Worst case you'll bend a valve forcing it and need to pull the head.


Mine went out of time as when I torqued the crank bolt, it pulled the cam with it, and pushed the cams forward 30 degrees. I had thought I bent no.1 inlet valves as compression on no.1 feels weak. It seems to run fine though and cylinder balance is good, so it can't be too bad.


The ford method needs a very high quality crank holding tool, as the insert is quite long and puts a lot of leverage on the tool base. No part of this tool can be cast. It's also a pain to pull the starter.



Locking it by holding it in 4th gear with the brakes on is a mugs game. You _will_ spin it backwards undoing it (doing all kinds of bad things to your vvt cam gear), and going forwards, you can pull the cams out of time. There's quite a lot of backlash in the drivetrain.



What I did in the end was borrow my neighbour's 3/4" air impact, take it to 100nM against the pin, then 90 degrees off the pin. This kept it in time but you need a strong impact. I could not be bothered with the final 15 degrees as it was already stupidly tight.



It may be worth blue locktiting the pulley to the shaft as well, remembering to heat it when you pull it. You will only need to do that when you change seals anyway.


Hope this helps. I've done 6-7 timing belts and this is the first that came unstuck this badly. Easiest was Volvo, which took about an hour.



Damien

[dambat]

Well, it's back together and running. The last comment by topghia " If you take the balancer off without the tools it’s game over and a new engine may be required." is not correct. If you go out of time you just re-time it using the two tools (crank pin and camshaft spider). Worst case you'll bend a valve forcing it and need to pull the head.
Mine went out of time as when I torqued the crank bolt, it pulled the cam with it, and pushed the cams forward 30 degrees. I had thought I bent no.1 inlet valves as compression on no.1 feels weak. It seems to run fine though and cylinder balance is good, so it can't be too bad.
The ford method needs a very high quality crank holding tool, as the insert is quite long and puts a lot of leverage on the tool base. No part of this tool can be cast. It's also a pain to pull the starter.

Locking it by holding it in 4th gear with the brakes on is a mugs game. You _will_ spin it backwards undoing it (doing all kinds of bad things to your vvt cam gear), and going forwards, you can pull the cams out of time. There's quite a lot of backlash in the drivetrain.
What I did in the end was borrow my neighbour's 3/4" air impact, take it to 100nM against the pin using a torque wrench, then 90 degrees off the pin. This kept it in time but you need a strong impact. I could not be bothered with the final 15 degrees as it was already stupidly tight.

It may be worth blue locktiting the pulley to the shaft as well, remembering to heat it when you pull it. You will only need to do that when you change seals anyway.
Hope this helps. I've done 6-7 timing belts and this is the first that came unstuck this badly. Easiest was Volvo, which took about an hour.



Damien

[Zippa001]

I came on here looking for advice for this exact problem. I wish I had seen this post before I bought the parts. I'll just say to everyone that the cheap flywheel locking tool from those cheap timing kits are junk and are more problems than what it is worth. I would say get a good quality tool, or don't bother trying to do it unless you have a powerful impact (I now will try and source one to try), my 18v cordless doesn't have enough grunt to loosen the crank bolt. P.S. I also tried the 4th gear foot on brake without success, managed to put it out of timing by a few teeth. I was able to retime the cranks and cams as per below, and it manually cranks over without any problems so far...