'Russian way' timing belt change

I've changed cam belts that way albeit not had the engine running to cut it in half (plugs removed and turned over on crank pulley. Works fine.

Paul H

An old, old technique used when the tensioner is A1 and the sprockets have no lip upon them. A favoured trick of those who tinkered with 2 litre pinto engines (non interference, so no dramas!

Often the new belt is heated in hot, pure water to expand it ever so slightly.

And I didn't even think about doing it with the engine running...

Of course this is assuming the timing is correct.

People seem to have a needless fear of timing belts and can over-complicate what is often a simple job.

If it has timing marks, then line them up. If not, or you cant see them, don't worry - make your own. Some blobs of tippex work well. Do 2 per pulley.... one blob at 12 oclock and one at about 3 oclock with corresponding blobs on the backplate.
Change the belt and make sure they are still lined up - you will easily see if it is a tooth out somewhere. Things are unlikely to move much unless you are wrenching things around like a chump. If the cam has moved, slacken the belt, turn the relevant pulley and re-tenson. Turning things over by hand is not going to cause any damage anywhere.

If you want to lock twin cam pulleys and don't have the proper tool, use mole-grips. Don't wang them on really tight, you might distort the pulley, just tight enough to grip lightly and prevent movement.




Things only start getting complicated with multi-cam V engines where the idler wheels have offset mounting holes and can be used to alter the timing between the banks. The pic above is an Opel/Vauxhall V6, which has two offset idler pulleys that can be used to alter the timing of each bank individually.

's only a 10 second job to lock up a TU engine anyway!

^^Tippex is a fantastic thing to have in the garage. Ideal for timing marks as I said, its also good to highlight timing marks so they are more visible under a strobe light. I use the correction pen things which have a roller ball tip, so if I am dismantling something with loads of electrickery, I can write a number or letter on each plug n socket so I know how it all goes back together.

Brilliant tip. Dunno how I never heard of that before. I've changed belts on a variety of cars over the years and never used locking tools. A dab of paint to mark positions has worked so far, but they've all been single cam jobs.

I'm approaching a belt change on a Vauxhall V6 so the mole-grip idea, combined with the OP's split belt idea is appealing.

Have a read through this....it details how to set the offset idler rollers to adjust the timing precisely for each bank of the "V".
Getting these wrong is not catastrophic, but the engine will be down on power and the idle can be lumpy.