Dale Wadding's Timing Belt Adventure

Villager/Quest mailing list member Dale Wadding has also changed his timing belt. And he took some wonderful pictures. Here is his text and pictures:

I replaced the timing belt and accessory drive belts on my 1993 Mercury Villager at 64,000 miles. I replaced the timing belt tensioner because of some bearing like noise that I felt could be coming from the tensioner. I did not replace the water pump, since the '93 models have a 60k replacement cycle on the timing belt and I felt comfortable waiting to replace it at the 120k mark. I replaced the thermostat since the reading on my dashboard was running below the "L" of NORMAL - - after replacement it runs between the "A" and "M".

I purchased Dayco belts and the tensioner from Wrenchead.com and was satisfied with their prices and service. Just for reference, I was quoted $30-35 for the timing belt from Mercury and Nissan dealers and paid less than $20 from Wrenchead.com. I have also purchased parts from Carparts.com and been satisfied. Use caution when ordering online - - call their parts specialists to make sure you order the correct parts, and allow plenty of time for delivery.

Prior to starting the job, I reviewed and printed all of the excellent material on the Villager/Quest FAQ at Steve Cutchen's website.

CAUTION: Use good safety practices! Wear safety glasses. Jack and support the vehicle carefully. Maintain a clean, well lighted work area.

I didn't follow the exact order of removal listed in the factory service manual. Use whatever works for you, but here's the procedure that worked for me:

1. Jack up and support vehicle.
2. Remove right front wheel and engine covers.
3. Loosen crankshaft pulley bolt.
4. Drain radiator.
5. Remove upper radiator hose.
6. Remove A/C compressor belt and bracket.
7. Remove generator belt.
8. Remove power steering belt.
9. Remove water inlet hose. (I was lucky, the factory spring clamps were accessible)
10. Remove water pump pulley.
11. Remove power steering fluid reservoir bracket bolts for access to timing belt cover bolts.
12. Remove upper and lower timing belt covers.
13. Remove old timing belt. (Mine was quite loose, about 1" of deflection)
14. Install new belt tensioner, water pump, and thermostat if needed.
15. Install new timing belt.
16. Reverse order for assembly.

When refilling the engine coolant, I tried to follow the procedure from the FAQ. But my Villager didn't have the heater pipe air relief cap, so I just vented the radiator & engine air relief plugs and it worked fine.

8-10 hours is probably a good estimate of the time required for this job. But don't rush things - - doing the job right is more important. My engine is much quieter after this work, the noise around the distributor is gone.