chris00tt

I'm in the middle of replacing the timing belt on my 2000 TT with 85k miles. The belt looked great as did the plastic impellers on the water pump. All bearings looked and spun true without much noise and the auto tensioner was good as well. I was amazed at how well it had been kept up as most others run into broken impellers and noisy pulleys. Anyways, I bought the dieselgeeks.com timing belt kit and am having problems with the Contitech timing belt they sent me. I cannot get the belt to go on for the life of me. I checked the part number on my belt with their website and it matched. It is REALLY tight and I have about a half inch distance from getting it seated on the camshaft pulley before I have to stop because it just won't budge any further. I've been referencing the Bentley manual and it has been straightforward so far. Anyone else run into belt installation problems? I've done about a handful of timing belts/chains on other vehicles and they usually slide on with little effort and let the auto tensioner do the tightening. I'm out of ideas and the auto tensioner rod is still in place with the pin and the tensioner pulley is resting on this. I've been looking for a visual description with pics that perhaps someone has done, but couldn't find anything. Any help guys is appreciated.

resurrecttion

try different angles of attack... try getting the belt on just a little bit on every tooth, then pushing the whole thing on... you'll eventually get it. i've done 4 or 5 TB jobs now, and it always takes awhile to do this, and you inevitably bleed a little bit getting it to work. i don't remember if we ever discovered any "tricks" aside from maybe pulling the water pump out a little bit? anything to get a little bit of extra clearance.

eTTie

half way onto the top cam.Slipped it onto the water pump. Oh and we also removed the tensior wheel and put it back on afterwards because from my friends experience it gave a little more slack.

chris00tt

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I found a few visual how-to's that were well done, but really all the same, and there is no science to this. I will try removing the tensioner pulley tomorrow and attack it from that angle.

resurrecttion

eventually, you'll slip it on there. it's hugely frustrating, though.

OldSchool AG

then you have the belt tension working against the water pump seal as you seat it. Could possibly cause a problem.

Best bet if it's just not working is to remove the tensioner roller. Then it slides on with absolutely no problem. Replace roller (easier said than done with belt in place) and check timing.

TTagz

then got it a couple of teeth on the crank pulley where everything lined up. Then slowly and very carefully while holding my breath and crossing my fingers turned the crankshaft and slipped it into place. check, check, and double check again, and you should be fine.

chris00tt

Did you do this with the engine mount in the way? I'm trying to do the tensioner pulley method, however I'm finding it difficult with the mount in the way. I put a bolt in to secure it, but it still seems to be invasive. This is super frustrating, but appreciate the suggestions guys. Hope you all are having a good day, and hopefully I will soon after I get this belt on.

chris00tt

I'm still having issues getting the damn belt on. I feel like the belt should be two teeth longer and it would fit perfect, yet still allowing the tensioner to tighten the belt good. I'm embarrassed to ask such a thing as I've never been stumped like this on a project or repair when it comes to cars. This is just so frustrating and I feel like I've tried every possible avenue, including fellow enthusiasts' suggestions. I borrowed my aunt's garage to do the work, which I had hoped to finish yesterday and would like to try to get someone to help me out if possible by tomorrow. If anyone is in the DC/MD/Northern VA area and could help me just get the belt on that would be much appreciated, and, as the subject states, I would compensate you for your time. I will continue my struggles until I can in touch with someone. My email is ctwombly@gmu.edu. Thanks again for the help guys and I wish I had better news.

TTagz

this is from my writeup when I did it, just take care and you can get it.

"Now it is time to install the new belt. If you have not done so already, mark the new timing belt to match
the marks from your old one. Count the number of teeth carefully and be mindful of the direction of
rotation. When you go to put the new belt on, you will want to start with the cam sprocket, then loop
over the tensioner pulley, the water pump sprocket, and finally down to the crank shaft sprocket. Be very
careful to get your marks exactly right. If there is any slack in the belt, it must be on the tensioner side.
My belt even though it wasn't under tension from the tensioner, would not slip over the crank sprocket. I
could get it about halfway on. So after carefully checking my marks over and over again, I gently rotated
the crank sprocket and belt until I could slip it the rest of the way on. This made me very nervous, but I
was very careful, so it worked out well. If you have to do this, be extremely careful, because you don't
want those marks to be off.
After the belt is on, and you are sure it is exactly right, pull the tensioner pin. This will put the necessary
tension on the belt. Go ahead and rotate the engine 2 full revolutions to make sure everything turns
freely. You will have some resistance as the pistons go under compression, but it should turn without too
much effort."