Timing belt 9-5 procedure FYI

[WhiteTurbo]

Timing belt replacement for those DYI’s on a 9-5 V6 Turbo

I was successful and here’s how I did it.
1. Raise car from the front middle support and place jack on passenger side so you can just barely remove the front passenger tire.
2. Remove front under carriage plastic shrouding providing access to front of engine
3. Remove passenger tire shrouding and tire, check brake pad's while your in there
4. Now you have full access to oil pan and Crank pulley
5. Place small jack and block of wood under oil pan and apply minimal pressure to oil pan in preparation for engine mount removal
6. Now to the top of the motor…..
7. Remove spark plug coils and remove plugs, mine were out of spec so check them 1.0mm. Plug removal releases compression for engine turning later on
8. All remaining work will be on the passenger side so plan to protect the paint against belt buckles as you will be up against the car for the next four hours
9. Disconnect air inlet meter, one electrical connection and relocate hoses out of the way. I used long tie straps as they come in very handy and pull as much as possible out of the way.
10. The engine mount can come out in three pieces. I started with the three vertical bolts with an air racket and proceeded slowly as you can notice the engine drop, if it does. Mine attempted to drop slowly an inch or two so I just pumped the jack holding the oil pan and compensated for this. Remove all three vertical bolts.
11. Remove the rubber doughnut ring piece #2
12. Remove the third section attached to the engine block with a 16mm wrench. The lower bolt can be accessed from beneath the car and is the shortest bolt of the four
13. Now you have a clear view of the Serpentine belt and this is next. This procedure can be very simple with the right wrench
14. I used a big torque wrench to provide load to the tensioner and released the UNI belt
15. Proceed next to remove the Water pump pulley and remaining two pulleys.
16. Now, the tensioner was probably the biggest challenge as you have to get up on the motor and reach behind to remove the two bolts. Have patience as this one caused the most frustration of the entire project.
17. Now you have access to the timing cover, whippieeeee
18. Remove cover and now your ready for the real fun..

I purchased a 150.00 dollar cam locking tool from OTC which is an online tool company. The challenge is to ensure the dual over-head cams stay in position and the crank as well. The kit comes with the necessary crank bolt for turning the engine and one hand tool for adjusting the belt guide pulleys. I also acquired instructions from the WIS manual, instructions came with the cam kit and instructions came with the RockAuto AC Delco timing belt kit. No, they were not all the same instructions. I used the AC Delco instructions that came with the belt kit..208.00 to the front door step. This kit comes with the following.
1. Belt, the belt has stamped lines for lining the cam and crank timing marks up. This was very helpful as it helped tremendously. I would have never thought the belt would have timing lines painted on it.
2. 5 seals for the cam’s and crank just incase I found a leak while this deep into the R&R. No leaks found so I didn't use them and it would have been a lot of extra work anyhow.
3. I opted for all three pulley replacement as the kit comes with the following parts. One solo guide pulley for the bottom right side and a bracket which retains both the tensioner pulley and top guide pulley. I had to swapp the two pulley's off the new bracket ans relocate to the old as the bracket was to big and not the correct part. It took 2 minutes to relocate the two pulley's.

I opted to replace the Water Pump which appeared to be in good shape. Last thing you want to do is get back into the whole project again just for a water pump replacement. Trust me, I glad I did it. Cost for pump was 85.00 at my local auto parts shop.




Belt installation

• Bring engine to TDC by rotating the engine CLOCKWISE and noting cam marks as well as crank mark, which point’s straight down for TDC. Each cam sprocket has two marks. One is for the intake and one for the exhaust. Plan to use the one to the right as this is the INTAKE mark
• Apply locking components per directions
• The tensioner pulley must be loosened first to release pressure but I opted to remove the bolt which made it easier to remove as the belt was still taught after loosening the nut. I had new parts anyway.
• Remove belt and replace pulley backplane with new and then the solo lower right guide pulley. Leave all bolt heads semi-loose. These pulley adjustments are just as important as the timing mark setup. This is what locks everything inplace
• Ensure the engine and cam’s are still at TDC
• Install the new belt starting on the cams on the firewall side, the left side and align the belt marks on the cam timing marks which reference too the timing cover marks. All three lined up. My belt had a set of green and white marks on the left cam side only and I used the green lines for the left and there are only white lines for the right side cam sprockets. Don't ask me why they had both but the green fit the application with the right side white.
• Loop the belt around ensuring the belt fits in snug and keep the belt taught as you work over, under and and then back up to the top position right guide wheel and then up and around the right side front sprocket’s ensuring the lines match with the timing marks once again. IMPORTANT, leave slack in the guide pulley if need be but ensure belt lines match timing marks. If the belt is loose around the top guide pulley, this will be compensated for when the guide pulley is adjusted. This can throw you off but don’t be alarmed unless there is a ridiculous amount of slack.
• Bring the belt around on both sides and wrap belt around both the right lower pulley guide and left pulley tensioner. The tensioner will be the final adjustment to the belt.
• The AC Delco belt has double lines for the crank timing mark and these two lines must align with timing mark. The lines are a 16th of an inch apart.

OK, we now have the belt lines aligned with the left side sprocket's and were looped around the top pulley and the belt lines are aligned with the right sprocket timing marks. The belt fits down and around the lower right guide pulley and then down under the crank. You must ensure the two belt timing lines are directly aligned with the timing mark on the crank. The belt then comes back up and around the tensioner pulley, which you will notice has a spring tension and then back up to the top left side cam sprockets. Basically the belt is on and the top guide pulley and lower guide pulley must now ensure a tight fit so pressure is applied to the belts. This is what keeps the belt tight and timing in sync. Not to tight and not too loose. That's the trick. The last adjustment is the tensioner pully which is responsible for applying pressure but at the same time, has a built in spring for taking the crank backlash and addresses belt vibration and flapping. Pretty cool when you think about it.

The idea here is setting the timing marks is critical. That’s obvious


Applying and ensuring the belt lines are on the cam and crank timing marks is critical. That’s obvious

Adjusting the two guides, top pulley between the cam sprockets and bottom right. the tensioner pulley is what applies the pressure to keep the belt in place and allows for spring loaded movement.

After I installed the belt and rotated the engine a couple revolutions, my alignment marks shifted and I was scratching my head for an hour. I then realized that if I applied additional pressure from the right pulley and released from the left tensioner pulley I was rotating the crank back to the desired position. Hmmm I said to myself, that’s the trick to installing these belts and thus creates the greatest fear factor. I ran the engine around a couple times with an adjustable torque wrench attached to the crank bolt and after three revolutions, all timing marks were dead on repeatedly.

Return timing cover and re-install previously removed parts.

This write up is only an aid for those who are interested and have automotive experience and plan to tackle this task themselves. I found there to be very little information in regard to directions. If you follow the provided directions and understand what's really happening with the belt and assembly it is really a pretty straight forward procedure. Now that I have put 50 miles on the vehicle after the belt replacement, It's really not rocket science just a process of familiarity. The cam locking kit is not even required if you don't move the timing marks.

From a high level repair perspective. Here's how I would proceed next time.
1. Access timing belt
2. Set timing marks
3. Remove belt by loosening tensioner/top guid and bottom right guide
4. Install new belt ensuring belt painted lines are on the sprocket and timing cover notches
5. Adjust top guide pulley pressure to belt and tighten, not to tight
6. Adjust bottom right guide pulley pressure to belt and tighten, not to tight
7. Adjust tensioner pulley per specification, there are small lines on the tensioner pulley which must align as this is the mid spring load position. Allows movement in both direction.
8. Rotate engine by using the crank bolt and rotating and ensure after three revolutions all timing marks are aligned each time around.

That would be the short version and would actually work. Now if I only knew a bunch of people with 9-5 timing belt replacement requirements, I could make a bunch of money. Hense the reason why most SAAB machanics leave the dealerships and open their own business. Lot's of money to be made with these car's.


Tools:
Cam locking kit
Torque wrench-3/8th
Half inch and 3/8th ratchet
15 and 16 mm sockets
16mm open end wrench
Set of both T and E Torx/star tip sockets






Chris from CT
WhiteTurbo

[MKB707]

Nice write up I don't need a belt change for about 30k miles but this will be helpful when the time comes.

[raquettelaker2]

Cool! I'm glad it worked out. I would never have the confidence to mess with the timing belt by myself, haha. Nice job!

[Teckniec1999 9-5V6]

Wow I don't anyone else who has done this. I'm still gonna get mine done at the dealership I don't trust myself with something this important but I feel that if I had too I could do it. Nice guide

[ryanweather]

Thanks for the write up. Us v6's have to stick together. I'm posting a write up for everything I do from now on. Kudos!

[Jssaab]

Mods stickie please!

[lajilana]

Chris,
The timing belt DIY is wonderful write up. I am changing the belt right now and need some clarifications on the timing marks on the four camshaft sprockets. Each sprocket has two marks-one on the tooth and the other on the rim below the tooth. One of these two marks are suppose to line up with the notch on the cover once the sprocket is located in the locating pin as described in the WIS. The question is- are the marks on the tooth of the sprocket OR those on the rim (sprocket tooth are located around this rim) suppose to line up with those on the cover? I am assuming the leading marks (in the direction of engine rotation-clockwise) are the intake and those following ones are for the exhaust.
Please clarify this confusion if you can or if someone else knows, please do respond.
Thanks
Laji

[pat63]

great post very informative! no need to waste a lot of time for finding solution on how to change timing belt.
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high quality timing belt kit

[tam85]

i am currently trying to replace the timing belt. i am wondering what is the recommended mileage interval for changing the timing belt?
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timing belt kit

[Oh4Sh0]

Originally Posted by tam85

i am currently trying to replace the timing belt. i am wondering what is the recommended mileage interval for changing the timing belt?
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timing belt kit

60k. If you replace the timing belt, do yourself a favor and replace the pulleys. One of the pulleys freezing up is seemingly more common than the belt itself failing.

[Tim01]

Out of curiosity, what's the average price to have a shop do the timing belt swap?