Ranger 2.3 '94. I have the water pump out on my wifes ranger. Good time to hit the timing belt, idler, and tensioner. I have the front of the timing belt cover loose (one phillips head on front, and snaps undone along the edges). It seems if I yank it out I will break it at this point. There is a tab lodged into the inside of the crank pully at the bottom, and the power steering pump mount is in the way. Just wondering what the bare minimum would be as far as what else to loosen or take off. It seems like it should just slip out, but it catches and I am not certain what it is catching on. Or do I just need a bigger hammer?

 

I recently replaced the timing belt in a '96 2.3. I had to remove the bracket that holds the AC compressor and the power stearing pump. I removed the four bolts that hold the AC compressor and suspended it out of the way by hanging it on a peice of roap tied to the hood. On my '96 the power stearing pump can't be removed without removing the power stearing pump pully. So, I just left it on the bracket. There are five bolts that hold the bracket onto the engine. Remove those bolts and slide the bracket out of the way. After all of the above, the timing belt cover came right off. The most aggravating part of the job was getting the harmonic damper pulled. After the harmonic damper was pulled, the rest of the job was easy. I hope this helps and if anyone else out there knows how to do the job easier, please let us know.

 

You know, I have never changed a timing chain or belt. But I have a knack for moving parts. I had figured the balancer would have to come off, but honestly it slipped my mind! I am safe on valve clearance if my sources are correct in case of belt failure, and I have a part on order that will be here next week. I had so much fun pulling the pump, that I truly don't mind yanking it again just to get at the timing belt. I need to do a bit of research on proceedure for the new timing belt installation. Any caveats, besides being a bugger to pull, to removing/replacing a balancer? The process involving the removal/loosening of the A/C mounting bracket is pretty close to what I have and that helped a lot. Also replacing an idler pully (called powersteering idler in the book). Probably old news to this forum, but if you have those OEM plastic pulleys on your tensioner and idler for your main serpentine belt, they are bad about splitting a belt down the center. If your belt has a stripe in the center of the the flat side, make sure you check the belt surface of the pulley for wear. If you see a square pattern along the inside edges change it pronto. Plastic pulleys on a 200+hp engine(yep my 94 xlt f150). I'll post back with progress.

 

i said the hell with it and borrowed a timming book

 

I changed everything but the timing belt. If it goes, I am safe on valve clearance so I'll replace it then. BTW the replacement pulleys that ford sold me (called power steering idler) and the others were metal instead of plastic. Should have been recalled IMHO.