I'm about to do a pretty substantial service on my 93 Ranger. Among one of those services is a timing belt and all front seals. It's got 240,000 miles on the original engine and runs good. But I knew its been forever since the timing belt has been changed and we use the truck a lot for work. I've done the timing belt on my 98 2.5L once and it wasn't too bad. I think I remember the hardest part was getting the cover off because I missed a bolt at the bottom. On this 93 I'm wanting to replace the cam seal, crank seal, and auxillary shaft seal because of the number of miles on it. I've got the Ford repair cd and it appears to be pretty complicated getting at the seals to get them out. Are they easy to get out and back in without too many fancy tools? I thought someone told me a long time ago that if the timing belt hasn't broken you can just pull it off and put a new one on without having to turn the #1 piston to TDC on compression. Is that true? If the seals are too hard to get off I may just do the belt unless one is actually leaking.

 

I would think the information on the timing belt you recieved is incorrect. Always put number 1 cylinder on compression stroke. This is designed to bring the alignment marks into the correct position. This should keep the cam from turning the second you take the belt off. Also rotate the engine by hand 2 revolutions before you put everything back together. This will ensure there is no interference and then recheck the timing marks.