When changing a snapped timing belt in this engine, does the harmonic balancer have to come off? Also, what did Chrysler use as gasket material? And, lastly, are there any "tricks" one should know of to make the job easier and more accurate?
Thanks
The job can be done without removing the balancer.
Gasket material where?
Replace the water pump. If not previously done, there is an upgrade on the water pump and T-belt, larger water pump pulley and longer timing belt to increase water pump life. Replace the tensioner pulley. There are three O-rings between the block and the rear half of the right side timing belt cover, it's advised to replace these. Your friendly ChryCo dealership probably has comparable or better prices on the parts compared to a parts store.
If the belt snapped while driving you will need to make sure the cam shafts and crank are aligned with TDC before installing the new belt. The crank is easy enough but the camshafts have some leaway between the timing marks. The Cam sprocket marks on mine dont line up in the center. There is a "Miller Tool" for holding the cam in the correct position. After removing covers, it bolts on to the back of each camshaft and holds them in the correct postion while you get the crank lined up. Then you can put on the belt knowing everything is correctly aligned.
Since the 3.5 is not an interference engine, you don't have a point.
You may have already figured this out, but there's a very small separate piece of the front cover down below the crank, and so when you remove that, the cover will all come off. You can snake the belt onto the crank without taking off the balancer, as AARcuda said. It's tight but it'll go.
1) the harmonic balancer does not have to come off, but you DO have to remove the small piece of timing belt cover below the crankshaft. Its held by 3 bolts and you can access them through the spokes of the harmonic balancer. 2) Gasket material? I assume you mean for the water pump, since replacing a water pump should be part of a timing belt job (you're in there anyway). Its an O-ring, but I always use a little bit of silicone or Permatex "The Right Stuff" in addition. 3) Follow the factory service manual procedure, and its a cake walk. The hardest part is re-compressing the tensioner and "arming" it with a small allen wrench to hold it compressed until you're ready to pull the pin and let it take up the slack in the belt.
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