Fiesta TDC locking pin question

One assumes that they may also have a set of the alignment tools.

I have the alignment tools, although this amounts to no more than a 5mm pin to locate TDC, and a steel bar that fits through two slots at the rear of the crankshaft and needs to be level with the rocker box mating surface.

Just in case you are yet to try this let me me tell you - don't do it! The locking pin anchors the crank via an extrusion in such a way (angle) that a ll the subsequent force is compression (and resisted by the threads). To us e it anchor the crank would apply the force laterally and almost certainly end up bending/snapping it. I read a lengthy thread on a Ford forum about t he consequences of this and with the bottom of the engine removed it became evident why/how it had happened.

My first ever timing belt swap was a Fiesta (1.25) and it's perfectly doabl e. Just take your time. My only issue was the force required to remove the crank bolt - I ended up having to cut into it to help ease the tension befo re then whacking it off with an impact wrench. It felt like a nightmare at the time but if it happened again now I'd be as relaxed about it as anythin g.

Mathew

Sorry, should've proofread my post - meant to say:

'To use it *to anchor the crank to undo the pulley* would apply the force laterally and almost certainly end up bending/snapping it.'

Well, I got around to doing it on Saturday. I got a flywheel locking tool, which made the whole thing much easier. By leaving it at TDC, and leaving the camshaft locking bar in place while gently nipping up the crank bolt (removing it for the real tightening up), I was able to get away with not undoing the camshaft bolts at all. I checked that everything's lined up after tightening the crank, and it's all good.

But it took all afternoon to do. Just getting the starter motor off (for the locking tool) is a pain (although not as bad as when I did my sister's Meriva). And having to remove the right-hand engine mount (engine resting on some old speakers) to remove it just seems perverse. I wasn't even sure I'd get the crank bolt off. If the flats in the socket had stripped instead, I would not have been surprised.

Only thing I'm worried about is that there was no way I could get the 90 degree angle tightness on it. It seems completely solid at about 60 degrees. No amount of pushing seems able to shift it, and everything's just bending unpleasantly instead of turning. I'll revist it soon, though, and your information about the locking pin helps.

First one I did was a Capri, which was a walk in the park compared to this.

I have done one (zetec) without undoing the cam bolts, but it is better to do it properly. I don't actually know how you can get the right tightness on the crank bolt UNLESS you have the car in the air (on a lift) and use a breaker bar with a scaffold tube. I would not attempt it using a standard socket either, you need either 3/4 drive or impact

1/2. As for 2 litre capri, they seemed complex when they first came out, and I often had to redo the job when someone else had failed, usually because they had not timed the distributor as well !! Now they would seem so easy, although I have not changed a Pinto belt for well over ten years now, I could do it in the dark with minimal tools (about 4) and a torch !

I didn't want to disturb the camshafts because Haynes says they're made out of plastic, and show this horrible tool stuck into holes to hold it still. Although, there's a hexagonal section on the shaft itself that looks like it might help, assuming that the wheel doesn't turn as you tighten the bolt. But the camshaft timing bar still slides in place easily enough, so I'm happy with it as it is.

Even though it was on ramps, having only six flats on the socket (I didn't try sacrificing a 12 pointer on it) doesn't help, when trying to find space to turn. I ended up doing it through the wheel arch with said scaffolding tube (the most useful thing I've ever dug up in the garden) and a long extension supported on an axle stand. The whole thing was bending badly, and bouncing back, so I just stopped. But yes, I'll try again with a 3/4" set. From what Matthew Newton says, I think I'll be safe using the thick black locking pin when tightening, rather than fight with the starter motor again.

The one on my missus's Pinto Capri went while we were on our way to my mum and dad's house. Just made a sort of raspberry noise. We got the AA man to take us to mum and dad's, rather than back home, and I did it in the road outside. We had a spare belt in the boot, since I'd planned to do it soon. It seemed like all you needed was a 1/2" AF spanner.

nearly: 10mm for the cover, spline tool or 13 mm depending on year for the tensioner and distributor, 19mm for the crank pulley 17mm ? for the cam are all I can remember needing, plus a strobe for retiming it properly afterwards.

[...]

But you would have done the Capri one three times before the Fiesta one was due to be changed, so over the vehicle lifetime the costs would be similar.

Chris

Those were the days. We got a twin-choke Weber from a local scrap yard for about £25, which made a nice noise. I've no idea if it actually made it any faster. It certainly used to throw petrol in when you put your foot down. The car got stolen, and it was found in Speke, having caught fire. The brass petrol pipe had come out of the top of the float bowl, and presumably pumped petrol everywhere. I can only assume it had been thrashed so much, the petrol pump pressure pushed it out.

Anyway, I'm going to get an impact driver for the crankshaft, and see if I can get it tighter. I found a mains-powered one with good reviews from people who have used it specifically on crank pulleys. I'm not sure how I've managed so long without one.

:-) I think I'd rather do the Capri thrice, than the Fiesta once. At least there was no doubt that I'd actually manage it. With the Fiesta there were really moments when I thought I'd not be able to do it. When it finally falls apart, I'll definitely be looking for something with a bit more room to work. But not so big that it's a pig to park. Or drive down those tiny roads in the Lake District.

it won't do it, you will need far more torque than you can get from an affordable impact wrench.

Oh. I thought that if one could get a crankshaft bolt off, then it would be able to tighten it, too. What sort of torque do you reckon 40Nm +

90deg would be?

there is no direct equivalent for obvious reasons, but since you need a scaffold pole and considerable effort, I would hazard a guess at somewhere in the mid 1500 lb ft area or 1100 nm. Even a high powered air wrench is only around 600 lbft and cannot undo crank bolts or wheel nuts in all cases.

I didn't dare use considerable effort with the scaffold pole, since everything was bending with just a little effort :-) It's not that I couldn't push any harder, just that things were looking a bit too bendy for my liking. I'm going to have to give it some more thought - I find that running these things over in the mind helps a lot. It may simply be that investing in some 3/4" drive stuff is the best way to go.

By moving the torque point away from the bolt (by using an extension bar) you are introducing a massive twisting possibility. You need the twisting point (the end of the breaker bar) as close as possible to the bolt in question, even using a longer socket can introduce problems. Certainly things would be improved with 3/4, but it would still be better to get as close as possible.

Luckily, I was able to get it close in when undoing it, but with only having 6 points in the socket to play with, I couldn't find a good position when tightening. Only later did it occur to me that I could have used the flywheel locking tool to rotate it into a better position. But having to fiddle about getting the starter off means that's a weekend job.

That needs a lot of clearance under the car. Which makes it a professional job as few DIYers have a lift.

With that torque you could feasibly have it off a 2 post lift.

FWD 60/40 bias, 2.5m wheelbase. The CofG is 1m behind the front axle. If the front lift arm pads are 1/2 way between front axle and the CofG (0.5m behind axle) then 1100Nm will lift a car weighing 2200Kg off the rear pads.

Next time you have that problem with a six sided socket just rotate it

90 degrees on the ratchet handle, that gives you the spacing you would have on a 12 sided socket.