Re: 88 90q TB job

[Richard Beels <beels@technologist.com>]

The following is for the 5-cyl.  4-cyl is uglier....

At 02:16 PM 9/24/1998 ,  Andrei Kogan was inspired to say:
>  I was looking at the engine bay last night trying to picture what I would
>  be doing. It looks so damn tight at the front ! Could a lucky owner of a 90
>  Bentley tell me how they recommend going about getting to the belt. I
>  understand that the lower grille needs to be removed. What about the metal
>  (painted) piece (the one in which the holes for the hood locks are located)
>  that seems to overhang the area in front of the valve cover? It seems to be
>  in the way. 

Well, Mr.B is vague on this.  :-(   You need to remove the PS and
Alternator belts.  Then set TDC.  It jumps right from setting to TDC to
loosening the coolant pump mounting bolts.  Then you remove old belt,
install new belt, rotate water pump anti-clockwise to tighten and tighten
the water pump bolts.  Proper tension is when you can twist it 90degrees
with thumb and index finger halfway between camshaft sprocket and water
pump.  Then you button it back up and re-install the V-belts.

>  This is going to be my second TB job. When I was working on our 4k, I was
>  VERY paranoid (for no reason) about the possibility of accidentally
>  cranking the camshaft with the belt removed. Now that I have a 10.0
>  comression engine instead of an 8.0, I am at least as nervous :-). Can
>  someone tell me for certain --- is the 5cyl 10.0 engine an interference
type? 

Don't know.

>  3. What is the "error margin" for aligning the cam pulley with the TDC mark
>  on the flywheel (is it on the flywheel?) 

Cam pulley TDC: the cam sprocket has a mark that aligns with the upper edge
of the cylinder head cover gasket.  The picture shows this as if you were
standing near the coolant reservoir, looking forwards.  It shows the mark
as even with the gasket, at the point where the nut is.
Crank TDC: If the engine is in the car, TDC is to align the TDC mark ( o )
with cast mark on bell housing ( ---o ).  If the engine's out of the car,
you align the notch on the crank pulley with the reference mark on the oil
pump housing.

>  4. Someone suggested replacing the water pump and the idler when the TB is
>  done. Can someone confirm if this engine has an idler pulley? It appeared
>  to me that the TB only runs on two sprockets (camshaft and crankshaft) and
>  the water pump. Am I wrong?

Yes, there is a pulley.  The parts blow-up (13.17) doesn't show it or list
a part number/name but it is shown on other pages, e.g. 13.19.  The picture
of the belt/pulley assy. on 13.17 implies a tensioner pulley by the shape
of the belt.  The bulb in my fiche reader exploded so I can't look up the
number but it should be a common part.

>  5. Are there any particularly "good" or "bad" brands for the belt?

No idea.  I've used Gates belts in all my other cars.  Seem to work fine.
None of the belts in my q are Gates though.  They're all different German
names that I can't remember (Vbelts).  Can't read the timing belt.
	

Cheers,
	Richard
	88 90Q - <insert pithy witticism here>
	88 Golf GTi - PRO Rally