1995 Dodge Neon ECB Timing Belt And Water Pump Replacement

[@satguy27]

As for the tensioner pin to hold it in place, i used an L shaped Alan wrench of the correct size and it worked wonders. To remove it, attach needle nose vise grips and swift pull and it's set without losing any skin in process. As for if you have the DOHC setup as I do, make sure once you get the cam gears in line to use a cam gear locker, makes the process much easier without worrying about the timing moving on you from the cam gears.

[@deedaartyst]

Oh woooow, what's that? A lock 4 cams... can I rent at autozone? That's exactly what I need/want so I don't have 2 bother wit cam time messing up.

[@sreaper157]

Such a help thanks! Had to do the c clamp on the tensioner thing to so annoying to do with it not compressed

[@sketchyatbest9391]

Dodge neon never came with the 420A, They have the A588. When it boils down to it its almost the same engine.. Great video!

[@countryygirl02]

would you be better of marking cam and crank position before removing old belt and putting new belt on with marks in the same place ?

[@hellcat1988]

Cranking the engine around to line the marks up before you remove the belt is the better option. Unless you remove the rocker arm carrier assembly, the valve springs will be pushing up against the rocker arms, which will in turn push against the cam and try to rotate it. Having the marks lined up before removing the belt will allow you to get it back into position if/when it jumps after the belt is removed.

[@countryygirl02]

thanks for the reply and video. I'll be working on her this weekend.

[@hellcat1988]

No problem. Just be sure to watch out for bolts that don't want to play nice. If you don't have a spare engine on hand it can be a real pain to loose or break some.

[@deedaartyst]

Heyyy,good point I'm doing this job and wonder did u get a reply yet 2 your question? Cuz I thought of that same thing, it sounds much simpler/easier to jus make your own marks of where everything izzzzz B4 loosening than do whatever than just put new belt,water pump etc. Back on with what the car/timing was on B4 u disassembled. But I cud b wrong.

[@deedaartyst]

If I just change timing belt and wpump, do I have to re-time or can I just keep everything verrrry still such as sprockets and crankshaft somehow, or jus follow timing marks and ill b okay.??? in a 99 dohc neon

[@hellcat1988]

You will want to buy a dohc cam shaft locking tool (google it) if you're going to do the timing belt if you've never done one before. I'd also suggest having a friend around who's done one before to help. As far as having to re-time it, YES you have to make sure you keep the timing marks aligned so they don't move much when you release the tensioner or you'll destroy your engine.

[@deedaartyst]

@@hellcat1988 riiiite, okay, thank you I'm looking for more videos on re-timing it found some on expertvillage, but I'm gonna try when it gets warmer here in mich. Maybe my nephew will help. Just trying to do all my research cuz I haven't tried on a dohc b4 dealing with the timing. Appreciate u responding☺

[@King-qv1pd]

Yes in order to change out the timing belt you have to re time the entire engine and make sure you line up the 2 cams with a ruler using the cam bolts aka the center of the bolts as a guide. What I mean is find the cam bolts and the timing marks on the cam gears. Next, use the ruler to line up the center of each bolt as the start and end of each line. Both bolts need to line up with each other. That will be your center line to keep both cams in timing if the marks are one tooth within or almost exactly on that line via with the ruler your cams are good. Keep in mind as you bring both cams closer to alignment they will want to move different directions by themselves naturally. I used 2 ratchets to help hold them in place by hand after I had the crankshaft 1/2 a tooth from the mark or TDC(Top dead center) in timing as the instructions say to setup the timing belt. Basically follow the directions for a brand new belt you can purchase from Oreilly's auto parts the brand "Gates" is a very good quality belt and is what I have used. Don't get the racing belt just the normal one. Make sure you take notes or draw a diagram of how everything and I mean everything comes apart. For example, draw a picture of how each of the belts come off and what presses up against what etc. Trust me it is easier to do all of that than too forget how it all goes back together and not know how to put it back together.

[@hellcat1988]

@@King-qv1pd Rather than draw, it'd probably be easier to make a video or take a LOT of pictures with a cell phone of what you take off in order, so you know what goes back on and when during reassembly.

[@Turshin]

I've had two hydraulic tensioners go out on me. a brand new one from Advanced Auto Parts on my girl's 95 SOHC and a factory one on my 98 RT. of course the fucker failed on me when it's 13 degrees outside. I go outside to warm the car up and hear.... "the flapping", the timing belt slapping against the timing belt cover. nice video non the less

[@hellcat1988]

Well I just had the timing belt tensioner fail on this one at the beginning of December after I just replaced it this spring. Of course it would do it in the cold to me as well. Imagine how miffed I am since I just put that motor in. Thankfully it happened in my drive way the day after I came back from buying another car. I had to use my truck to go up and get the other car and the dam heater blower in the truck quit working on me before I could get home. I managed to get it home as well as the new (to me) car and am driving that, but it's been one thing after another with that bastard as well. On the way home from work tonight, the battery light came on on the car I got but it's showing good voltage from the alternator. After I shut the car off and started it again, the light was off... I have to catch it when the light comes on to figure out if it's the battery or the alternator and hope I don't get stuck. I don't know what automotive deity I've pissed off but if I have to grab my ankles and beg for forgiveness, I will dammit!

[@Turshin]

hellcat1988 lmfao at that last part. I got the tensioner fixed on the 95 single cam earlier this year and it's been holding up pretty well( knock on wood). The tensioner on the 98 RT went last night put not completely. The belt stops slapping at 1500rpm. So while driving home I was at every light sounding like the fast and furious. I was thinking about driving my grand cherokee but then I remembered the heat only works on the driver side lol (good Ole blend door failure). If the vehicle with the battery light on is a chrysler it may be the voltage regulator....which is in the computer....which means you have to replace the computer or rig up an external voltage regulator. Had to replace that on the 95 as well. The car itself ran fine but all the gauges were reading crazy as hell. I but the box on it at advanced auto parts and it showed the alternator was pushing 18 volts! Then I smelled rotten eggs aka fried battery. An easy fix and a cheap part though.

[@hellcat1988]

I've never had a voltage reg go out on a Chrysler, but this will make 3 for 3 of my current vehicles needing an alternator. As far as the neon tensioner, I didn't know it had failed at first. I tried to start it but it wouldn't fire for a while. Then, one day when I tried to start it again, there was no compression. I know I haven't broken anything and there's no reason the rings would have failed without the engine running so I'm pretty sure it's the timing belt. I plan on getting another engine since they are so cheap and going through it, replacing all the seals I know will end up leaking before I drop it in. Might even get a header for it.

[@Turshin]

hellcat1988​ you should do a 2.4 dohc swap. If you do grab an intake cam from a 2.0. They breath better. Check out modern performance and get their 2.0 to 2.4 swap motor mount. I just bought a spring tensioner from them. Hope it works out a lot better than the hydraulic one.

[@hellcat1988]

If I'm gonna do anything besides the stock motor, I'm gonna convert the car to an ev. I'd rather have the better performance and reliability that would give me.

[@King-qv1pd]

How do you get the crankshaft to not remove when your trying to remove it?

[@hellcat1988]

Steve The Man:. Are you asking how to keep the crankshaft from turning while you remove the harmonic balancer bolt? If that's what you want to know, there are a few ways you can do it. You can use an electric or pneumatic impact to take it off, jam a pry bar or wrench into the spokes of the balancer and brace it on something as you torque the bolt loose, or even remove the inspection cover for the flywheel and use a pry bar to jam the teeth of the ring gear. I'd recommend using an impact myself (to take it off. Never use one to put it on) but even leaving the alternator belt on and tight, then using a wrench or socket on the alternator pulley nut to keep the engine from turning while you turn the crankshaft bolt can work. Whatever you have the tools and access for and works best for you. As a last ditch, meaning you shouldn't, you can put a socket on the but with a breaker bar braced against the ground and bump the ignition to break the bolt loose if the starter turns the engine the correct direction to loosen the bolt. Again, you shouldn't do this unless you have a lot of experience and some dam good health insurance.

[@King-qv1pd]

Thanks man, I just got off the bolt but now I'm trying to take off the harmonic balance. I have the puller on I just need to go the extra mile to get what I need off. I have 1 day to take off everything and give the tool back by this Wednesday to the auto parts store in the morning right after work. I have a impact but I don't know if I have the right sockets for it. I forgot how to remove somethings on the car and that killed the entire day even with my buddy and I working together.

[@hellcat1988]

With most of the pullers you can get at the auto parts stores, the push rods that go down the center of the bolt hole and allow the puller to remove the balancer are slightly too short. You need to find a small bolt with a nice flat head and a small enough shank to fit into the puller's center bolt to give you slightly more length to get the balancer off the last few millimeters once you've pulled it as far as you can with just the rods. Once the balancer is out of the way, you need to remember that the tensioner is hydrolic and needs to be SLOWLY compressed in a vice or some other way so as not to damage it. Once you have it compressed, there are holes in the sides of the housing you can stick a drill bit through to keep the tensioner compressed. Be careful with this because the tensioner is very strong and can break a weak drill bit. Make sure that you line up the timing marks before you put the belt back on and push on the tensioner pulley to make sure that the belt won't cause either the cam or crank pulleys to turn when it applies tension. Replacing the timing belt is the perfect time to do the water pump and timing idler pulley. Just be careful you don't snap off the idler pulley bolt like I did.

[@King-qv1pd]

When you need to remove the cam gears how do you keep either cam from moving when you reinstall the bolts? I have the Dohc engine 2.0 I bought the pulley replacement with the bearing not a new bracket assembly could that be a problem?

[@hellcat1988]

If you actually watch my video, I don't take the cam gears off. You think the crankshaft pulley was hard, wait until you try this. There is a special tool you can buy from a parts store spesificly for keeping dohc cams in alignment, but if you're taking the cam gears off you're just going to have to try to make sure you know where the cam is positioned before removing the pulleys. I'd recommend breaking the bolts loose with the impact before you take the timing belt off. You may be able to get away with jamming one of the pulleys as you break the bolt on the other loose, but you may still have to deal with them trying to turn either during removal or re-installation. I'd suggest looking up a video on the dohc engine rather than trying to use the tutorial for a sohc.

[@jonathanpierce5850]

Hey hellcat 1988 I got a 95 neon just like the one u setting the timing I can’t get my timing set could u help me

[@hellcat1988]

Jonathan Pierce : not sure what I can tell you that I didn't show in the video or discuss with other people in the comments but I'll give it a shot. What are you having trouble with?

[@jonathanpierce5850]

Got my marks lined up but when I turn it twice to see if they lined up but the 2 time it lined up but the first time it didn’t

[@jonathanpierce5850]

hellcat1988 it ain’t lining up

[@hellcat1988]

Jonathan Pierce : the more "test" rotations you do without changing anything, the better your picture of the situation will be. If you can spin it over 5-7 times and you get the marks to line up, you should be good, and if you still have an issue it's from something else. If your marks change though, you probably have a problem with your tensioner.

[@jonathanpierce5850]

hellcat1988 put a new tensioner on it

[@tapia79r4p]

way too much talking