How do I know when to replace the timing belt? Its got 139k miles on it, and im not sure if its been replaced before. I pulled the cover off a little and was able to look at the top area of the belt. From the side of the belt as it goes around the top sprocket, it has little hair line cracks in it. Other than that it looks ok i guess. Also, I was able to slide it back and forth in the grooves of the sprocket a little bit. The belt isn't tight, but its not loose either.

 

as soon as you have the ability i would change it. The belt sounds like it is not too bad, but when you have a little cracking, thats what starts with the belt breaking apart. I would get a belt and tensioner done. i think the water pump is back there on that engine too, i would have that done with everything else. 139k is a pretty good amount for a timing belt. i think most manufacturers suggest 90k-100k as the latest for a belt change. However if the 2.5l is non interference. let it break throw a newie on and go.

i dont know that engine like the back of my hand, but that has been my experience, if anyone else could chime in please do. I heir on the side of safety, even if the timing belt job is 500-600 bucks, better to drop that cash then a couple grand for a motor if the valves bend. I hope i was of assistance and good luck with the change.

 

Ok thanks.....i might change it next weekend....shouldn't take long, cause you can practically get to it without taking anything off, although some stuff will have to come off. It shouldnt be near as bad as my last truck (a v8).....to change it, you had to take the fan & shroud, alternator, steering pump, A/c compressor, water pump, pulley and balancer on the crank, then take the timing cover off, and then you can finally change the timing chain. What was worse was putting it all back on. Whats even worse was that I did it 2 times......within 500 miles. For different reasons though.

 

ouch man good luck with it, hope all goes well. its good insurance. especially with a truck that looks as nice as yours

 

yeah it is very easy to change, make sure you change the idler(tensioner) while your in there.

mine had about ~120k on it and it was just about to snap when i changed it.

i think it was a total of about $65 with all ford parts.

 

I can get the stuff from autozone though...right?

 

should be able to..

 

well, I went over to advanced auto tonight......autozone apparently closed at 8pm, instead of 9pm like they normally do. Anyways, they only had the belt, and would have to order the tensioner. So im wondering if its even worth doing it, not knowing if the tensioner is good or not. What do you have to take off inorder to get to the belt to change it?

 

yeah forgot about that..

 

But you don't have to disconect the pump though right? I guess I can just unbolt it and move it out of the way right? thats what I did with my other truck when I changed the timing chain. How long did it take to replace the belt?

 

really? cause when I loosened up the cover to take a look at the belt, the a/c compressor wasn't in the way at all, the best I remember.....I didn't even notice the a/c compressor sitting there while taking the cover off. lol

 

oh, ok i'll have to check that out.

 

I think im going to wait until I get a tensioner and water pump, cause the water pump feels like its just a little loose.

 

But i guess I'd be better off to replace to tensioner when I do the belt right? and I dont have one right now.

 

Is the 2.3 an interference engine? This '84 Ranger is on its third motor which runs well but don't know its history. Will a broken belt bend the valves? And where does one find the serial number so I can ID the engine?

Thanks,

Gordon

 

You'll have to remove the 4 13mm bolts holding the A/C compressor onto the Power Steering pump bracket and idler assembly.

This will allow access to the three 13mm bolts holding the bracket to the head.

Move the Power Steering pump and bracket back towards the firewall slightly to gain better access to the timing cover.

Remove the one or two 8mm bolts holding the timing cover on, and release the clips along the perimeter.

If you unbolt the tensioner, you're going to have a hell of a time getting it re-tensioned and bolted back on. I'd highly recommend leaving it alone unless you're sure it needs replacing. You can instead release tension with a pry bar between the water pump and the tensioner pulley, then slide the belt off the camshaft gear to remove it.

I'll be doing this later today, so I'll snap a few pictures for you.

 

gordonb1, the 2.3 is not an interference motor.

Your tensioner should not need replaced, the spring on them is a mother of a heavy duty spring. Im using the tensioner on my 2.3Turbo motor that came from the ranger when I did the swap. At the time of the swap I had 208,000 miles on it, the spring still had enough tension in it that I needed a pry bar to get it into position. The only thing I would do would be to spin the pulley on it to make sure the internal bearings are still fine (and they will be).

 

thats not 100% true.
mine had about 115k on it and it had play in it, it would wiggle side to side but the bearing still spun fine.
i have a 2.3L and im not sure if the 2.5 uses the same part.

i would just replace it for the hell of it, something you don't have to worry about later down the road.

Edit: off topic, but i was looking for pics/videos of your truck earlier.
i would love to see some.

 

You're right, I was thinking more along the lines of the spring getting weak, I always lubed the bearing (as best I could) on the back side of the tensioner when I took stuff apart, just cheap insurance.

You looking for pics/vids of my turbo truck? I'll really have to dig to find some vids, if they are still around.

 

The tensioner pulley contains a sealed bearing, which means you can't lubricate it no matter how hard you try. If it fails, it simply must be replaced as a whole unit.

 

Heh, guess I never pay'd attention to whether it really helped or not