Timing belt questions-tips, tricks, what else to do - Contour.org

I found a '98 Contour for cheap the catch is it need a timing belt. I'm totally unfamiliar with these cars, just trying to find something cheap I can fix up for my sister who needs a car. How bad a job is it? I've done them on '93-7 Probe GTs which are lacking in space to work. Are these cars the same? What else should I replace while doing the belt other than the water pump? The car has 84,XXX miles. Are there any special tools I need? I thought I saw something about a tool for the cams in the writeup I found on here. Is that neccessary? If so where would I get it and whats the approximate cost? Any other tips or tricks or words of wisdom? Also is the stock valve cover white? From the pics I have of this car it looks white. As far as I know the car is totally stock. Well I never got this car but my sister wound up getting a '97 Contour, 4cyl, auto trans. Its been a good car so far but the waterpump is starting to leak. I dont know off the top of my head if that is a Zetec or if there was another 4cyl engine option. Any tips or tricks? What else should be replaced other than the timing belt? Any place have an especiall good price on parts?

Well I never got this car but my sister wound up getting a '97 Contour, 4cyl, auto trans. Its been a good car so far but the waterpump is starting to leak. I dont know off the top of my head if that is a Zetec or if there was another 4cyl engine option. Any tips or tricks? What else should be replaced other than the timing belt? Any place have an especiall good price on parts?

I picked up a Cardone (I think) water pump at Advance Auto Parts. It was $50 and included the gasket. However, I doubt that your WP has failed. Mine didn't, the gasket just busted. It wouldn't hurt to change it for good measure, but it isn't necessary if the gasket is leaking. The gasket is like $10 at Advance or Autozone. Does your car have VCT? If it does, it'll be a little bit easier to change the WP than if you don't have VCT...

Yeah I imagine it is just the gasket. Whats VCT?

Its a 97 so it does not have VCT. that means you will have to pull the timing belt to replace the waterpump. buy a timing belt kit with the pulleys and belt as well as the timing kit (includes a flat bar to lock the cams and a crank pin to stop it it TDC)

Its a 97 so it does not have VCT. that means you will have to pull the timing belt to replace the waterpump. buy a timing belt kit with the pulleys and belt as well as the timing kit (includes a flat bar to lock the cams and a crank pin to stop it it TDC)

Can anybody tell me what length and thickness the bar is? My uncle owns a weldshop so I have access to plenty of metal so if I could save my sister a few bucks there it'd be great.

Can anybody tell me what length and thickness the bar is? My uncle owns a weldshop so I have access to plenty of metal so if I could save my sister a few bucks there it'd be great.

you will still want the timing pin. the whole timing kit is about $20. its definitely worth the investment as it will make timing the engine a lot easier. While striker2 is right, and it probably is worth it to buy the kit, you don't need the camshaft position tool if you have access to THAT much metal. You'll probably need something about 15" long and maybe 3/8" thick. These are just estimates off the top of my head, but you can throw a bunch of metal pieces in to make it a tight fit. That's what we did with mine :shrug:. Also, we found it was MUCH easier to take off the hose on the front of the water pump by removing the power steering pump from it's bracket on the block and pushing it off to the side. That provided easy access to the hose. You will also need to remove passenger side engine mount, support engine with another jack you have lying around (MAKE SURE TO PUT A PIECE OF WOOD BETWEEN JACK AND ENGINE!!!), and to gain access to the mount, you need to remove coolant reservoir (just push off to side). Definitely check out the AutoZone link, although don't go by it WORD FOR WORD.

Link:
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiB..._us/d/80/1b/c4/af/d801bc4af.jsp