Timing Belt Inspection

Is there a way of easily inspecting the timing chain on my 1996 300tdi Discovery?
Thanks
Jon

Nope it dont have one

The 300tdi has a timing belt not a chain. If you are going to the trouble of inspecting it you may as well change it. It can be a complete b@stid of a job or it can be straight forward, it all depends how easy it comes apart.

sorry meant timing belt, bloody auto speel, I have a timing chain on my old rover 75.

dilligat said:

sorry meant timing belt, bloody auto speel, I have a timing chain on my old rover 75.

Click to expand...

As said you need to remove the front cover so you may as well just change it while your in there

i did my first one about 2 months ago and didnt think it was at all difficult! id go as far to say it was a simple job, just take your time and check your double checks before you turn that key!

Mr Noisy said:

i did my first one about 2 months ago and didnt think it was at all difficult! id go as far to say it was a simple job, just take your time and check your double checks before you turn that key!

Click to expand...

Tis simple if nothing goes wrong ie stapping the bolts on the front cover ,crank pully can be a arse

Hardest part is the crank pully bolt, after that its fairly easy if you are a half decent mechanic

Tuskenraider said:

Hardest part is the crank pully bolt, after that its fairly easy if you are a half decent mechanic

Click to expand...

And if you are a half decent mechanic you will have the tools to do the job for example pulling the damper/pulley off the crank and then when the jobs done a spanner/socket man enough to tighten the crank bolt up to spec' most home mechanics don't.

As said replace, dont inspect, a 1 year old belt looks just like a 10 year old belt at times... Its an easy job tho so go for it, get a haynes if you have any doubts...

Regarding the pulley, I have read that some people have jabbed a break bar under the chassis and then cranked the starter to undo the nut. All well and good, but if it's that hard to undo, how the hell do you get enough purchase on it to tighten the damn thing?

Mine has now done 114k so if it hasn't been done just before I bought her then I could do with diarising this in. Not looking forward to it.

A good 3/4" bar with an extension pole that slides over said bar will shift the bolt fairly easily. I don't like the idea of flicking the starter, would rather be in control of things myself!

i need to do mine. can you do it on ground or do you need a lift?

You can do it on the ground no problem, once the fan and cowling are removed you can work from the top

GreenHornet said:

Regarding the pulley, I have read that some people have jabbed a break bar under the chassis and then cranked the starter to undo the nut. All well and good, but if it's that hard to undo, how the hell do you get enough purchase on it to tighten the damn thing?

Mine has now done 114k so if it hasn't been done just before I bought her then I could do with diarising this in. Not looking forward to it.

Click to expand...

Ian, call me irresponsible but the starter motor trick does the job for me. It's the only way you can get serious torque on that ****er without a flywheel lock.

As for tightening, a long bar, in 4th gear with the brakes on and loctite on the threads, plus a session of as tight as you can get that bastard seems to work.

Now, a 200 is an amount more complex than a 300 which is frankly a doddle if the seized thread gods are on your side, but its not a hugely menacing task either way.

Cheers

starter for me too.
tho i made a tool for tightening that goes on the front pulley.
as for op question, no you need to strip it to see, so might as well change it.
where are you?

So another sodding job to add to my list - Bugger................

V8s have a chain......

op2: