How do you change the timing belt on a 1997 Plymouth Breeze?

Answer 1

This is no easy task.and if this is your first time ,it is advised that you have someone who has knowledge od replacing a water pump with you . It's not as simlpe as it was ,say, twenty five years ago!

First loosen the lug nuts from the front passenger side tire,jack up the car and place on jack stands removethe inner Splash guard ,Remove the Drive belts from the alternaor and Power steering pump.After all this is done Drain the Anti freeze from the Car.NEXT wedge a large screw driver in the Crankshaft pulley to keep the pulley from turning when you take the pulley bolt off ,to remove the pulley. always turn the This clock wise .and make sure you have something wedged to keep the the crankshaft from turning counter clockwise, once the pulley has been removed your going to have toreplace just the bolt that held the pulley in place, so that you could turn the crank shaft by hand to align the timing marks on the Camshaft and Crankshaft after removing the timing belt cover!

After removing timing belt cover and Aligning timing marks you could remove the timing belt tensioner and belt,at this point it would be wise to replace the timing belt with a new one when it comes to putting the timing belt back on! and now you could remove the Water Pump! you could either purchase a new Timing belt tensioner or you could place the old one in a table vise and push the pin back into place and stick an appropriate size drill bit in the hole to keep it in place when you bolt the tensioner back into place! PUT EVERYTHING BACK IN the way you took everything off!,and be very careful not to turn the Crank or Cam Shaft Counter Clockwise if you need additional help check out the Haynes Manual for the Plymouth /Dodge ,Breeze/ Stratus it could explain the procedure alot clearer ,but has a tendency to jump from chapter to chapter to take off certain accessories!

Good Luck!