How do you replace a timing belt on a 1998 Dodge Neon RT?

Answer 1

MAKE SURE THE TIMING MARKS ARE LIGNED AFTER YOU REMOVE THE COVERS, ROTATE THE MOTOER BY HAND WITH A BREAKER BAR OR LARGE RATCHET. Place the vehicle on jackstands and support the motor. Remove the top passenger's side motor mount. Remove the belts. Install a three-jaw puller and remove the underdrive pulley. Then remove the engine mount bracket. (three bolts must move the motor up and down to get them all of the way out). Remove the outer timing belt cover. One tip, take your time removing the cover and be careful not to break it. I broke mine and ran it without the cover and the alternator belt decided to come to the inside, throwing the motor out of time and bending all the valves costing alot of time and money. Once you get the cover removed, there is a small tube looking thing against the tensioner pulley. There are two bolts holding it in place. Remove them. Then take the tensioner off the tensioner pulley.The belt should come off. Install the new belt. Before reassembly you will have to take the tensioner (tube looking thing) to your local machine shop and have tehm compress it for you, or if you have a fairly good-sized vice and a small allen-wrench, you can do it yourself. Put the tensioner back on the pulley(you may have to pry it tight with a large flat screwdriver to pry up the tensioner into place) Make sure the timing marks are aligned or you will have about a $700 machine shop bill. Get the belt as tight as possible by prying on the tube-looking tensioner and the tighten the bolts holding it in place.After that put the bolt holding the bottom pulley in and rotate the motor clockwise witha large breaker bar or ratchet.After exactly TWO revolutions of the pulley the timing marks should align.TIP: remove the spark-pulgs and if you feel any resistance the pistons are hitting the valves, which means you have to rotate the the motor with a ratchet counterclockwise until the mark on the camshaft aligns with the mark on the cover, then remove the timg belt and turn the crankshaft ONE time the put the belt back on. After you are for sure the motor is in time, put everything back together in reverse order of removal. Then start the motor and let it idle for at least two minutes to break in the new belts