Patrolman
December 12th, 2013, 10:26 PM
We talked about this at breakfast at the Turkey Run. It is a great trick that I have used on the Miata multiple times. It will only work for engines that do not have a "lip" on the front of the cam gear or crank gear. The belt has to be able to slide smoothly onto the cam and crank gears, so this may not work on all engines. Also, if you are doing any other work that is located behind the timing belt, such as a water pump, this won't work.
Here is a link, and here is the info from it:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-123764194.html
Hey did you see the other tip on the Miata site? It might be a little labor and require a fresh utility knife blade or other cutting technique(suggestions??), but you can slice the old timing belt, still in place, in half the long way. Then there's room to get the new one halfway on before you cut off the remnants of the old. The proper positioning is thus preserved.
Here is a link, and here is the info from it:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-123764194.html
Hey did you see the other tip on the Miata site? It might be a little labor and require a fresh utility knife blade or other cutting technique(suggestions??), but you can slice the old timing belt, still in place, in half the long way. Then there's room to get the new one halfway on before you cut off the remnants of the old. The proper positioning is thus preserved.