02 Chysler 4 cylinder, 58,000 miles.

Took over the car at 45,000 miles and replaced the tensioner bearings, upon reinstallation of the tensior I broke the socket connection so this time around I believe I am going to have to cut the belt and replace the tensioner all together, unless someone has a neat setup to release and apply tension without the hole for the socket extension...

Anyhow the car has run OK since replacing the bearing and giving new plugs and oil, it studders at idle, Im sure it needs a throttle body flush/cleaning but it wasn't to the point of missing, so I have driven it like it is for just over 10k miles. No problems whatsoever.

Two days ago I get home from work and smell radiator fluid, I think to myself Hmmmm thats new I will have to check that out. I dont.

Next day I get home from work (45 miles round trip) and smell radiator fluid smell again. I think to myself OK thats two days in a row of something thats not normal. I got inside for an hour when I come back out to leave antifreeze all down the driveway.

NO TEMP WARNINGS OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS..........

I open the hood and alot of heat is radiating around in there, the antifreeze resivour bottle is empty, I take off the radiator cap and NO fluid visible.

Today I take off the plastic shroud underneath on pax front side and start wiping grime from oil pan (area where oil drain plug it) and after completly drying it off antifreeze begins slowly dripping from the front corner of the oil pan, its antifreeze because its orange and I felt all around the top and there is no wetness so it appears to be coming directly from the seal between the oil pan and the engine block. I traced all radiator hoses and they aren't broke, cracked, or leaking, i felt around the back of where the bottom hose goes into the engine (i assume thats the water pump) and dry... So all the fluid came out from atop the oil pan seal. ?!?!?!!?

Never seen that before.

So car runs fine for 10k, No Warnings lights on dash, and after two days of giving a coolant smell - I have this...... HELP.

Summary -

1) Can I release and apply tension to the belt at another point besides the tensioner?
2) Will a bad water pump lead to coolant leaking from the top of the oil pan at the front of the engine?
3) Are there online instructions (not Chiltons manuals) for replacement of water pump and timing belt for my year and model

Thanks, I hope to start this project today if you need more info or pics from me just say.

Ben

P.S. - i used search function and didn't find a post with coolant leaking in the area I describe, ThX

AFTER FURTHER REVIEW, Perhaps the coolant is coming from the water pump I took the tire off and stuck my head and hands right behind the big center wheel/pulley and there is some pooling there. I assume it was "trailing" over to the seal above oil resivour because.... Well I am on a slanted driveway. Newb I know.

Anyhow I got the belt off my rigging a jack to a pole and placing it on the tensioner, ought to be fun trying to get that back on though.

So now to get to the water pump.....

How hard is it to replace the timing belt, any tips? Also searching threads as we go for that.

 

Spend the money and buy a Haynes or Chilton manual to guide you through the timing belt replacement. You're going to be spending some money to do this repair. Spend a little more to do it right. You can screw things up badly if you don't do it right and will wind up spending a LOT more than the 20-odd bucks the book costs.

 

Had to stop at removal of the crankshaft pulley, I bought the Chilton guide but it shows a photo of a pulley without the fender obstructing half of it - as is the case on my 02 2.4L convertable. Also the main bolt wasnt the right size on the 3 jaw puller i bought from Napa.

What part number are yall using to get this thing off with?

Thx

 

Alright I am back on the road, in total this project took me 15 hours to complete and I NEVER want to do it again.

Bought a Chiltons Manual, most of the info is spot on - it helps greatly with the timing belt portion.

I had to use two various designs of 3 jaw pullers to work the harmonic balancer off PLUS I had to disconnect the ride side pax motor mount AND the front motor mount, this allows you to drop the engine far enough so that the balancer clears the fender.

I didn't have any problems reaching bolts on the power steering, i think that is more with the V-6's... Anyhow on replacing the power steering belt I placed it on the crankshaft puller first and had a partner turn the crankshaft with a ratchet while I used a long screwdriver to assist the belt onto the power steerring pulley. ONLY possible with two persons to do it that way but I didn't have to touch the bolts on the accessory.

The timing belt sprockets were a BEAST. I didn't have a special tool as shown in the Chiltons guide. I made reference markets on the rear timing cover and a tooth on each sprocket, this was necessary because in trying to break the bolts free the sprocket would move anywhere between two and three teeth left and right of the TDC position. I assume this is a Non-Interference engine because each time I would just reset the sprocket with my reference marks moving it clockwise or counter clockwise depending... Finally got those off.

Broke the rear timing cover, fixed that up with RTV sealant.

Replaced the timing belt tensioner and idle pulley, pre-cautionary because again I WILL NEVER DO THIS AGAIN

Got to the waterpump, it was busted, placed new one in and began reverse order reinstallation of all parts - that was laughable.

Upon reinstalling the exhaust cam (the one next to the strut tower) I could only use an 18mm box end wrench, so I coupled it with a breaker bar to apply adequate torque and something "snapped' I swear it was a metallic sound. The bolt appears fine, the sprocket looks fine, i spent the next two days in torture thinking "what if i snapped the cam"... Before cranking it up I put a compression gauge on the #1 cylinder, only got up to 30 - when prior to tearing into the engine I swore it read 60+ .... Anyhow I seem to have gotten a lucky break cause thus far the engine runs better than before (I am assuming because of the new "tight" timing belt) and there is no knocking or pinging from the heads so i assume the "snap" was the bolt seating.

So onto the next project - but these waterpumps are not much fun.

Thanks for the forum.

Ben

 

Nice report.