Well, got er done. Wasn't that bad. Timing belt was the hardest part.For everyones info. Did not have to loosen rocker arms, or remove radiator cooling fan assy. No way
anyone can do this job in 4 hours. took me 8 taking my time. Of course now my caravan water pump is also leaking.
When does it end. thanks for all replies. My email is gbeach@dornier.com if anyone needs help doing this.

 

Thanks for the good information. Getting ready to change the Timing Belt on my 05 Pac when it hits 120k miles. All seems pretty straight forward, just two (2) questions.
1_ It is really necessary to bleed the pressure off the fuel system and disconnect the fuel line to change the Timing belt?
2_Can I loosen the harmonic balancer bolt using a breaker bar? (I do not have a air impact).

 

Replaced my Timing Belt yesterday. This is a summary:

Did the Timing Belt replacement job myself (I am a typical do-it-yourselfer, no more than that). Some random thoughts & suggestions for the next guy since this is a b!#$h of a job! (had 118,000 miles on my 2005 Pacifica, 3.5L engine)
1_ I bought factory Chrysler (made by Gates) timing belt since I did not want any issues. ($40 fr eBay)
2_Bought a factory Chrysler (made in Germany!) water pump for the same reason. ($40 fr eBay)
3_ “Borrowed” a loaner Radiator Pressure Tester, Chrysler Harmonic Puller (3-jaw) and Harmonic Installer from O’Reilly auto parts. Used the Pressure Tester to test the new water pump for leaks, it is sealed by an giant o-ring and did not want to find it leaking after full assembly.
The Harmonic Installer did not work due to its design. Got a 90mm long x 12mm x 1.75mm bolt and a bunch of washers from Ace Hardware for $2.80 which enabled me to install the Harmonic Balancer.
Should you not have this, the auto parts suggested a slamming the harmonic balancer back on using a piece of wood and a 10# sledge hammer (I did not try that approach)
4_ No need to take the valve covers off or disconnect the fuel line as the factory manual suggests.
5_ Do have a bottle of “white out” handy. Mark the old belt & drive cogs on the 2 cams and at the crank. Then transfer the marks to the new belt. Makes the install/timing a snap. (One cam did snap out of position after the belt was removed, but was easy to rotate back into position w/ a wrench.)
You CAN use the breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt to rotate (slowly) the crankshaft to TDC position.
6_I used a small tow chain w/ hook to keep the harmonic balancer from turning when I torqued it with the ½” drive breaker bar. (I did not have any air impact tools.)
6 a_Use of a floor jack to support the engine is kind of optional. It is mostly used to maintain the engine in a position such that it can be most easily worked on. At times you may feel the need for any extra ¼” of horizontal clearance, this can be obtained by using a short (3-4’ long) 2x4 board as a “pry bar” to pry the engine block towards the drivers side of the engine compartment.
7_ Have a 3/8” x ¼” drive adapter handy and a full set of 3/8” and ¼” metric sockets handy. As well as the ½” drive metric socket for the harmonic balancer (think it was 17 or 19mm do not remember precise head size, but it had a smaller head size than I expected).
8_ Do have some metric Torx head 3/8” drive sockets handy and some Vice Grips pliers. (there is 1 Torx screw on the timing belt cover)
9_ One of the most difficult steps for me was getting the power steering pump bolts back on. Was almost impossible. Wound up having to remove the radiator fan assembly such that I could push the steering pump back in position. (There is a timing cover bolt BEHIND the steering pump. I DID NOT put this timing cover bolt back in upon reassembly since I would never want to have to remove the steering pump again.) Now is the time to replace the factory installed Lower Radiator hose if you haven’t already.
9.a_ Re-installing the serpentine accessory belt can be difficult. I used the clips to hold it in place. I used a 1” wide ratchet “tie down strap” to pull a 12” crescent wrench attached to the tensioner to “rotate” the serpentine tensioner back. The ratchet drive strap held the tensioner back well and the belt went on without too much fighting.
9b_ I used some large “paper clamps” from the office supply store to “clip” the timing belt and serpentine belt on the drive pulleys during the install. Made things much easier.
10_ After 118,000 miles the Timing Belt still looked mighty good. But of course should it have broken the engine would be toast. Also replaced the serpentine accessory drive belt with a new Gates micro-V belt.
11_Total wrenching time for me on this job was sixteen (16) hours. (this includes time going back to auto parts store twice and replacing ALL the radiator and heater hoses)

If any questions please email me: dj at flagshiptec.com

 

boy that makes me tired, and I can't believe I actually did all of that. You can get the belt from rockauto. same gates belt as oem. I went to chrysler dealer and had them show me the belt, and saw it was a gates also.