The lower torque arm is about 2' long and made of aluminum with neoprene inserts for the engine to ride more smoothly on when hitting bumps. When I took the upper torque arm loose, the engine shifted on the floor jack and the lower torque arm neoprene completely separated, allowing the engine to shift off the arm. I would at least inspect these torque arms carefully for broken neoprene prior to beginning the timing belt change the engine could have fallen off the lower torque arm if I had hit a huge bump while driving. I was very lucky that a local parts store had the lower torque arm at their warehouse I ordered the upper torque arm as I could easily see it was broken. Inspect the upper and lower torque arms carefully as mine needed replaced. Using a floor jack, you hold the engine in place while you remove the lower torque arms. You don't have to undo the hoses just lay it over to the side. Remove the power steering pump by just setting it off to the side after removing the bolts. The crankshaft damper had to be removed with a three-arm puller tool and a small insert that protects the crankshaft threads. The next items to remove were the accessories belts (ac, alternator, etc.) which included the serpentine belt. Of course, purchase a timing belt, lol.įirst, it was necessary to remove the passenger side tire and the splash guard behind the tire in the wheel well. Order a water pump and replace it while replacing the timing belt. If you have a mechanical timing belt tensioner, you are warned by a Dodge technical bulletin to replace it with a hydraulic unit. Make sure you can get a new timing belt tensioner unit locally at your Mopar Dealer. Order the belts (If you have over 75,000 miles on the vehicle, you will need the new accessory belts.) or know where you can purchase them locally. Inspect your accessory belts and the serpentine tensioner pulley prior to beginning the work. You can tell if they are bad when you remove them they just fall apart or you can see the split neoprene. Make sure the local parts store has them in stock if you are not sure of their integrity. Order them ahead of time if you see they are damaged. Inspect the upper and lower torque struts that hold the motor on the passenger side. There are several dealer only parts.īefore you start this job: 1. Don't expect to just go to the local parts place and obtain some of these parts. This is not an easy task and you will find it takes about 6-8 hours if you have all the needed parts ready to install if you need them. My 2000 Dodge Neon had 105,000 miles on it and needed the timing belt changed. Hope this gives you some idea of the complexity of the job. Now I'm 50 years old and live in Florida where you get sweaty just going to the mailbox. I would have done the job myself twenty years ago when I was really into cars and spent all my time rebuilding engines and doing everything myself. But by the time I got done reading I decided to let a repair shop do it. I'm not taking credit for them in any way. I downloaded the following instructions but I don't remember where. Just make sure you have another car to drive because I guarentee you you'll find you need something that you didn't get beforehand.
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