Gonna change the cambelt on my mk3 1L myself and try to save £100. I know that this can be a tricky job but I am spending most of my spare time trying to suss the job out before even ordering the belt + tensioner. (once you've sussed it ,you'll be able to do it for life).

The bad news is that it is just not making much sense. I sorta get the idea but I really wanna be able to do this myself. I do have a haynes manual but sometimes those manuals are like something stephen hawkings written.

I know that the first stage is to find top dead centre. Could someone please explain in laymans terms what this is and the simplest way to acheive this.

Cheers (great site)

Edited 30 June, 200719 yr by Docbooze

TBH it will probably make more sense when you do the job :-D

Top dead centre TDC is when No1 piston is at the top of its compression stroke + the distributor rotor pointing to No1 plug lead

It matters not because when changing the cam belt you line up the marks on the crank pulley & camshaft pulley.

Not a bad job 45mins or so, try a search as there are a few topics knocking around here on cambelt change.

TBH it will probably make more sense when you do the job :-D

Top dead centre TDC is when No1 piston is at the top of its compression stroke + the distributor rotor pointing to No1 plug lead

It matters not because when changing the cam belt you line up the marks on the crank pulley & camshaft pulley.

Not a bad job 45mins or so, try a search as there are a few topics knocking around here on cambelt change.

So is that basically what the dreaded cambelt job is, just more or less lining up 2 marks and making sure that the marks stay aligned while the belt goes on. So put the car in neutral with the handrake on and then just remove the belt -make sure the 2 lines are still aligned and fit the new belt. Is that really all there is to it?

Thats about it yeah

Theres a few awkward bolts and no room to get the old belt off without a bit of engine movement.

top tip: slacken off the top engine mount on the cambelt side and use a trolley jack to lift the engine, or if you dont have a spare jack, use a big metal bar to move the engine a bit to give enough room to remove the belt (a mate would be helpfull for this method though as it is a bit difficult to remove the belt whilst moving the engine over!)