Can't Remove The Timing Belt

[kaz]

A few weeks ago I did my first ever head gasket replacement on my petrol 1.4 C3 (TU3JP), with the guiding hand of a Haynes manual and ample online research. My one stumbling block was removing the timing belt. I removed the upper and lower plastic covers, and the engine mounting bracket, but I found there was another metal panel covering the water pump sprocket and tensioner pulley. I loosened/removed two bolts that I thought were holding this plate on, but it wouldn't budge. The Haynes manual and online guides (such as this one) make no mention of anything other than the two plastic covers and the engine mounting bracket.

 

To get on with the gasket replacement, I pried the belt sideways off the camshaft sprocket, to lift the head off. When it came to refitting, I still couldn't get this "middle cover" off, but was able to reach down with a screwdriver to push the lever of the automatic tensioner, which gave me enough slack to lift the belt back onto the camshaft sprocket. The car's running fine and dandy, and the coolant issues are solved.

 

The engine's done 105k miles, and I have no service history for the car. The current belt is not a factory original, so it's been replaced at least once, some time. It's showing some minor wear, and as I bought a new belt, tensioner and water pump as part of the head gasket job, I'd like to install them.

 

Does anyone recognise the mystery lump of metal that's getting in between me and the timing belt? And are there any suggestions on how to get it off?

 

Thanks.

[Rookie2]

Hi Kaz, what year is that car, I will look on autodata for you.

[kaz]

It's a 2004 model. Thanks.

[Rookie2]

Hi Kaz, I have scoured Autodata and their is no mention of any of the pug/cit engines having a seperate tensioner cover. Could it possibly be that someone has cut the tensioner part of the cover out themselves and fitted it retro ?

[kaz]

Thanks for looking it up for me. Both the plastic covers were complete, and an exact match for the diagrams on the link above. On re-examining things, I've reasoned that I conflated the engine mounting bracket (which everyone but Haynes seem to call an engine mount holder) and the engine mounting assembly. Haynes noted five bolts on the mounting assembly, but didn't mention how many were on the mounting bracket. Having found the name for the lump of metal, I found a picture online and realised that there is a third bolt on the underside of the panel.

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/n2cAAOSw4UtWT6Ti/s-l225.jpg

 

While the upper bolts had a T50 head, this one had a plain 17mm head, and was too stiff to turn with a spanner. I needed to lower the jack supporting the engine in order to be able to gain access with my torque wrench, but once I had clearance I was away. With the cover off, I've swapped out the timing belt and finished the job off this morning. I'll leave this here in case someone else finds themselves in a similar pickle some day.

 

Thanks again for having a look around on my behalf, Rookie2.

Edited April 9, 2017 by kaz

[Rookie2]

Great news. Getting the result is all that matters and yes, no doubt the info will be handy to someone else in the future, cheers