Ford Focus Forum banner

2002 ZX5 Timing Belt Replacement

12K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  KD5NRH 
#1 ·
Hello,
I have a 2002 Focus ZX5 with a stock 2.0 Zetec. The motor just turned over to 120k and I am planning to replace the timing belt and associated components. While making the parts list, I found a wide array of brand, prices and list of parts. So, I have a few questions:
1) Which band of timing belt kit: Ford Motorcraft, Gates, ACDelco or Cloyes?
2) Does this motor have one or two idlers? Kits are available with one or two.
3) Which brand water pump: Ford Motorcraft, Gates, Bosch, ACDelco?
4) According to the Haynes manual, it is necessary to loosen the cam-shaft pulleys. Why not simply set the engine to TDC and replace the belt?
5) While in-there, I am considering replacing the aux belt tensioner. How long are these good for? I replaced the belt at 100k.
6) Is it a good idea to replace the cooling system hoses while the cooling system is open?
7) Is a puller needed to remove the crankshaft timing belt pulley?
Thanks,
Anthony
 
#2 ·
1) I don't think it matters what brand you go with. I bought Motorcraft through Tousley Ford. They are a sponsor on FJ.
2) One idler, and one tensioner (that does have an idler pulley)
3) I went with Motorcraft through Tousley
4) It is a good idea to reset cam timing when you replace the belt. Plus, with the pulleys loose, it is easier to get the belt on.
5) It is a good idea to replace the serpentine tensioner at the same time
6) I did. They start to get soft about 100k miles
7) The name "crankshaft timing belt pulley" doesn't make a long of sense to me. There is a crankshaft timing belt sprocket, and a crankshaft serpentine belt pulley. You don't need to pull the sprocket, and no, you don't need a puller for the pulley. If you have an impact gun, that might help remove the bolt.

A nice trick I learned, is with only the passenger side of the vehicle in the air and both tires on the vehicle, you can put the car in 3rd/4th/5th gear to rotate the engine slowly, or hold the engine still while removing the crank pulley bolt.

I would also suggest replacing the thermostat while you have the coolant drained. Mine literally went bad 1 month after.
 
#3 ·
You do not have to loosen the camshaft pulleys. I couldn't on mine. It's there so you can remove all slack from the front run of the belt. I turned my cam towards the front of the motor, put the belt on and then turned the cam back into TDC to tension the belt. It worked fine.

Are you getting the special tools needed as well?
TDC pin which is a M10 bolt 63.4mm in length and the cam bar which is a piece of flat stock EXACTLY 5mm thick, but 20-30mm in width and 180-230mm in length.
 
#4 ·
And I would bet $50 hEaT's cam timing is not so great. The factory cam timing on the zetecs was sporadic at best. Some were good, some were not. Mine was pretty good, but now I know that for sure. My previous roommate picked up ~5 ponies on the butt dyno and ~4 mpg after his cam timing was set to factory during the timing belt swap.

Also, my car is a 2003, which seems to be the year Ford finally got most of the bugs worked out. My roommates car was older.
 
#5 ·
And I would bet $50 hEaT's cam timing is not so great.
And why is that? I rotated the motor twice after doing it this way and the motor was still perfectly in time. I didn't over tension the belt with the cam and left all the slack on the tensioner side. Pulled the cam gear bar out and set the tensioner. Neither of the cams moved since I had the belt tension set right. If you are talking about the tools, they are the specs from the Haynes manual for the DIY-er. I've had the motor like this for 20k miles or so and it feels just as snappy as it always have. Car made 112whp and 120wtq when I only had the intake and exhaust so cam timing was pretty good from the factory.
 
#6 ·
I don't have an issue with your tools. I used a metal file and wrapped it with electrical tape as it was just slightly too thin. I'm just saying it's not wise to trust the factory cam timing. I got lucky with my car, but while it is completely torn apart, it takes another 2 minutes to reset cam timing. Since you've had your car on the dyno you don't have much reason to doubt factory timing is too terrible.
 
#7 ·
5 - It's prob a good ides to replace the serpentine belt idler pulley along with the tensioner at your milage level ... it's not an expensive item.
 
#13 ·
Ah, I see what you're saying. Yeah, I did take it out of time on purpose and then got it back. I was lucky that I got it perfect, first try too.

I wouldn't do it again this way if I didn't have to. I had a 1/2" breaker bar on the cam gear bolt and the longest wrench I had doubled up on the cam and I couldn't loosen the bolts. I stripped the torx splines on the bolt and it was the correct size bit too.
 
#14 ·
That sucks. I didn't have the proper torx, so I tried it with an allen wrench and a long box end extension :lol: nasty sound when it popped loose, but it worked (don't try that at home kids).
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top