Originally posted by madmole:
As cam belt swaps go, the Zetec is not bad. You need to know what you are doing and it helps if you have the cam locking tool (or have made a substitute)
We've just done the swap last weekend (with a help of a friend who used to be a car mechanic in his younger years), me being a more-or less beginner in this business.
It took us 8-9 hrs together with the water pump (mostly because of the inadequate tools and lets be careful method)
Without the w/pump we'd finished it in 3-4 hrs. It was a serious pain to remove and install that beast (lack of access).
We didn't use the lock tool (didn't even remove the plugs and the vve cover), my friend rather belived in the good old mark-with-paint method. After removing the old belt, the valve springs (?) twisted the shafts a little bit and held them tight afterwards.
At 73k mi, the old belt looks to be in better condition than the aftermarket replacement one, but the w/pump bearing was nearing the end of its life.
Tivadar
