Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Zetec Maintenance Timing with the hydraulic camshaft sprocket

I'm new to having a Contour and still learning to do maintenance on my own car, so please bear with me if I ask something that is obvious to all of you. But, I hope someone can help direct me what to do.

I've got an early-model 1998 (built in 11/97) silver Contour SE. The timing belt sheared off a few teeth a week ago, so a friend of mine has been helping me replace it. He's done several timing belts before, but never seen a hydraulic sprocket like on my Contour.

I've read all the directions in the Chiltons and the Haynes manual and I've read the revised timing instructions and all the timing posts here on this forum. All the instructions say to hold the sprockets with the tool. But this sprocket obviously doesn't have any forks. And it has that hydraulic chamber on the end instead of a bolt.

So I've very carefully followed all the instructions on this forum and elsewhere to align the timing, but we can't get the car to start. When I algin the camshafts with the crankshaft and top dead center, the back camshaft stays aligned, but the front one always goes slightly unaligned when I rotate the crankshaft.

I can't figure out how I am supposed to adjust the front camshaft properly.

Can anyone help and tell me how I am supposed to adjust this front camshaft?

Or am I way off base and it is something else totally different trick I need to do?

Here's a picture of my camshaft sprockets with the hydraulic one on the right.

k first of its not hydraulic, its spring loaded.

Its just the zetec crap thats got u stuck.

First of all, get the motor in the TDC position.

You will notice the cam ends have a slit in them, have the thinner section facing the sky on the cams. At tdc u want the crank and the intake to be perfect (2nd cam).

Then look at the one u call hydraulic, you just need to put tension on the sproket spring. So remove the belt while the intake is locked and use a T-50 socket to move the exhaust cam 1 tooth up or down until you see the ends of the cams match up.

Intall the belt after u adjust say 1 tooth in either direction and then turn the motor over by hand, after 2 revolutions check the intake and exhast at TDC. IF the exhaust is not matching, say its over or under the line (looking at the ends) then move it 1 tooth at a time up or down by removing the belt and following the procedure all over again.

Make sure u cycle it a few times since the cam is spring loaded it tends to vary about 30degs in either direction.

The engine will start close to a setting but run really rough.

Get some pics of the other side of the sprokets (near the spark coils and ill tell u if u have it in the correct position).

use the following instructions to tension the tensioner since over/under tension can cause problems later.(bottom of page).


http://www.aa1car.com/library/2004/us70444.htm

Good luck

just remember when adjusting the intake that the more tension you give to that exhaust cam, the more it will pass the desired point, therefore most of the time you end up turning it 1 tooth back rather than forward.

Just make sure u keep the intake locked with the metal plate they recommend in the manual.

If u have any ques dont hesistate to ask.

Also make sure u replace the idlers/tensioners(they are rusted in the pics). Mine ran into a few problems due to a fauly idler at the bottom.

i made a mistake above....

"just remember when adjusting the exhaust cam , the more tension you give to the sprocket exhaust cam, the more it will offset the coil end (rotates more counter clock

When you time it, both of the cam sprockets should be loose. The cam on the right has a plug in the end for oil. You should remove that plug so you can loosen the cam sprocket. There are slots on the cams to hold them with a wrench. Make sure #1 is at TDC and use the Cam tool to put in the slots on the back of the cam to line them up. It is also nice to have the crank pin to make sure you are exactly at TDC. The crank Pin and Cam holder can be bought in a set for about $25. Put the belt on and then adjust the tensioner to take the slack out of the belt. That is why the sprockets need to be loose. They are not keyed and spin freely when loose. Hold the cams with a wrench and tighten the sprockets up. Use a wrench to hold the cams, don't think the cam tool will hold it, it can break. You should be good to go then. It is very important to get the timing correct because you have the VCT solenoid. You didn't say if you had the crank pin and the cam holding tool but it is well worth the $25 to get it right.

seems pretty complex. Why in the world would u want to loosen the sprockets. Even the manual says to just lock the cams on each side of the block. The one end has the tool u mentioned but the sprockets themselves wont really spin (the intake anyways). Just make sure u mark where the exhaust was and u dont have to loosen the sprockets, ive serviced my timing belt quite a bit due to the offcenter problem which actually may just be my imagination since ur belt looks the exact same as mine.

I would say loosening the sprockets can cause u more problems.

Good luck

BTW check ur tensioner setting, it looks too tight. Follow the instructions in that link i posted, you should start at the 4 o clock position.

Good luck

Thanks, guys, these are excellent replies. I really appreciate the help. To answer a few questions you guys gave:

--Thanks for the correction on the "hydraulic" sprocket. Glad to understand it is spring loaded. See, I told you I would get stuff wrong.
--I have the cam holder, but what it the crank pin? I've never heard of that.
--We set it with the cam holder the first time, but did not do the revolutions before putting everything back together. That was our big waste of time. Now we have to go back and follow these instructions more carefully.
--Thanks, i'll check out the idler pulley more closely. These pictures came out WAY more orange than my car really looks. The sprockets are not really rusted at all although they look that way in these picts. In actuallity they are a dull yellow color with no rust.
--You're exactly right that my tensioner is too tight. We did the best we could figure out with the crappy chilton's and Haynes manuals, but I've now read the much better instructions on this forum and will follow your instructions.
--When I can finally get it running, I'll let you know if the belt ends running off center or not.

My friend (who is much more automotive-inclined than I am) is coming over tonight and we will work from all of your advice. Thanks very much.

If anyone has any additional advice, I will take all I can get.

cool these are the instructions for the tensioner.

REVISED TIMING BELT & TENSION SETUP ON 2.0L

Shop manuals are indispensable tools for looking up disassembly/ installation procedures, specifications, diagnostic and service information. But sometimes errors occur in printed manuals, which makes life interesting for the poor guy who doesn't know the manual is incorrect. An example here is the timing belt and tensioner setup procedure that Ford originally published for the 1998-2000 Contour, Escort ZX2, 2000 Focus, 1998-2000 Mercury Mystique and 1999-2000 Mercury Cougar with 2.0L engine. Ford TSB 99-25-4 provides the following corrected information:

To achieve proper timing belt tension on this engine, Ford says the camshaft sprocket bolts should be loosened enough to permit the sprockets to turn freely on the camshafts. Once this has been done, rotate the crankshaft clockwise so cylinder No. 1 is at top dead center. Then, install the camshaft alignment tool in the camshaft slots to hold the cams in place.

Back out the tensioner bolt four full turns and position the tensioner so the locating tab is at approximately the 4 o'clock position. Line up the hex key slot in the tensioner-adjusting washer with the pointer that is located behind the pulley.

Working counterclockwise from the crank sprocket, install the timing belt.

Rotate the tensioner locating tab counterclockwise and insert the locating tab into the slot in the rear timing cover.

Position the hex key slot in the tensioner-adjusting washer to the 4 o'clock position.p>

Tighten the attaching bolt enough to seat the tensioner firmly against the rear timing cover, but still allow the tensioner adjusting washer to be rotated using a 6 mm hex key.

Using the hex key, rotate the adjusting washer counterclockwise until the notch in the pointer is centered over the index line on the locating tab. (The pointer will move in a clockwise direction during adjustment).

While holding the adjusting washer in position, torque the attaching bolt to 18 lb-ft (25 N.m).

Note: If the pointer does not remain centered over the index line during final tightening, loosen the bolt and repeat the procedure beginning with step 4.



As for the exhuast, its not that hard, just move the exhaust cam 1 tooth up or down after turning the engine over a few times by hand. You will see at the TDC position, if they dont match up then u need to adjust the exhaust once again.

The car will start with an exhaust error but run rough, so just turn it over by hand until they match up perfectly. you will see that the exhaust cam shaft stops to load up which the intake moves all the time, just make sure u compare them at TDC. Then u are ready to assemble it and give it a test start.

Over tension will make the belt run offcenter and hit, thats what mine did.

Make sure u inspect all idlers because once they go ure done, my belt got stripped when the bottom (little idler) broke apart and stripped the walls. MAke sure u spend the extra cash and do the job once. The offcenter thing is more of a long term effect, the car will run fine but the belt will feel excess stress if the belt is running into the outer walls (never runs into the block for some reason LOL).

Good luck,
Ciprian