Help me with the timing belt change (please?!)

Hi folks,

Attempted the timing belt change today but we ended up putting the car back together and surrendering for the day

It looks like you have to take the crank pulley off to get the timing belt cover off, but how on Earth do you undo the crank nut without just turning the engine? Putting it in gear don't work! One suggestion made was to take a sparkplug out and feed rope into the hole which will lock up the engine. Anyone ever heard of this being done? We couldn't try that either actually as I have to go and buy a new plug socket which will fit in the tiny, tiny and yet so deep little hole that the spark plugs live in...

So any pointers from those who have succeeded would be most welcome

you dont undo the big bolt on the bottom pully just the little 8mm ones they should come undone easy enough

once you got cover off its a easy task to change the belt & tensioner just line the markings up remove old belt & tensioner & replace

ive only ever changed one timing belt & that was a jimny couple of months ago ive always been a bit scared of doing them in the past but i was supprised just how easy it is to do

vitara_mad wrote: you dont undo the big bolt on the bottom pully just the little 8mm ones they should come undone easy enough

Ah, bugger. Thanks

If ever you do want the big nut undone, the bodger's way is to get a good fitting socket and a cracker bar, and fit it so that the bar is resting under the chassis rail on the drivers side. then flip the starter.

It is a sensible plan to disconnect the coils first, but I've never been sensible.

Interestingly the guy who was changing the belt for me phoned the local Suzuki garage this morning to ask them about it (he views the internet as witchcraft). They said that the big nut definitely had to come out.

So I tracked down the service manual and it clearly says that only the little nuts have to come out. So I won't be taking my Jimny into the Suzuki place in the near future!

Another good way of undoing nuts like this were by you can not lock the shaft in any way is to use a pneumatic air gun like the ones they use in garages to take your wheels of.