On older cars it is not as much but the newer cars are built so that half of the parts under the hood have to come out. 1995 Pontiac Grand Am water pump replacement, $847.00. If the belt breaks it will make $1000.00 look cheap.

The only information that I've got is for the 1992, 2.3 L engine in the Ford Topaz. (It's probably the same basic layout as for the pickup truck.) So, with this warning, here's the information for the car engine. There should be two timing marks: one on the crank grear and one on the cam gear. These are punch or drill point marks. Both gears are keyed to their shafts. There is an inside and outside face for the gears. The timing marks face to the outside. The chain will have to be placed on the gears before sliding the gears onto the shafts. This may not be easy since one or both of these gears may be press fits. If you encounter a press fit, just take it easy and press each part a little at time while keeping the chain aligned. The object is to avoid damage to the chain. The keyway on the cam shaft points toward the crank. The key on the crank points straight up (and not toward the cam shaft). After the chain and sprockets are in place, the timing marks (on the sprockets) should point toward each other and be in-line with the center-line of the cam shaft and crank. (The crank key will not be on this line.) Slowly rotate the engine by hand to check for interference with a valve. If all seems ok, then check the rotor position in the distributor. It should be ok since it was not removed, but here's the check anyway. With piston no.1 at top-dead-center (TDC) and on the compression stroke (both intake and exahust valves closed), the rotor in the distriburor should point toward the electrode (in the cap) for No. 1 sparkplug. Hopefully, none of the pistons hit a valve when the chain broke. While the timing chain cover is off, it might be a good idea to flush out the oil pan to remove any debris therein, like broken chain parts. Tiny pieces probably won't cause a problem so long as these are too large to pass by the oil pump intake screen. However, larger pieces may get bounced about and caught between close passing moving parts. You can use used engine oil as a flush fluid, or a mild cleaner such as kerosene.

If you're getting timing chain noise at startup, try using a different oil filter. Some filters just don't have a very good anti-drainback valve design and this results in the timing chain noise because the hydraulic tensioner isn't getting oil fast enough because the anti-drainback valve didn't do what it's name says it does. Ford had issued a TSB about timing chain startup noise on the '95 Contour/Mystique--they went so far as to redesign their FL-820 oil filter with a silicone anti-drainback valve to fix the problem, and it did.

Always love the humour! So far the black belt is holding and the weather has been cool so that has been a bonus. I almost never buy the green/blue hosta at the garden center - they just don't catch my eye. This one I was convinced to buy at my local Hort Sale from another hostaholic. It is actually lovely for a green/blue. Nice shape to the mound and a lovely fountain/arching habit. And as I recall the flowers in the fall are beautiful.