j30 timing belt

[95-J30tt]

i havent done major work on my j lately, i think it is due for a timing belt change, i've succeded in replacing the timing belt, water pump, and tensioner for my friends car "96 mx6, side mounted engine, V6 2.5L, twin cam, 180K Km on it", i dunno if you read the topic about my j losing a race, well it is the car that beat me that i did the work on over last weekend.

any suggestions on what i should prepare for this job, i already have a new timing belt waiting to be installed, what i dont have or dont know is:

1) water pump..... "do i need an oem pump?, the car doesnt have any problem what so ever regarding overheating, or any noise from the water pump, so is it a must?"

2) tensioner " again do i need an oem?, i have been suspecting the tensioner to be the problem on start up, a valve noise can be heard for about a minute after startup when the car has not been driven for a while, that was actually the problem with the MX6 too"

3) ball baring seals "are the seals changed on every timing belt job?, the timing belt area was worked on and the belt was put back (not a new one) when i got the car, and the seals were changed, also the ballbarings, and i dont suspect any problem with leaking oil from anywhere in the engine, the car has 150K Km on it now"

4) is this engine "VG30DE and the VG30DETT"a low or high tolarence engine?, meaning that, if the timing belt was removed or for some reason failed, will the valves hit the pistons (low tolarance) or not (high tolarance), this is very important for me to know, as it can make the work alot esier if it was a high tolarance engine, basically less risk of breaking something inside, as it was the case for the MX6

5) is this timing belt replacement the same "or close to" the 300zx procedure?, also i have the original shop manual for my J, in most shop manuals they over exaggerate some steps, and add some un needed steps that i have experianced myslef, if anyone has done this job "timing belt", i would appreciate your feedback on this subject

i want to change the timing belt because i started hearing an increasing valve noise on startup, and the car is not as smooth as when i got it "it had 110K on it back then", although i dont do much driving "about 30Km a day +- 10". your replies and feedback would be appreciated

[yodawill2000]

Yes .. it IS an interferance engine .Heres a good howto

http://www.ttzd.com/tech/timingbelttech.html

[lyntis]

http://members.accesstoledo.co...d.htm

this is all you need. print it out.

[rick_the_mick]

Regarding your first question, advisability of replacing the water pump, I would, unless you've just replaced it. I had my pump replaced at 58,000 miles with the timing belt, and the OEM replacement pump failed at 104,000 miles with no warning: the front end of the pump just cracked right off the housing. I'd never seen a pump fail like this, and it isn't usual, but I'll be replacing them every time I do the belt from now on.Good luck!