Who has used the Jay's Racing Timing Belt Tool Kit?

[turbotemper]

Well it looks like the mitsu needs another blood offering... I need to do the timing belt, tensioner, pulleys etc.
Who has used the Jay's Racing Timing Belt Tool Kit?
Is it worth the $50+shipping.
Or can i just do it with regular shop tools?

 

[99gst_racer]

It's worth every penny and then some.

I just timed my roommate's 6-bolt two nights ago, and with the help of that kit, it was a 3 minute job that I didn't have to second guess.

 

[toofast82]

I'm going to buy the kit on my next tbelt job. Especially the thing to lock the cam gears in place!

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

I have used the tensioner tool and it makes all the difference in the world. I think I'm going to get the cam gear spacer tool next.

 

[Calan]

Knowing what I know now, I'd pay $50 just for the plastic cam gear locker. It makes the t-belt job WAY easier, and makes adjusting the cam gears a snap. I would rank it right up there with the 10mm socket as far as usefulness

My only two minor complaints are:

1. The tensioner compression rod is 13mm instead of 10 or 12mm. Not a big deal, but I hate having to dig out an oddball socket for one thing.

2. Somehow, one of the pins on the pulley tool broke. But Jay is a great guy, and is sending a replacement at no charge.

 

[Mr PopUps]

You forgot the 14 and 17! 1/2" = 11mm.

 

[99gst_racer]

1/2" = 11mm.

That would be 13mm.

2. Somehow, one of the pins on the pulley tool broke. But Jay is a great guy, and is sending a replacement at no charge.

Funny you mention that, Craig. One of the pins on mine broke two days ago as well. I haven't contacted Jay yet, but I will soon. It's good to hear he stands behind his product.

 

[Mr PopUps]

That would be 13mm.

Er yea, i was looking at that and thinking it didnt look right, thanks!

 

[95gst16g]

I have a timing belt tool in my car as we speak to change the cas on my 95-96 I made it.Went to nappa and bought a die that was m8 1.25 took the stock battary tie down bolt and added about 2in more thread to it.You take a grinder and grind the tip rounded about 1/4in up the bolt.Kind of ghetto but it costs you about 3.50 to make it and 10 minutes worked good for me

 

[Calan]

Not sure what that well-documented workaround has to do with the topic at hand, but anyway...

*********

Yeah...my complaint is actually that the bolt isn't a 10mm or 12mm...digging for a 13mm is just as bad as digging for a 1/2"

Jay said he hasn't heard of this happening before, and is sending just the replacement pin. I'm guessing he had a run of them with a problem in the hardening process...it snapped just like an overly-hardened and brittle piece of tool steel with very little force on it.

 

[asrdave]

i have used kits from snap-on, kits from mac tools, and still this timing belt tool kit is the best one i have used -=) worth every cent

 

[->PrOjEcTGS<-]

That would be 13mm.


Funny you mention that, Craig. One of the pins on mine broke two days ago as well. I haven't contacted Jay yet, but I will soon. It's good to hear he stands behind his product.

Damn, how tight are you guys making your belt tension? If I remember correctly it should only be torqued to 24 in/lbs.

 

[99gst_racer]

Damn, how tight are you guys making your belt tension? If I remember correctly it should only be torqued to 24 in/lbs.

I torqued the bolt on the pulley to whatever the Chiltons manual stated (don't have it in front of me right now, but 24 ft/lbs sounds right). The pin snapped before I even had full tension on the belt. Like Craig said, it may have been a bad run on them. I can't really complain though, because it's been a great tool for the last 2 years, and we still finished the job after it broke.

 

[Calan]

Damn, how tight are you guys making your belt tension? If I remember correctly it should only be torqued to 24 in/lbs.

Well I wasn't cranking on it.

That's why I think it was a hardening process issue with a batch of pins he got. It might have been tweaked a bit in the hole while I was holding the pulley tension and tightening it, but there wasn't much linear force on it at all.

Regardless, they are great tools well worth the price, and Jay has really good customer service from what I've seen.

 

[DSMunknown]

I will throw up a photo later to illustrate what I recently used, but here is my discriptive alternative.

I used an old metal protractor. Think of a pair of metal chopsticks connected at the top. We heated the ends and bent them at roughly a 90* angle. They fit like a glove. No need for me to go out and buy some special tool I'll only use a few times.

 

[lmtune]

Stupid question, where did you guys get your Jay's kit from?

 

[Calan]

ummmm... Jay's Racing

Timing Tools Kit

 

[DSMunknown]

Here is the tool I used.

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[Black94DSM]

^ With something like that how do you put the right amount of tension on the belt? There's a certain amount of force you need on the belt then you tighten the pulley down.

 

[DSMunknown]

I just used the drill bit trick to find the appropriate length between the tensioner and tensioner pulley arm.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Drill bits work, or you can use a 4mm allen wrench to check tension. If you have the long bolt inserted to hold the pivot bracket tight against the hydraulic tensioner, you don't need to put any pressure at all on the spanner wrench. If you guys are breaking the pins off the tool, you're obviously doing it wrong.
Tighten the bolt more, and you won't need to crank on the pulley to get correct tension.

By the way, I use a long bolt for my long bolt tool, a 90 degree pick to turn my pulley, and 17mm wrenches to hold my cams. It does sound convenient to have a nifty tool to hold the cam sprokets for me though, but I change timing belts on so many different kinds of cars, I can't justify buying a cam sproket holder for one kind of engine.

 

[turbosax2]

Jay said he hasn't heard of this happening before, and is sending just the replacement pin. I'm guessing he had a run of them with a problem in the hardening process...it snapped just like an overly-hardened and brittle piece of tool steel with very little force on it.

BS. I snapped 2 of the pins MONTHS ago in two separate timing jobs (one was my own dumb fault ). He replaced them free of charge for me too though

 

[Calan]

If you guys are breaking the pins off the tool, you're obviously doing it wrong.

Well at least two of us three with the broken pins obviously knows what we are doing...and I'm pretty sure that I have a fairly good handle on it as well.