Cam belt change on 1.8 DOHC Z18XE engine

Hi all,
Can anyone tell me if you have to remove the crankshaft pulley on the Z18XE
engine as fitted to the Zafira when changing the cam belt or can the pulley
remain attached ?

Gio

 

Pulley needs to come off.

 

Thanks for that info, to be honest that was not what I wanted to hear :-(
Being an auto gearbox and trying to lock the engine in order to loosen the
bolt will be a real pain.
Gio

 

Ouch!

FWIW, the bolt unscrews anti-clockwise, as a normal bolt would. I'm
mentioning this as you might struggle and wonder if you are turning it the
correct way.

Mr Haynes's book of jokes says " On automatic transmission models prevent
rotation by removing one of the torque converter retaining bolts and bolting
the drive plate to the transmission housing using a metal bar, spacers and
suitable bolts". Not good.

If you are still going to do it yourself and dont fancy the above, you could
try holding one of the camshafts with a spanner (they have flats on them for
just this purpose) and either undoing the bolt, or maybe giving it a wack
with an impact driver. Again, not good, and I personally would not recommend
it, but its for you to decide if its worth it, or just give up and send it
to a garage (but who is to know if they will do someting similar)

Mike

 

Thanks Mike knowing for certain which way the bolt rotates for removal is a
big plus. I can remember the 1st time I did a belt change on my Citroen BX
diesel and having to get a large extension (piece of pipe) onto the Tommy
bar to release the bolt. Its times like that you begin to question the
thread direction of the bolt and have visions of it shearing.
Silly me thought that Vauxhall would have enabled the flywheel ring gear to
be easily locked via perhaps an accessible cut out in the bell housing. As
you say, I wonder what the garage would do ?

Gio

 

The direction of the bolt is counter-intuitive, as the direction of rotation
would act to loosen the
bolt. I learned all this the hard way when our 2000 zaf 1.8 eco snapped its
belt. Nothing in the haynes book at all. I really cant think of any other
way out of your problem.

Mike

 

Just to let the group know, it has been suggested that Vauxhall use a
flywheel locking tool KM 911 inserted into a plugged hole on the underside
of the bell housing. I was also told Sealey produce a similar tool VS1282
although their spec sheet indicates it is for 1.4 and 1.6 engines.

Gio