I did the 80K service yesterday with the help of an Indy mechanic. I rented the special tool kit from Blauparts. While the repair is fresh in my mind, I thought I would share some of the things I learned:

1.) There are SO many freakin' screws. Next time I would do a better job keeping track of the screws I took off. I actually forgot to put back two side screws for the front end and I already had the bumper cover back on, so I have them in a jar waiting for the next time I take the damn thing apart.

2.) The bumper support tools are nice. Don't use them for the repair. Keeping them on turns the absolutely no room into just a little room. I just put a big bucket under the front end and dropped the front end underneath the car a bit. I did use the supports for putting it back together. They held the front end out a bit while reconnecting all the hoses and electrical crap.

3.) It was SO worth buying the "recommended" parts, like tensioner pulleys, water pump, thermostat, etc. It added a little labor, but man, I do not want to be ***** deep in this car again. Cheap insurance...

4.) The instructions I had said that I needed to take off the rear passenger side cam shaft cover to replace the water pump. This was not true. Maybe, somehow this makes it easier, but not having to worry about the adjustment of the cam shaft pulleys was SO nice.

5.) The main crank shaft locking tool was a nice touch, but finding where to install it and having to remove the aux water pump was not something I wanted to do. The cam shaft lockers on the other hand ARE AWESOME. DO NOT ATTEMPT this job without them. We went ahead and did the repairs sans the crank shaft locking pin. We then put the main pulley back on along with the cover and reset the timing to dead center. While this added a little bit of "accuracy needed", it was well worth not having to mess with finding and gaining access to the crank shaft locking hole.

6.) Make sure the kit has the cam shaft cover seals and the main crank seals. Mine were totally on the verge of failure. Some people have mentioned not replacing them.

7.) On that note, yes, you need to take off the cam shaft covers

8.) This is a primo time to do the spark plugs while you are at it, so make sure you have a set.

9.) The kit and water pump does not come with sealant. Be sure to get some before going at it.

10.) Without the crank shaft seal remover tool I have no idea how you would get the seal out. Oh, and when using that tool, crank the threads into the seal more than you think. When the tension starts, you have several more turns. It took me 3 attempt to get the bugger out. That tool is very cool!

11.) Before rotating the main crank get a grease pencil out and mark everything so you give yourself real assurance that the belt is on right and after 2 revolutions everything should be lined up the way it was. Oh, and if you are removing the spark plugs, do that before you do this step, it will make turning the crank a lot easier.

12.) You WILL need coolant. I had 4 liters. I used 3. I could have flushed the system with the extra liter...

13.) No is a good time to inspect everything: PS pump, lines, etc.

That is about it. Good luck. I would not attempt this job solo. It took 7 hours, and we did the water pump, thermostat and spark plugs on top of the normal timing belt stuff.

 

Nice suggestions and congratulations on a tough job. BTW, my experienced indie shop charged me 6 hours to do mine (no spark plugs) and they've done a lot of these.

 

I agree. If you don't complete the job right away, or you don't place separately by "categories", a good idea is to have sandwich bags and some self-adhesive labels or post-it labels and mark each bag as to where the bolts/screws belong to.

Agreed again. Thank god my seal doesn't leak.
Probably it may work drilling two holes in it, screwing in a couple of sturdy screws and then pull on both of them with pliers, channel locks, or something of that nature (in which case the front end - bumper, radiator, fans, etc - should be out of the way)

good job. you saved yourself quite a bit of money.

 

I recently did the same thing on my '99 2.8L. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the Blauparts kit. I went ahead and took care of the valve cover + cam chain tensioner gasket as well. One of the things that I have found that really helps with the bolts is to use one of those cheap bolt bins with the clear plastic trays. I just mark the tray with a sharpie to remind me were they go (something I picked up from work). A quick wipe with alcohol or brake cleaner takes it off, and it is good to go for the next project.