Unscrew And Remove The Engine Mounting Front Stud

[philp1863]

To change cam belt of focus TDDI I need to unscrew and remove the engine mounting front stud. The stud has a torx end fitting. I will need a female torx fitting to remove it. I have read elsewhere that a good way of removing studs is to use two nuts tightened together. Would it be a bad idea to try this method or should I just byte the bullet and get a female torx set. I dont want stripped threads or broken studs for the sake of 10 quid or whatever, even if I am probably unlikely to use the torx set ever again. Sorry if this a very basic question, but I am not a mechanic and just want to try and avoid problems

Thanks for reading this.

[dezwez]

I would uses the right tools saves you hours in the long run

[philp1863]

Thanks Dezwez, I have taken your advice and bought a set of eight female torx sockets for £6 (including postage) online(cant complain about that). I intend to start dismantling the focus engine on Monday to do the cam-belt. . I hope to get the torx set on Tuesday to take the stud out.. Thanks for taking the time to replay.

[STEADS]

Make sure you use the correct locking tools for the crank/cam/and pump if theres no woodruff key in the crank pulley its known as a floating crank do not attempt if crank is not locked prior to dismantling (dont ask) not sure if this is the case on the focus motor just that i did a belt on a 51 reg clio dci once got it all ready went to take the cog off and noticed no woodruff key thought i had lost it myself some how any way rang renault and was informed there wasnt one it was a floating crank unfortunatly for me timing had already moved only slightly but enough to clatter the pistons and valves on restart. cost me a new motor (cheaper option) just something to be wary of.

[dezwez]

good luck hope it goes well

[philp1863]

Thanks STEAD & dezwez

I have bought the special timing tools used for the Focus. I first located TDC using the TDC pin. I then locked the cam shaft using the flat bar. I then removed the starter and put the special locking tool to lock the flywheel. So hopefully nothing will move!!!???

The only slightly worrying thing was that the bar that locks the cam shaft slid 95% in (at TDC)by hand, but was not easy to get in the last 5%. It would go if I tapped it in, but loath to do that. But I have tripple checked that the engine is at TDC. When turning the crank I could here it tapping the TDC pin, so we are talking a very very tiny amount here.....am assuming that that is normal? Anyway today I am hoping to change the belt with everything locked in place.

STEAD you have scared me a bit, but I think that I am ok....I'm following the HAYNES manual....eek!!! Gulp!!!

Thanks again for your help

[STEADS]

Didn't mean to scare you just better safe than sorry like I was hope it all goes to plan let us know if it does

[artscot79]

hopefully you are replacing the whole cambelt kit and not just the belt on its own

[philp1863]

Hi artscot79

Thanks, yes I am replacing the belt and the tension-er.

Having said that I have hit a bit of a problem with this stud that I need to remove. The stud that I was not particularily bothered about coming out came out with no problem. The one I need to get off in order to take the cover off wont budge. I've bashed it, heated it and it wont move. Unfortunately the torx part of the stud has now broken off...oh boy. Bad day!!!! So I now have to make some choices and I would really appreciate other peoples thoughts. Tonight I will put some easing oil on it and leave overnight, and apply a few times tomorrow and use two nuts tightened together to try and see if the stud will shift. I think probably not.... but got to try. Failing that then I could

1. Put a stud remover on and completely rip the thread in the hope that the extra force might shift it...dont really want to do that because if the stud breaks or refuses to come out then i'm in real trouble.

2. I dont know about this, and this is where I really would like someone who knows about the TDDI engine. A great solution for me would be to remove the engine support from the engine...it looks like it might only be three bolts holding it on to the right of the engine...but that just seems too easy, and I cant easily tell if there are any other inaccessible ones. I asked a chap at Halfords that used to work at Ford (although in the commercial part) and he said that he believes that there are only the three bolts...but he was not 100% sure. The Haynes manual does not help me here. Tomorrow I might try and free them, just in case that works, I just hope that they are not doing anything else.....does anyone know?

3. Not nice, but simply cut a hole in the cam belt cover to slip the cover over the annoying stud and use arrildite to mend the cover after I have changed the belt. The broken stud is still useable for the engine mount.

Thanks again to everyone for there input

[philp1863]

Hi everyone

I just thought that I should spend a few moments letting everyone know how I got on in the end. I'm not a mechanic, but I like to have a go at things if I can. Thanks to everyone above who gave there help and comments. It took me about 6 days to do the job, but most of the time was spent by me trying to guess the best way forward to overcome problems/issues that I had (I dont know any mechanics that I can ask). The car is now sorted and is running well and all now looks good :D. I thought that I would quickly list the problems that I had in case someone else wants to have a go and come across the same problems I did.

I found the Haynes manual very good...I tryed to follow it exactly, although I did read other notices about how to install the new cambelt with the correct tension. Before I did this job, my main concern was around getting the tension correct on the new cambelt.

The first problem I came across was how to locate and remove the blanking bolt in order to put the TDC pin in. With the alternator there (even with the auxillary belt pulley removed) I could not get my hands in to feel where this bolt was and I was concerned that I would not be able to put the bolt back or lose it completely (drops down and lodges itself somewhere). My philosophy through out the job, was to always feel that I could at worst put the car back together if I just could not do something. So in my case I also took the alternator right out, which made life a lot easier for me, I could now put my hand in and feel the bolt head fairly easily and remove it with confidence. Now I would probably have a go with alternator in place, knowing full well that if I had a problem I would simply remove the alternator anyway. Having said that I did not find removing the alternator easy...The top bolt was a little difficult to get at (using a apanner, my sockets would not go on it)....it just needs patience. I spent a day thinking about whether to proceed because the top bolt does not have room to come out completely, it was not until after I removed it that I discovered that the top alternator support has a channel cut into it to allow the bolt to slide out. Not knowing this and the fact that the alternator was tightly fixed in and there not being much room I was a little worried about using a bar and gently levering the alternator out. As soon as it came free I felt much more confident (although putting back at the end of the job was also not easy..in my case just patience).

The second problem was sods law... I removed the right hand engine mount. I needed to remove one of the studs in order to get the cover off. The stud I was not bothered about coming out, came out with the bolt, the one I needed to get out was seized solid. Hence this topic. I heated it, I used release oil, I used an impact screwdriver, I could not get it to budge...I probably spent two days thinking about this and discussing it with people at Halfords. I actually broke the torx top off of the stud,( luckily not badly enough to render it unusable) In the end I very simply used a hot knife and cut a little rectangle from the cover and slid the cover out over the stud. It was so easy!!! After everything was put back together I had an 1/2 inch by 1 inch hole that I covered using some black plastic from another engine cover and glued it over the hole. It might not have been what a garage would do, but it worked perfectly for me.

Interestingly when I looked at the old cambelt, it did not look bad at all. The car has done 90000 miles and is 12 years old, and yet that cambelt looked like it could have gone for a lot longer!!! On the other hand the auxiliary belt looked a little worse for wear (it looked like it was beginning to perish). I had to do three attempts to tension the new belt up before I could get it to settle at the right tension, I just hope it stays at that tension. I'm off to York in it next Wednesday, so I hope that it behaves itself.

Again thanks for every-bodies help. my next job is now going to be my wifes fiesta.

Thanks again

[dezwez]

:) glad it went well

[artscot79]

the belt will easily do more than 100k the tensioner however does not and almost always when the belt snaps its due to the tensioner ceasing or failing hence why i asked if it was a full kit or not