1993 Mercury Villager Broken Cam Belt

SOURCE: Timing Belt

I have used the Haynes Repair Manual for the Mercury Villager to change the timing belt on my 1993 Villager, twice. I just finished last night with the latest change. I found the Haynes manual to be very useful. This is just an overview:
1. Jack up the the van and support it on jack stands. Remove the front passenger side wheel and 2 plastic splash sheilds.
2. Remove the two radiator hoses on the passenger side of the engine.
3. Remove the pulley from the water pump (4x 10mm bolts)
4. Remove the tensioner pulley, including the bracket, for the A/C compressor. (3x 12 mm bolts)
This one can be difficult because it requires a torx head to loosen the pulley and it's a very tight fit to get a torx in there. I ended up taking the torx head out of the socket then turning it with a 10mm wrench.
5. Remove all 3 drive belts.
6. Remove the crankshaft pulley. (1-1/16" bolt) You will need a good strap wrench to keep the pulley from turning or an impact to remove this bolt. You may be able to remove the pulley just by bumping it with a mallet, but you may need a gear puller.
7. Remove the timing belt cover, it has an upper and lower half and is held in place by several 8mm screws.
8. You will find that the timing belt pulleys on the both cam shafts and the crank shaft have a white paint mark on one tooth. Make sure the marks on the two cam shaft pulleys are in line with a "bump" mark on the back plate of the belt cover. The bump mark for the front cam is located at about the 2 o'clock position and the one for the rear cam is at about the 10 o'clock position. You will need a mirror and flashlight to see this one.
The crankshaft pulley mark lines up with a notch in the oil pan (I think it's the oil pan where the notch is, but you will see it at near the 6 o'clock postion.
9. My new timing belt was a DAYCO and it came with a good instruction sheet. The new belt has an arrow that should point AWAY from the engine. There are also 3 lines on the new belt that will line up with the lines on the timing belt pulleys.
10. The belt tension should be adjusted so that you get about 0.5" - 0.6" of deflection at the center between the two cam shafts.
Note: I recommend replacing both the tensioning pulley and water pump while you are in there.
A water pump is about $32 and the tensioning pulley is about $35 but it's money well spent.
I did NOT replace the tensioner pulley the last time I changed the timing belt, and that is what failed this time. I could have saved myself a lot of work if I had replaced the pulley the first time.

Hope this helps. I'd still buy the HAYNES manual.

SOURCE: Does a broken timing belt permanently damage a Mercury Tracer

depends on the Engine in the car.

1.9L SOHC (SEFI on Valve Cover)engine, no, they are non-interferance engines, put a new timing belt on it and go.

1.8 DOHC engine, yes, it will destroy the valves, head, pistons, and if really bad, the block too. These engines are interferance engines, where the valves just barely miss the piston as it comes up, and when the belt breaks it will hit the valves and destroy the engine.

SOURCE: Belt question

You should clarify which engine it is, and you can look under the hood near the radiator for the serpentine belt instillation diagram that is on a sticker. Rick

Ned White

• 2100 Answers
• Posted on Apr 01, 2010

SOURCE: putting on timing belt .

The crank has got to be at TDC, with the marks lined up, the cams have to be lined up to their marks, then the belt will line up, If it doesn't line up, You will be walking home. If you have the old belt handy and the marks are still visible, compare them to the new belt, make sure they are the same. Pull the pin on the belt tensioner and you should be all set. Hope this helps.

SOURCE: timing belt removal

Hi, Disconnect battery ground cable, then drain coolant. Remove accessory drive belts. Remove A/C compressor drive belt idler pulley (tensioner) bolts, then idler pulley (tensioner). Remove upper radiator hose bracket bolt. Loosen two upper radiator hose clamps, then remove upper hose and bracket. Remove coolant bypass hose between thermostat housing and intake manifold coolant outlet. Disconnect main wiring harness from upper front cover (timing belt) cover, then remove eight upper timing belt cover bolts, then the upper cover, Fig. 20. Raise and support vehicle. Remove right front wheel and tire assembly and splash shield. Use strap wrench tool No. D85L-6000-A, or equivalent, to hold water pump pulley while removing water pump pulley bolts. Remove water pump pulley from water pump. Remove crankshaft pulley. Remove five lower timing belt cover attaching bolts and the cover. Rotate crankshaft in a clockwise direction to align crankshaft and camshaft sprocket timing marks, Fig. 21. If timing belt is to be reused, mark direction of rotation. Loosen timing belt tensioner nut, then remove timing belt. CAUTION: With timing belt removed, avoid turning camshaft or crankshaft. If movement is required, exercise extreme caution to avoid valve damage caused by piston contact.
Take care