Going West... Timing belt planning! I-10/I-20/I-40 in here!

RAF 3829 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:34 am

Any firm dates yet for May? I need to get one done in MD.

geordi · **Posted:** Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:15 pm

May is a possibility, I might be heading back to the NE around then. I may also have a feature film project around then, I have had several projects contact me recently. This could be a busy year! :juggle:

Final schedule and list coming shortly - If you didn't get on the list this time, please let me know. I am not opposed to another trip, but it will take as much planning as this one has, and may not be soon.

RAF 3829 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:46 am

I'll be watching for the dates. I'm at 89K, but coming up on 8 years, don't want to push my luck.

Driftless Tad · **Joined:** Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:54 pm **Posts:** 22

CPL wrote:

I am in Sioux Falls, SD and would be interested if your route takes you this way.

Dan

If you do a Chicagoland to South Dakota you will pass right by me and I would be VERY interested. I would wait a month or two. The calendar may say Spring but Old Man Winter's got his claws way stuck in us this year.

I have a barn and beer!

Tad

geordi · **Posted:** Mon Mar 24, 2014 12:35 am

Tad - Where exactly are you located? I am not going to Chicagoland on this trip, and Sioux Falls had to cancel too. There were a total of 5 stops in that area that could have happened, but none of them ever got back to me. I think the snow got them. :SOMBRERO:

Anyway, that just leaves it open for a possible future trip up I-75.

FINAL updated list for this trip. LOOK FOR YOUR CITY TO CONFIRM WHAT DAY IS YOURS. I will attempt to PM everyone, but you have no idea how crazy these last few days have been - I've returned to South Florida for just 48 hours, then leaving for this trip! Tuesday AM... I'm on the road!

Everyone is confirmed, thank you for that, and I will see you on these days and approximate times:
College Station, Texas: 27th of March (10am)
Austin, Texas: 28th (10am)
Austin, Texas: 29th (10am)
DALLAS, Texas: 30th of March (10am)
Scottsdale, Az: April 2nd (10am)
LA #1: April 4th (10am)
LA #2: April 5th (10am)

My conference in Vegas from the 7th to the 10th - This is locked.
PLEASE NOTE: Anyone below this line - These days are subject to weather changes. Tornader season is comin and winter ain't goin!

Prescott, Az: April 11th (1PM)
Albuquerque, Nm: April 13th (10am OR 1PM - Palm Sunday, so I can be flexible)
Wichita, Ks: 15th (10am)
Omaha, Ne: 16th (10am)
Chattanooga, Tn: 18th (10am)

Driftless Tad · **Joined:** Wed Jun 05, 2013 12:54 pm **Posts:** 22

geordi wrote:

Tad - Where exactly are you located? I am not going to Chicagoland on this trip, and Sioux Falls had to cancel too. There were a total of 5 stops in that area that could have happened, but none of them ever got back to me. I think the snow got them. :SOMBRERO:

Anyway, that just leaves it open for a possible future trip up I-75.

I am a few beautiful miles off of I-90 on WIsconsin's West Coast. Near La Crosse. If you are coming this way please keep me in mind. Thanks!

blackfin2 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 27, 2014 6:55 pm

I was Geordi's first stop in College Station. Big thanks to Geordi for getting my belt changed. Not only did I get the timing belt done, I also had the serpentine belt and pulleys replaced. Plus, he installed a stant in hose thermostat. I purchased all my parts from idparts.com, except for the Stant.

I'm a better than average mechanic, with more hours overhauling John Deere, Navistar, and Cummins motors than I care to admit, but I have ZERO experience with this small VM motor. Having a guy with Geordi's experience do this work is well worth his low price. (No offense intended)

Not only was it a bargain for the work, but I received invaluable pointers and recommendations that he has learned from the school of hard knocks. He gave my rig a complete look over, told what was normal, and showed me items of concern. He pointed out two parts that need replacement asap.

Plus, after the post install test drive, he also explained which noises and vibrations were good or bad, what to keep an ear or eye on for later on.

For those of you that need this work done, but decided not to, for whatever reason, GET ON THE LIST, it's more than worth it.

For me, all the extra information I received from Geordi was the true bargain way beyond the cover charge of the belt replacement.

Good luck to all,

Black

CIMARRON13 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 27, 2014 9:50 pm

blackfin2 wrote:

I was Geordi's first stop in College Station. Big thanks to Geordi for getting my belt changed. Not only did I get the timing belt done, I also had the serpentine belt and pulleys replaced. Plus, he installed a stant in hose thermostat. I purchased all my parts from idparts.com, except for the Stant.

I'm a better than average mechanic, with more hours overhauling John Deere, Navistar, and Cummins motors than I care to admit, but I have ZERO experience with this small VM motor. Having a guy with Geordi's experience do this work is well worth his low price. (No offense intended)

Not only was it a bargain for the work, but I received invaluable pointers and recommendations that he has learned from the school of hard knocks. He gave my rig a complete look over, told what was normal, and showed me items of concern. He pointed out two parts that need replacement asap.

Plus, after the post install test drive, he also explained which noises and vibrations were good or bad, what to keep an ear or eye on for later on.

For those of you that need this work done, but decided not to, for whatever reason, GET ON THE LIST, it's more than worth it.

For me, all the extra information I received from Geordi was the true bargain way beyond the cover charge of the belt replacement.

Good luck to all,

Black

He's changing mine tomorrow and can't wait to get some pointers as well.

geordi · **Posted:** Fri Mar 28, 2014 12:39 am

blackfin2 wrote:

I was Geordi's first stop in College Station. Big thanks to Geordi for getting my belt changed. Not only did I get the timing belt done, I also had the serpentine belt and pulleys replaced. Plus, he installed a stant in hose thermostat. I purchased all my parts from idparts.com, except for the Stant.

I'm a better than average mechanic, with more hours overhauling John Deere, Navistar, and Cummins motors than I care to admit, but I have ZERO experience with this small VM motor. Having a guy with Geordi's experience do this work is well worth his low price. (No offense intended)

Not only was it a bargain for the work, but I received invaluable pointers and recommendations that he has learned from the school of hard knocks. He gave my rig a complete look over, told what was normal, and showed me items of concern. He pointed out two parts that need replacement asap.

Plus, after the post install test drive, he also explained which noises and vibrations were good or bad, what to keep an ear or eye on for later on.

For those of you that need this work done, but decided not to, for whatever reason, GET ON THE LIST, it's more than worth it.

For me, all the extra information I received from Geordi was the true bargain way beyond the cover charge of the belt replacement.

Good luck to all,

Black

Much appreciated, and I'm happy to be able to help out the group of owners that Chrysler has abandoned. I also have your comments about the pricing "noted" :wink:

for the future. I'm not above accepting more, if your wallets are too heavy! :-)r

I already was considering what the rates should be for the next trip, everybody on this one is getting possibly an insane value for the work.

Cimmaron - See you tomorrow!

ibedonc · **Joined:** Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:40 pm **Posts:** 236

2 more jeeps good for another 100k

:rockon:

Very pleased , parked them side by side and I worked on one and Geordi did the other , Geordi did the timing part of both of them
6.5 hours for both, my 06 was missing the inter timing belt housing bolts !! , both of us were scratching our heads

had to find some bolts and cut them to fit , ( I am 17 miles from a Parts source)

it is much quieter now . wife even noticed that

it was making a noise like the alt coupler was bad , but it wasn't , now that eveything is tight , no noise

06 has 186k and 05 has 189k speedo (70k on reman motor)

jnuncio3 · **Joined:** Mon Feb 27, 2012 2:01 pm **Posts:** 4

Geordi did mine on Sunday and there is a noticeable difference in less noise, idles smoother, and a bit better acceleration. Well worth the change even with only 75k miles on it. Stop sitting on the fence about getting this done, here's another shove to help you decide. If you are not on geordi's list and are due or approaching change time, get geordi to start a new travel schedule.

Now it's time for me to install the Weeks Tube, steel glow plugs and oil drain vale today.
Cheers,

AZ CRD · **Posted:** Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:17 pm

Thanks geordi! You're the man.

For those of you who may have been wondering, he's everything he appears to be on the board--expert, personable and funny.

I'd like to pre-book for the 2022 tour.

SFHLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Thu Apr 03, 2014 10:25 pm

See you tomorrow, Jim! Looking forward to getting her done.

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 05, 2014 3:34 pm

Are you planning a may trip. Or would it be with the Wichita . I'm in Broken Arrow Ok.

Jr_Explorer · **Joined:** Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:29 am **Posts:** 16

Well ours is done. Found one VERY disappointing issue (not with Geordi!). I've had the box of parts for over a month. Pulled out the water pump and found that the flange on the toothed pulley was broken (it had been dropped somewhere along the line). Had I inspected it when I got it there was TONS of time to get it replaced but not on a Saturday with the car torn apart and the traveling mechanic on a schedule. I cleaned it up, polished off all the rough edges and we agreed better to put it in that leave the old one. Once we fired it up with the front cover off it became apparent the belt tracks well centered and about an 1/8" from said flange so it looks like it will be fine.

Note to others... Check each part in your kit for damage!

Other than that everything went well and Geordi is a wonderful person to work with. He was even patient as I changed out the thermostat from one side of the vehicle and then cleaned the MAP sensor from the other WHILE he was working from the front. And he didn't even charge extra for my "help"! LOL! Thanks again Geordi!

SFHLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2014 1:57 pm

^ Wow, that bites. I didn't examine my parts closely, either.

Nice to meet you Jim, and its nice to drive around with a little more peace of mind about the Italian Princess. Safe travels.

ibedonc · **Joined:** Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:40 pm **Posts:** 236

did any your tenioners have china made bearing instead of Japan , the ones I got where China

Jim noticed it on mine , it was the first he seen that

SFHLibertyCRD · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2014 6:23 pm

ibedonc wrote:

did any your tenioners have china made bearing instead of Japan , the ones I got where China

Jim noticed it on mine , it was the first he seen that

He did look at mine, he couldn't find the part where it said China, but he said it looked the same and didn't have Japan on it like the older one did.

AZ CRD · **Posted:** Mon Apr 07, 2014 9:04 pm

ibedonc wrote:

did any your tenioners have china made bearing instead of Japan , the ones I got where China

Jim noticed it on mine , it was the first he seen that

Mine was Chinese too though also Canadian. And, yes, I would prefer that all of my parts come from the German-Japanese-Italian axis.

Let's hope the Germans put the fear of god into the Chinese on the technical specs and they produced a reliable part. Germans do have the knack of persuasion.

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Apr 08, 2014 3:17 am

jlgail4309 wrote:

Are you planning a may trip. Or would it be with the Wichita . I'm in Broken Arrow Ok.

You have a PM, please let me know ASAP if you would like to join the list. It is possible to schedule it in... But time is short.

My thoughts about the tensioner bearing are this:

The original design was an NTN bearing from Japan, sourced by and for Litens and with their forged center section stamped "Made in Canada" and "Litens" laser-cut on the front side, pressed into the bearing in Canada.

The bearing is very large compared to the bearings for the camshafts or the idler pulleys - nearly twice the size. As such, it does not spin very rapidly during operation.

I have only seen ONE tensioner bearing with grease ejection, and it was neither a Japan NTN bearing nor this new Litens/China bearing. It was a no-name bearing that appeared similar, but lacked the Litens marks and the rear center appeared stippled as a sand-cast metal might without any finish milling or stamping. Cheap pot metal, basically. Clearly a knock-off.

The idler bearings however - Which ARE still genuine NTN Japan bearings in the boxes I have seen - Have ALL shown at least some minor grease ejection on at least one of the pulleys in each Jeep. Clearly, the faster-spinning idlers are suffering a bit more from having smaller bearings than the tensioner. There might not be much grease on the outside of the seal... But I don't like to see any. They might last another 40k miles... Or not. Once they start bleeding grease, the clock is running. This is why it is always worth changing them during the job.

Back to the tensioner. This new Litens/China combination doesn't thrill me, I would prefer to avoid China products wherever possible... But in this instance, I have little option for everyone other than to use these and hope that because they are still a Genuine Litens and the bearing seal is also branded Litens - That Litens themselves have taken seriously the quality control and this will be a quality part still. The centers are still made in Canada, this change was made BY LITENS themselves - Corey had no knowledge of it until I brought it to his attention on Friday.

Corey said that he would follow up on this, and I trust that he will. It isn't hard to imagine that we all will be curious about this, and he also doesn't want ANYTHING to do with another quality issue like those dreadful Crown water pumps.

FYI: The Graf water pumps are superb units, and I would strongly support using them in any appropriate application, CRD or otherwise. I've yet to hear of one fail out.

Going West... Timing belt planning! I-10/I-20/I-40 in here!

Who is online