davy83
Member
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This is possibly a little eliteist.
it is true that the valve timing is legendary for being out. However it is not neccessary to check the valve timing in order to replace the timing belt, and I would be less critical of a garage or an individual changing the timing belt as a major service job without checking valve timing. I am not sure given the belt is supposed to be changed every 3 years, that the valve timing needs looked at every three years. The valve clearances need checked although the wear on these seems not to be a huge issue.
There is quite a bit of hardware to remove to get into the timing belt, but the job itself is not rocket science. The timing set up against the cam pulleys is well described in the workshop manual and is fairly easy to get set up right. I would advocate replacing the tensioner and pulleys perhaps every second belt change (so every 6 years), and depending on the mileage of your car also consider the water pump, as these are known to start having problems above 60k miles. you also need a plan for locking the flywheel to get the main crank pulley off.
The rest of the job is pretty straightforward, if time consuming its a few days work. I tend to just take whatever time it takes and never tackle it when i don't need the car any time soon.
