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1.4 Turbo Timing Belt Renegade Dart 500

Did it yesterday - Went better then expected - Hardest part was figuring out how the air cleaner assembly gets removed LOL

Did not buy the special locking tools - Used a snap ring pliers for the tensioner - Did not remove the vacuum pump

Went with a Mopar Timing Belt - Was marked Gates - Factory tensioner was a GMB marked on back of bearing

Take your time , mark the crankshaft , mark the camshaft gear , precise , YOUR MARKING BOTH GEARS TEETH WHERE YOU DECIDE BEFORE REMOVING THE OLD BELT , then I continued the marked after the factory belt was removed - It’s either aligned or one tooth off after installation , saw zero reasoning for loosening the camshaft gear

Do your rotations for alignment of teeth and marks

Do your rotations for tensioner and proper tension

Factory belt did not look so good after 105,000 Miles - Peace

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Good job, the difference is no doubt the old belt stretched some...

adapt & overcome :thumbsup:

Did it yesterday - Went better then expected - Hardest part was figuring out how the air cleaner assembly gets removed LOL

Did not buy the special locking tools - Used a snap ring pliers for the tensioner - Did not remove the vacuum pump

Went with a Mopar Timing Belt - Was marked Gates - Factory tensioner was a GMB marked on back of bearing

Take your time , mark the crankshaft , mark the camshaft gear , precise , YOUR MARKING BOTH GEARS TEETH WHERE YOU DECIDE BEFORE REMOVING THE OLD BELT , then I continued the marked after the factory belt was removed - It’s either aligned or one tooth off after installation , saw zero reasoning for loosening the camshaft gear

Do your rotations for alignment of teeth and marks

Do your rotations for tensioner and proper tension

Factory belt did not look so good after 105,000 Miles - Peace

View attachment 1723574

View attachment 1723575

View attachment 1723576

View attachment 1723577
 
Bee1971 - did you replace the water pump too?

Wow - 105,000 miles that's 168,981 kilometers.
My 2013 dart only has 80,000kms which is 50,000 miles, I got a long way to go!
 
The tool kit for this job is under $40 on Ebay or Amazon and it locks the cam and crank in position. Makes the job less stressful and no need to mark anything. And changing the water pump just adds a few minutes.

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I finally got mine done at 113,000.

Followed most of the pdf @Bee1971 provided.

I did not remove the vacuum pump gasket, and it appears to have resealed.

I did use the $35 locking tool kit.

I also did not replace the water pump, as I don't like to tempt fate like that.

...and I did not loosen the cam pulley, although I do understand why that is part of the procedure and kind of wish I had done it.

I'm now at 115,500 and so far all is well.

Be advised you do need an "external torx" socket for the motor mounts.

That caused a one day delay for me.

Harbor freight has a nice deep set, Auto Zone has a cheaper, smaller, lesser quality short set.
 
The overhead cam 4.7 dodge V8 is kind of the same thing but it's chains. The cams want to turn off of where they belong without the chains being on the sprockets. They make a tool set to hold them in position or like most, use vice grips. What a set up!
 
I finally got mine done at 113,000.

Followed most of the pdf @Bee1971 provided.

I did not remove the vacuum pump gasket, and it appears to have resealed.

I did use the $35 locking tool kit.

I also did not replace the water pump, as I don't like to tempt fate like that.

...and I did not loosen the cam pulley, although I do understand why that is part of the procedure and kind of wish I had done it.

I'm now at 115,500 and so far all is well.

Be advised you do need an "external torx" socket for the motor mounts.

That caused a one day delay for me.

Harbor freight has a nice deep set, Auto Zone has a cheaper, smaller, lesser quality short set.
Make sure you follow the same procedure when you have to replace the WP in about a month!! You ALWAYS need to replace the WP when the TB runs it...
 
The overhead cam 4.7 dodge V8 is kind of the same thing but it's chains. The cams want to turn off of where they belong without the chains being on the sprockets. They make a tool set to hold them in position or like most, use vice grips. What a set up!
You can also pop a few offending rockers out.
 
Make sure you follow the same procedure when you have to replace the WP in about a month!! You ALWAYS need to replace the WP when the TB runs it...

It's already been two months.

If it wasn't bad before, why would it be bad now?

That's just a preventative maintenance option due to the disassembly time involved.

I chose to trust the OEM pump versus a replacement.
 
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Here's a potential pain point.

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In addition to the external T14 socket required, there's precious little clearance from the bolts that go into the block/head, and the frame rail.
Fortunately I had just bought an extension set at "yellow tag" pricing from Lowes and it had a super short one that I thought sure I'd never use....wrong.
Note third pic is looking up from inside the wheel well.
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Here's another-

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The circled bracket needs to be removed to get the vacuum pump off.
...but it's made so it blocks a wrench from being used from the top.
I had to go in from the side and take 1/16th turns. NOT fun.

So....I made a "modification" before reinstalling-

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WAY easier and could make almost 1/4 turns.

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...and speaking of that motor mount.....

There's zero clearance on one of the bolt landings for a ratchet.

There's even not enough for a closed end wrench with a large head (like a Gear Wrench)

I actually had to sand/wire wheel the outer circumference of this wrench to get it to work without binding.

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That one's gonna just have to be guessed at torque.
 
I used a strap wrench on the crank gear/balancer to turn the engine.

Didn't really see any other way.

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Glad I didn’t pull the vacuum pump , or bought the tools

Saw no reason to unless the belt broke or skipped a tooth

Anyways , passed 115,000 miles now

Fingers crossed for 200,000

Survived another WI Winter

Have had a few codes pop up this past winter

One was for a wheel speed sensor - Damn dash lit up with enough lights

Another was a turbo boost code - That one got me a little worried as power was down for a day

Both codes cleared and zero issues in the last few months - Still scratching my brain

Another weird issue is the cruise control won’t turn on every once in awhile , after it was on and then turned off , won’t come back on until the car is turned completely back off
Manual transmission





Car runs great though LOL
 
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Glad I didn’t pull the vacuum pump , or bought the tools

Saw no reason to unless the belt broke or skipped a tooth

Anyways , passed 115,000 miles now

Fingers crossed for 200,000

Survived another WI Winter

Have had a few codes pop up this past winter

One was for a wheel speed sensor - Damn dash lit up with enough lights

Another was a turbo boost code - That one got me a little worried as power was down for a day

Both codes cleared and zero issues in the last few months - Still scratching my brain

Another weird issue is the cruise control won’t turn on every once in awhile , after it was on and then turned off , won’t come back on until the car is turned completely back off
Manual transmission





Car runs great though LOL
Could it Bee a ground somewheres?
 
It's already been two months.

If it wasn't bad before, why would it be bad now?

That's just a preventative maintenance option due to the disassembly time involved.

I chose to trust the OEM pump versus a replacement.
I’ve taken that same gamble 3 or 4 times, so far I haven’t regretted it.
 
Glad I didn’t pull the vacuum pump , or bought the tools

Saw no reason to unless the belt broke or skipped a tooth

Anyways , passed 115,000 miles now

Fingers crossed for 200,000

Survived another WI Winter

Have had a few codes pop up this past winter

One was for a wheel speed sensor - Damn dash lit up with enough lights

Another was a turbo boost code - That one got me a little worried as power was down for a day

Both codes cleared and zero issues in the last few months - Still scratching my brain

Another weird issue is the cruise control won’t turn on every once in awhile , after it was on and then turned off , won’t come back on until the car is turned completely back off
Manual transmission





Car runs great though LOL

I occasionally get a "service parking brake" code that also disables the cruise control.

Turn off and back on has reset it several times.

Happens maybe once a quarter or less.

I'm going on year 8 on this 10 year old car at 115,500 miles.

Other than oil and filter, tires, timing belt, wiper blades, and a wheel sensor-

Zero maintenance expense.

One "false code" that tells me the license light is out.

Not bad.
 
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