Thought that I'd give a little update and my timing belts. Completed the rear one today and what a job it was, awful for someone with long arms and big hands. The write up on the How-To section is pretty accurate, with the exception for a few things, however using intuition you can find a solution.

When the battery is removed and all the cables are moved to the offside/drivers side of the engine bay, there still isn't enough space to get your hand and arm into the back of the engine bay, where the timing belt cover is. So you've got to move the black metal coolant pipe out of the way and in order to do this it has to be unbolted. Quite a tight space to get a 10mm spanner into, let alone rotate but patience wins. I also had to move the electric cable that runs parallel to this coolant pipe, which is taped to a metal bracket that is screwed to the engine bay and removing that bracket was a pain in the rear end.

Once this was all out of the way, time for the 4th cup of tea and lunch, ready for what I knew was going to be an awful experience. Getting the tensioner off and belt was easy. Putting the new belt on was easy. However putting the new tensioner on was AWFUL. You have to hold the belt taut whilst at the same time guide the tensioner into the slot, all with one hand and not being able to see a thing! I simply couldn't use two hands, in fact I could just about get one arm down there. So what I ended up doing, after half an hour, was loop a bit of string around the bottom of the new belt whilst in situ, directly above the hole for the tensioner, and get my dad to lift it taut. This way I could slot the tensioner into place and hey presto. Unloop the string, screw the tensioner into place, remove the tension key and put everything back into place.

Total time with tea and lunch and 30 minutes on the phone to a buddy about how we're going to take over the world: 6 hours!!!!!!! Yes, I'm not a pro but it goes to show that it can be done, even by a novice mechanic.

Wednesday: front belt to do. Recently bought a 2007 RRS HSE TDV6 for a Pimp-My-Ride-Project.
DONE: Meduza front bumper, AB rear bumper, AB tailpipes, calipers repainted, rear upper tailgate upgrade, side steps, AB front grille, AB side vents, rear LED lights, clear side repeaters, integrated daytime running lights, LED headlights.
TO DO: color code sills and pillars.

Last edited by tanloverluke on Tue Aug 09 2016 9:40am. Edited 1 time in total

Designers of cars should be made to service them for a week to understand the ramifications of their silly design decisions. 07MY RRS TDV6
Arctic Frost
Aspen Interior

Oh joy.

Well at least you didn't have to take the body off !

I did my front one first.

When I saw the gap I was contemplating just doing the front, but tenacity/stupidity got the better of me Recently bought a 2007 RRS HSE TDV6 for a Pimp-My-Ride-Project.
DONE: Meduza front bumper, AB rear bumper, AB tailpipes, calipers repainted, rear upper tailgate upgrade, side steps, AB front grille, AB side vents, rear LED lights, clear side repeaters, integrated daytime running lights, LED headlights.
TO DO: color code sills and pillars.

Just a thought but is it the sort of space you might get a g-clamp into to provide tension on the belt?

I'm not so sure about a g-clamp. The reason I chose string is because of the thickness, it didn't impede me slotting the tensioner into place. Anything over a few mm in thickness, between the belt and the tensioner, and it may not work. Recently bought a 2007 RRS HSE TDV6 for a Pimp-My-Ride-Project.
DONE: Meduza front bumper, AB rear bumper, AB tailpipes, calipers repainted, rear upper tailgate upgrade, side steps, AB front grille, AB side vents, rear LED lights, clear side repeaters, integrated daytime running lights, LED headlights.
TO DO: color code sills and pillars.

Thanks for the tip about the string.

I marked where the tensioner bolt hole was on the engine and so put the string there and tied it off on the front of the engine.

The thread hole for the tensioner was problematic.