I did a Fiesta ST Timing Belt, Here are my observations (and problems)

[madhatter]

get the right kit. i'm buttoning up mine now and i've now gone through two (!) crank pulley holder tools. the first one was too long and was not removable once the pulley was snugged up, the other was the right length, but the tooth that holds the pulley wasn't long enough and i had to shim it with washers to get it to engage the back of the pulley. what a CF. how there can be that many poorly manufactured tool kits out there is astounding. the pulley removal tool also was the wrong size and i had to go get a 3 jaw puller to get the pulley off the crank.

this job is a real PITA. at least when i pull something apart it comes apart ok. the original belt looked good and isn't cracked. even the serpentine belt looks new at 146k miles. The axle seals though are done and i had to get more, which is delaying finishing the job, and i'm looking at a small amount of carbon build up in cylinders 1 and 4 that i'll probably do a cleaning on before the intake manifold goes back on. Cylinders 2 and 3 look really good fwiw.

 

[oaebcr]

get the right kit. i'm buttoning up mine now and i've now gone through two (!) crank pulley holder tools. the first one was too long and was not removable once the pulley was snugged up, the other was the right length, but the tooth that holds the pulley wasn't long enough and i had to shim it with washers to get it to engage the back of the pulley. what a CF. how there can be that many poorly manufactured tool kits out there is astounding. the pulley removal tool also was the wrong size and i had to go get a 3 jaw puller to get the pulley off the crank.

this job is a real PITA. at least when i pull something apart it comes apart ok. the original belt looked good and isn't cracked. even the serpentine belt looks new at 146k miles. The axle seals though are done and i had to get more, which is delaying finishing the job, and i'm looking at a small amount of carbon build up in cylinders 1 and 4 that i'll probably do a cleaning on before the intake manifold goes back on. Cylinders 2 and 3 look really good fwiw.

What kit name did you get? I need this done soon, but with the problems and difficulty described in this thread I think I’ll get a shop to do it. Thanks for the heads up

 

[madhatter]

this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NB6TCXK
its rubbish. the flywheel locking tool and the crank pin work though.

this is the only-slightly-less-useless crank pulley holder:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B977W7S4
two washers, and this one is good. stupid though that Ford won't sell their kits through dealers, and there are so many crap toolkits that finding a decent one is so difficult.

 

[HAHAFiST]

DId anyone here struggle with getting their crank pulley off the shaft? Mine is seized even with the stretch bolt removed. I'm looking at some pullers that can pull from the insider of the pulley currently.... and getting a map torch.

 

[madhatter]

me. i had to go buy a 3 jaw puller, because the harmonic balancer puller that came in my useless tool kit for the timing belt job didn't fit either. 3 jaw puller was the trick, just hated to walk away from the job to get to the autoparts store.

make sure you've got the flywheel holding tool in and the butterfly on the cams, as well as the pin on the crank. even with the 3 jaw puller, i had to spin the pulley on the crank in both directions, twisting it back and forth while pulling it off. I did use a heat gun and some PB blaster before i went to the parts store to get the puller. leaving that sit probably helped as much as anything else. probably the hardest part of the job. hang in there!