renault Clio timing

[overider]

Hi, I am refitting a timing belt on the wife’s Clio following a snapped belt.
Does anyone have a manual showing the timing marks and how they should be lined-up? (A drawing would be good) The only mark I can see is on the crankshaft pulley. It has a 'V' & an 'O' opposite each other on the pulley. However, I cannot see any marks to line them up to.

[WPR678B]

I had a similar problem with an Espace we had. The timing on that was set with a dowel inserted into the crank through the side of the block and a special bar that aligns the cams. To access the cam timing you have to remove the 2 oil seals in the end of the head (right hand end).
This was on a 2.0 petrol 1999 v-reg Espace. You do not say what fuel or engine size you have.
If the belt snapped when running as ours did, i would forget it mate as our espace ended up having £2400 of work done on the engine which cost me my Moggy pick up as i had to sell that to pay the bill
It is a sore point to this day!
I managed to re-time it and fit the new belt ok, but a compression test after showed ZERO compression in ANY cylinder. I will never buy that make of car again!

[bmcecosse]

Most cars with timing belt drive to OHC - self destruct the valves and pistons when the belt snaps. Head off to check before doing any work I would say. This is why there is now a reversion to good old 'chain drive' for OHC engines. Very much more reliable in the long term.

[overider]

Soz, the Clio is petrol 1999 on a V plate and is 1149 cc.
The engine turns manually ok. When I turn the cam pulley it turns ok but then jumps forwards as if it is then spring loaded into a set position.
Don’t know if that is normal or not.

[WPR678B]

The engine on ours turned over fine as well which is why i was hopeful and went to the trouble of fitting a new belt and timing it up. The jumping of the cam pulley is normal. I got the details of how to set the timing from a friendly local garage who told me before i started what i would find, but you have to live in hope!
I was given an estimate of £1850 for the work which is why i went ahead (paid £8500 for the car 2 years previous! ), but due to unforseen work the bill kept climbing ( i was consulted every step of the way). Had i known it would end up so much i would have got a replacement unit secondhand!

[alex_holden]

due to unforseen work the bill kept climbing ( i was consulted every step of the way).

Similar story with one of my parents' previous cars. There was a bent guard or something rubbing on the timing belt that caused it to fray and snap on the way home from Wales. The repair bill climbed in several stages to something shocking, and even after they had finished the job it took several return visits to the garage before they managed to solve the problem of the guard rubbing on the belt.

On another car of my mum's (a Fiesta IIRC) the belt snapped while idling at the traffic lights and incredibly nothing was damaged - it just cut out and wouldn't restart.

I'm not a fan of timing belts. Chain drives are much more reliable even if they can be a bit noisy when worn.