Every 300tdi I have seen had 27mm bolt on the crank pulley. 200tdis have a 30mm.

This is weird,

was there a point when they that they used 30mm bolts, this is a 16L which is an early 300, is the thread the same does anyone know? suppose the only way to find out what is happening is to strip it apart.

Cheers

Well finally got my ass into gear to start the timing belt change. what did I find?

definitely a 30mm bolt in the crankshaft?? do not know why, but it appears to wrk so aint gonna change it.
used the breaker bar and chassis to loosen and then the air wrench.
Decided taking the rad off had to be the easiest way, found the oil cooler o rings were fubarred,

why do so many guides recommend taking the idle pulley off? only stuck bolt I had was in that had to grind it off. only to find it could of stayed on? :screaming_bug_eye_f

Also found the tensioner and crankshaft gear were the old style, with regard to the lip, so they are gonna be changed for the new style.

now all I have to do is wait for the parts to arrive and make up a puller bolts for the crankshaft gear, needs m5 bolts ( why oh why oh why).

The Timing belt housing appeared to have a bit of gunge in the bottom, also looks like a bit of belt rubber, not sure how much is a lot or normal, looks like the front side of the belt had been rubbing slightly on the tensioner lip.

All good fun.

Cheers

mmmm, not sure if this is good or bad??

Oh well will replace and bolt back together , new seals etc.

Crank pulley shouldn't be too hard to pull out using 2 M5 bolts and a couple of pairs of pliers. Some firm hand pressure should do it (worked for me a number of times).