How hard to do a cambelt on a 96 Lancer?

Couple of hours. Change the water pump (flushing the system and refilling with coolant), cam seal and tensioner bearing at the same time.

easy on them! water pump is about $70, cam belt about $30, $50 for the tensioner/idler bearings, $15 for the cam and crank seals.

I would check the head gasket to see if it's leaking oil out of where the head meets the block, under the distributor and around where the oil pressure sender is. Usually the bellhousing will be covered in oil if that's the case. Very common fault for that engine and can only be rectified by fitting a new head gasket - I would check to see if this has been done.

Sweet thanks- better to check before starting the job! not like the bloody caldina I just did. I take it its not a motor out jobbie then! CRZYHRSE- yeah thanks for the advise, I always do these when I do a timing belt.

those 4G92 SOHC engines are really easy and straight forward. I think the most difficult part will be getting the crank bolt undone, the torque figure for them basically is 'f**king tight', but if you have a decent rattle gun and compressor it shouldn't be an issue. At least it's a manual, you could probably put it in gear and get a big power bar on it. Starter motor trick wont work on them, the starter is too small, unless of course the bolt wasn't done up tight enough when last off.

The alternator needs to move off its mounts too as it attaches to the water pump. I found the GMB pump I fitted was just a fraction of a mm wider than the original pump where the alternator bolts to it, which needed a little bit of filing to sort out.

I did mine (having only done one before) and it took me about 4 hours. It was really easy with plenty of room. I got my mechanic to loosen the crank bolt for me.