Questions about timing belt replacement

[DHC6twinotter]

Hey all,

I'll be replacing my water pump and timing belt sometime next week. I have a couple questions about the procedure:

1) The kit I have comes with a water pump gasket. Should I use this, or should I use FIPG like the FSM says to use?

2) I'd like to replace the oil seals on the front of the cams and maybe the crank, but I haven't found any info in the FSM about the procedure. Is this a pretty easy procedure, and does anybody have a write-up for this?

Thanks!
Daniel

[YotaFun]

1) USE THE GASKET! Toyota redesigned the pumps to use gaskets later on, all 3.4l pumps I have done come with a gasket now.
Stepdads as well as mine are both switched over.

2) Its fairly simple, To tell you the truth I didn't change mine or stepdads, and both of us have been lucky so far as to not be leaking.
Its really simple as taking a small screwdriver or pick and getting the seal out, then lubing up the new seal and slowly tapping it in.

Also fair warning, if you are doing the tensioner, be prepared to throw a few curse words around...

[CJM]

The tensioner sucks! You really need the special tool in all honesty.

[DHC6twinotter]

Thanks guys. I do have the tensioner tool, although I haven't decided whether or not I want to replace the tensioner. I'll figure that out once I get started. :hillbill:

So once I have the cam gears off, do I just take off the rear timing belt cover (the metal sheet metal plate), and pry out the cam seals? Is there anything else I need to remove?

On the crank seal, do I just pull off the crank gear to get to the seal?

Sorry about the dumb questions. :hillbill:

[DHC6twinotter]

So, apparently, putting my trans in gear isn't enough to keep the crank from turning when I try to loosen the crank bolt. Doh!

I hate setbacks, but so far, the 3.4 is definitely easier than the 3.0. Pretty easy up to this point....

[YotaFun]

have a breaker bar and who makes it?

[YotaFun]

The trick we do, while not highly recommended, is we take a break bar and rest it on the top of the frame rail on driver side of the truck and tap the key and use the engine to break the bolt loose...

Just a tap, then to put it back on we use what some of us have, a chain wrench that we can tighten as we pull on the torque wrench to get the pulley torqued down.

[DHC6twinotter]

Apparently, parking it in 5th gear works better than 1st. Bolt came right out. Piece of cake. Hopefully, putting it back on will be just as easy.

Avy, I used a Cobalt 1/2 drive breaker bar with a 19mm impact socket. The breaker bar isn't very long, so I put a pipe on the end of the handle.

I spent about 2 hours looking for my pulley puller, but can't find it anywhere. I'll just pick one up at Autozone's load-a-tool program. I have to get a torque wrench with a higher rating anyways.


Also, does the factory put pen marks on the timing marks? I noticed I had some pen marks on cam gears and the rear timing cover. Crank didn't have any marks.

[DHC6twinotter]

Cam seals=not fun. Easy to get to, but hard to get out. Mine aren't pulling out in one piece, but are coming apart like caulk on a window frame. Not sure what to do....

[DHC6twinotter]

I'm sitting here pondering this, and I have another question. Do the seals have a metal backing? Maybe I can drill into metal backing, insert a couple bolts, and pull it out....not sure....

[YotaFun]

Higher gear will def work, 3rd gear should be direct drive on that trans so that should have worked too.

What do you mean by pen marks?
I know they have a dotted line for crank timing and a solid line for cam timing on the belt itself, other then that there is a little dot on the crank gear to line up to and two lines on the cams, also the cam gears line up to spots on the back timing cover for TDC.

As far as getting the cam seals out. I have asked around and honestly no one has done them around here.

Look at your new seals Dan and see if the new ones have metal backings, that should answer your question.

[DHC6twinotter]

I have some yellow pen marks on the cam sprockets, rear timing cover, and a few other spots. I also noticed some white marks on some of the wire harnesses. It almost looks like it was from an inspection at the factory, but I dunno. To my knowledge, the only maintenance the prior owner did was oil changes and new starter contacts.

I wish I hadn't messed with the cam seals. I have a small oil leak on the passenger side, and I pulled the cam sprockets and rear timing cover off to determine if this leak was coming from the cam seal or the valve cover gasket. Turns out it's just the valve cover gasket, but I figured since I was there, I might as well put in new cam seals. Bad idea. Doh!

At this point, I'm leaning towards the idea of pulling off the valve covers and the camshaft cap (or whatever that's called). I think in the long run, this will save me some frustration and the valve cover gaskets are leaking anyways. Well see. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a very good mechanic, and everything is still a learning experience for me. :hillbill:

My water pump had a small leak, so I'm glad I'm getting it switched out before my cross country road trip coming up.

[04 Rocko Taco]

Funny thing about being a good mechanic Dan, the only way to get from a bad mechanic to a good mechanic is to BE a mechanic.

So this project has you well on your way!

[rworegon]

Did you put FIPG/RTV in the positions indicated on page EM-58 before placing the valve cover?
http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1996/SIL/techinfo.toyota.com/ileaf/02toyrm/02toypdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/em5vzfe/cylhea/inst.pdf

Post 30 shows the cam ands crank aligned at TDC. On the cams there should be lines in the gear right near/under the paint.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/84683-tb-hg-photo-timeline-2.html

Crank holding tool:
A easy holding tool to make up check out post #14 in the link below. It works great on crank and cam. I used a 4' piece of metal and hacked off 1' to make up the short leg.
http://www.yotatech.com/f116/3vz-rebuild-201583/

[DHC6twinotter]

Ok, got the seal out. I ended up pulling the valve cover and removing the camshaft bearing cap. Top half of the seal was then exposed, and it was super easy to get out.

I'm glad I decided to get the seal out this way. Saved me lots of frustration, and I'll have my leaking valve cover gasket replaced too. :thumbup:

Now I just have to figure out how to get the 3 spark plug tube oil seal thingies out of the valve cover. Doh!




Did you put FIPG/RTV in the positions indicated on page EM-58 before placing the valve cover?
http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/1996/SIL/techinfo.toyota.com/ileaf/02toyrm/02toypdf/02rmsour/2002/024runne/em5vzfe/cylhea/inst.pdf

Post 30 shows the cam ands crank aligned at TDC. On the cams there should be lines in the gear right near/under the paint.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/84683-tb-hg-photo-timeline-2.html

Crank holding tool:
A easy holding tool to make up check out post #14 in the link below. It works great on crank and cam. I used a 4' piece of metal and hacked off 1' to make up the short leg.
http://www.yotatech.com/f116/3vz-rebuild-201583/



Thanks. I haven't put my valve cover back on yet, but I'm aware that I'll need to use the FIPG in a few spots. I wasn't sure exactly where, so thanks for the link.

[Seanz0rz]

i used a big flat blade screwdriver to gently pry the spark tube seals out.

[DHC6twinotter]

Alright, got everything buttoned up. I haven't tried to start it yet because non of my electrical stuff works....HA. Doh!

Not sure why that is, but now I've got to figure that out. No horn, no interior lights, no headlights, and no power locks. Not sure about anything else.

More fun! Yay!

[YotaFun]

Dan is the battery hooked back up?
Everyone has the "D'OH!" moments.

Other then that check your fuzes.

[DHC6twinotter]

Avy, yeah it is. I never unhooked it.


Forgot to mention, I tried using that special tensioner tool, and it worked to push the tensioner in. However, my new belt was extremely tight to put on. After spending a hour or so trying to get the belt on, I gave up and just decided to remove the PS pump, AC compressor, and AC compressor bracket. It took a bit of time, but really wasn't that hard. I was then able to remove the tensioner, which allowed the tensioner pulley to move another 1/2inch or so. The belt was pretty easy to put on then, and now I have a new tensioner too. :thumbup:

My old belt must have stretched quite a bit. The new belt was definitely a lot tighter.

Anyways, all that is done...I've just got to figure out this electrical glitch. :chair:

[Seanz0rz]

dan, check the main fuses in the box behind the battery. they look alot like clear square lego's (2x2). you may have accidentally shorted something out and caused one of those to pop.

[CJM]

When i had mine apart I learned the same thing too. I finally took off the top idler and pushed with all my weight on it as I threaded it in slightly. Then I just tightened it by hand. It worked well but it took all 200lbs of me forcing it on.

[YotaFun]

Our trick in the shop,
Take the top idler off.
put the belt on and line everything up.
then sit the idler back on top and get the bolt in and snug it down.
then your good to go

[DHC6twinotter]

dan, check the main fuses in the box behind the battery. they look alot like clear square lego's (2x2). you may have accidentally shorted something out and caused one of those to pop.


Will do, I'll check that in the morning. Thanks!



When i had mine apart I learned the same thing too. I finally took off the top idler and pushed with all my weight on it as I threaded it in slightly. Then I just tightened it by hand. It worked well but it took all 200lbs of me forcing it on.




Our trick in the shop,
Take the top idler off.
put the belt on and line everything up.
then sit the idler back on top and get the bolt in and snug it down.
then your good to go



Thanks guys. I did take the idler pulley off, but there was no way I was going to be able to thread the bolt back in with the timing belt on. I put a lot of force on it, but the bolt holes were still 1/2inch off. Maybe I just didn't try hard enough.

After I took the tensioner out, the belt went on much easier, but I still removed the idler. Much easier doing it this way, imho.


Another "doh!" moment: When I finished replacing my valve cover gasket and everything put back together, I realized I forgot to hook up my spark plug wires. :chair:


Also, I've been driving around my 2nd gen while I've been working on the 3rd, and today I noticed my horn doesn't work. It worked 3 months ago when I had it inspected. Now I have that to fix. Yay! :laugh:

I will say that my 2nd gen has been awesome for me. I have driven it less than 200 miles in the past 18 months, and it still runs great and starts every time! It's got it's quirks that it has always had, but I'm impressed. Not bad for 223k. :hillbill:

Anyways, thanks for all the help, and thanks for putting up with my dumb questions. :D

[DHC6twinotter]

Fuses looked fine. :headscratch:

[Seanz0rz]

have you tried disconnecting the battery, leaving for a few minutes, then reconnecting? maybe that might work?

[CJM]

Yea trust me it took ALOT of force to get that bolt started. I basically put all my weight on it and was barely able to thread it on. Then I got a few threads started and walked it on really.

In my case I wasnt removing the tensioner or anything else if possible anymore.

[DHC6twinotter]

Ok, got it running. It runs GREAT! The idle is super smooth...I was pretty ecstatic at how well it was running. Idle was pretty good before, but the engine did vibrate a bit. Now, can't even tell it's running if all you do is look.

Not really sure what the electrical issue was. Probably me being stupid or something. I took the battery in to get tested, and it only had 3.5v. Got it charged and put back in and everything worked. The thing that threw me for a loop was I checked the battery voltage when I noticed everything was dead, and it had a full charge. Maybe I was tired and read something wrong...I have no clue. But anyways, it's running, and I was able to learn a bit about electrical. :hillbill:



Yea trust me it took ALOT of force to get that bolt started. I basically put all my weight on it and was barely able to thread it on. Then I got a few threads started and walked it on really.

In my case I wasnt removing the tensioner or anything else if possible anymore.


Yeah, I probably just didn't push down hard enough. I certainly didn't put my whole body weight on the pulley.

Again, thanks to everyone for the help, and thanks for putting up with my questions. :hillbill:

[YotaFun]

Dan, how are your connectors on the 4Runner?
And corrosion of that white powdery stuff?

I had a customer come in and both the positive and negative terminals were covered in corrosion, I tested the battery with my leads and it was reading fine so I just recommended cleaning it off.
After I did that the car would not start, all the corrosion was actually holding what ever was left of a charge to get it started...

[DHC6twinotter]

Nope, no corrosion.