Timing Belt job

[ARCHINSTL]

So - what was your OE sourcing/prices? Ain't gonna hurt no body's feelings.
Tom M.

[deejay1272]

Our friends at Conicelli (www.partznet.com). Other than the occasional massive price gouge, I like the experience of ordering with this shop. Just don't plan on doing valve seals through them....go for Napa if possible.

I do however feel good that I got a true OEM Toyota thermostat and water pump....this will give me further peace of mind as I'm climbing mountain passes or driving on remote and deserted roads during camping season.

[tercel4wdrules]

I did a timing belt job on my silver '84 SR5 a few years ago, this was my first major repair on my own. At first I thought it was a cam seal leak that was causing a leak at the front, but looks can be deceiving. When I began to tear it all apart I found out it was just a regular valve cover gasket leak near the front cam bearing post. The thread describing my learning and mistakes are somewhere in the forums. I used the breaker bar lodged against the floor and it took one quick bump of the starter to loosen the front crank pulley bolt. I used a puller to remove the harmonic balancer. I bought a new timing belt tensioner from a local parts store. I can't remember how much I paid, but nearly 38k miles later, it's still quiet. I replaced the previous one since it was a bit noisy. Also, I got a new timing belt tensioner spring from Toyota, the old one was definitely weak and I just let the spring tension the belt and that was good enough. I skipped replacing the water pump, but ended up having to replace it a few years later, however, it's easy not to disturb the timing belt while performing the water pump replacement. To tighten the front crank pulley bolt, I just put the trans in 5th gear and blocked the tires and torqued the bolt to the FSM specs. Some suggest against this since you're putting a load on the trans greater than the nominal stock engine output torque.

Good luck!

[8liter]

Here is what was causing my timing issue.....



Ever seen this before? The key was fine on the balancer side,, but was tore up on the gear side. It did a number on the gear too. The balancer bolt was on tight enough I had to use a breaker to get it loose.

Guess I'll be hitting up Toyota in the morning....

[Petros]

Wow, I wonder how that happened. Is the key sheared off too? it is hard to tell from the photo. I have seen this before but never on a toyota.

Those at least would be inexpensive parts at a wrecking yard if you have one nearby. Any 3A or 4A engine should use the same gear and key.

I take it the slot in the crank is fine? If not clean it up with a file and than insert the new key with loc-tight or epoxy and than slide the new gear on it, get the pulley on and torque it down before it sets up. Should help prevent that from happening again.

[8liter]

The keyway is fine. Is the gear still available? Ive looked but cant find it on toyotapartszone. The engine has had some runon issues after the key is off, I wonder if that contributed to the failure?

[Petros]

yes, that is where I have seen it before. Often the last "bang" will spin the engine backwards, the whip-lash of the crank would very well shear it off. It is possible to get a harmonic amplification when that happens. Better clean up the carbon in the combustion chambers (can be done with chemicals without removing the head) and make sure you get at the cause and fix it.

That might be a junk yard part only. It would be pure luck if any dealers to still stock parts for an engine that was last made 24 years ago, especially parts that seldom fail.

[ARCHINSTL]

Butler in Indy (close to KY) has it for $15.71.
Tom M.

[ARCHINSTL]

What I just received from Butler upon inquiry of the price of the valve seals:
Tom,
That is the correct price, retail is $10.89 each. There are only 35 left in the nation, too.
Good to hear from you, hope all is well.
Dan
Tom M.

[deejay1272]

I'm in the middle of my timing belt, water pump, thermostat job and I came across a fatal problem today: a bolt that has had its head sheared clean off. The problem-child bolt is one of the four smaller 12mm bolts that is right on the crank pulley.



Closer photo:


Keeping in mind that I'm doing this work in an area with no electricity (apartment building parking garage), what are my options now? I imagine that I will have to find a way to drill this out, but how exactly is this done? You can imagine how excited I was to find this little nugget earlier today...






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I'm also concerned about the fact that my engine compartment (specifically, under the timing belt cover) is REALLY oily and dirty. I suspect that this is caused by a camshaft oil seal leak and/or a crankshaft oil seal leak. What are some other possible sources of oil leaks near the front of my engine? (I've already ruled out the valve cover - I recently replaced the gasket).

Here is a photo of the front of my head/block

[Petros]

the front main crank seal and/or cam seal are most likely source. I could be coming from the oil pan gasket or oil pump gasket (the oil pump is right behind the large pulley), but that is much less common.

It is not that difficult to remove the the broken bolt without power tools, but it would be much easier if you remove the front pulley (which you need to do to replace the belt and front seal anyway). Soak it in penetrating oil (ATF works great) and take a sharp chisel and hammer and tap the end of the bolt in a way so it forces it to unwind. IOW, put the corner of the chisel off-center to the bolt and tape in at an angle so it unscrews the bolt. The hammer blows are like an impact wrench, the trick is to carefully strike it so it rotates the bolt to unscrew it. You would be surprised how well it works, I have used it in a lot of tough spots.

If you drill it out you will want to chase the hole with a metric tap so you clean up the threads.

[deejay1272]

It is not that difficult to remove the the broken bolt without power tools, but it would be much easier if you remove the front pulley (which you need to do to replace the belt and front seal anyway).

This makes much more sense - the pulley comes off as one piece. I've tried Kieth's method of wedging a breaker bar between the frame and blipping the starter but that method destroyed two 1/2" to 3/8" adapter sockets. I'm going to replace the sockets (Craftsmen) and go buy a 3/4" socket that will accommodate a 1/2" breaker bar input and try again.

I don't want to damage anything - should i consider heating the crankshaft bolt before trying the starter trick again?

[Petros]

I do not like the starter trick (too uncontrolled), I like the method developed by another list member: remove a spark plug, with the piston on compression stroke (so both valves are closed) insert throught the spark plug hole a length of soft cord (leave the end hanging out). Rotate engine unitil the volume of the cord stops the piston, put a large breaker bar, and cheater pipe if needed, and break loose the front bolt. It has never failed, and you can put pressure on the bolt in a controlled way. Remove the cord from the cylinder when done.

I would not recommend heating the bolt, you could damage the pulley (there is a rubber damper built-into the pulley), or do heat damage to the inside the engine. If you must, put AFT or penetrating oil on it and heat it gently with heat gun to assist in penetration. A large enough breaker bar will do it once you get the engine to stop from rotating.

[xirdneh]

that mess sure looks like antifreeze
did you remove the water pump?
if that is whats leaking you need a new "O" ring between the pump housing and the block

[deejay1272]

that mess sure looks like antifreeze did you remove the water pump?
if that is whats leaking you need a new "O" ring between the pump housing and the block

It's a mess all right. I ended up with a lot of coolant all over my garage floor after pulling things apart. This explains why my friends put newspaper down whenever they drain their coolant. I plan to use a bunch of RTV to seal up as many things as possible.