Need new Timing Belt

4 cylinder - 6 cylinder?

No! Get it done. Preferably find a qualified technician at a local shop. Or have the dealership do it and pay for whatever they come up with and use a lot of common sense about the extras. I have written about this here several times. You need a belt, a water pump, camshaft bearing(s), some more associated parts. My 2000 4-cyl Camry took the

-said- qualified mechanic about 5 hours. I am a very good driveway mechanic also, no way I am voluntarily going to touch something that involved and deeply buried. And I make my living maintaining and reparing industrial machinery. If you are resident in North Texas and especially North Dallas check the Texaco at Plano and Campbell.

David Glass wrote:

4 cylinder!

Thanks.

It is easier to have someone else replace the timing belt, and the cost is usually reasonable - it is a very common repair. However, after reading the newsgroups for a couple of years, as the mileage for change approached, I leaned toward doing my own work, and wound up actually having no problem because I was prepared. I enjoy things like seeing the oil pump gears and discovering the clearances are excellent I do have a spare vehicle though - that might make a difference. I did not finish in one day, but . . . I did some other work also (replaced engine oil pan gasket and transmission pan gasket). To me that's one of the benefits, you can take the labor charges saved and replace more parts like the missing timing cover gasket sections. There are a couple of reasons you might want to do your own repairs.

1) It can be very rewarding to understand how everything goes together. 2) The owner can often take more time than the mechanic paid by job or hourly rate. For example I clean every bolt and surface thoroughly prior to re assembly. 3) Almost without exception, every time I do work that has been previously done by another mechanic I find errors were made. For example during this work, I found two stripped transmission pan bolts, a chipped crankshaft pulley (from prying instead of using a puller), thermostat installed incorrectly (jiggle valve), any many components over tightened. If you're careful and understand what you're doing, you may actually do a better job.

My notes:

6/12/04: Major Servicing: 120,124 miles: Replace: timing belt, crankshaft oil seal, oil pump oil seal, oil pump O-ring, camshaft oil seal, idler bearing, idler tensioner bearing, timing cover gasket set, valve cover gasket, ck valve clearances, PCV valve, PCV valve grommet, oil cap gasket, distributor O-ring, distributor cap, rotor, distributor packing, spark plug wires, spark plugs, fuel filter, air filter, ck. battery, oil pan gasket, transmission pan gasket, water pump, thermostat, radiator cap, gas cap, differential service, engine moving control rod, accessory drive belts: power steering pump, A/C - alternator, alternator brushes, ck. chassis mounting bolt torque, set ignition timing =============== I would say the sticking points where the tricks of the trade can help a lot are 1) removing the crankshaft bolt - I used an electric impact gun - later acquired air powered 2) removing the engine brace - secret: do this after removing the crankshaft pulley so you can reach bolts from beneath - makes it much, much simpler 3) camshaft seal - the cam turns at one half engine speed, so this seal wears more slowly, but is helpful to have the special installation tool I purchased which makes installation a breeze 4) belt tensioning - you need to replace the tensioning spring with new, but do not rely upon that spring - you need to loosen the tensioner bearing and exert a lot of force to tension the belt. I used a hook tool to pull up, you could also use a pry bar. After exerting lots of pressure to pre-stretch the timing belt, then release it letting the tensioning spring maintain the correct tension as you tighten the tensioner bearing. Most people will have others work on their car, and that's perfectly fine, but my Camry is actually improving over time with increased smoothness, power and comfort over prior years as maintenance and repair work continues - replacing the axles and brakes for example. The first item I replaced was the radiator. So as you do more, you learn more. I do not believe, generally, the four cylinder Camry is difficult to work on, as long as you go step by step and work carefully. I do recommend getting the factory service manual set though - have found it very authoritative, helpful, and easy to follow. Keep checking eBay.

Charlie wrote: "My 2000 4-cyl Camry took the

-said- qualified mechanic about 5 hours." ======================= Since dealers often offer timing belt specials for around $100 (excluding any additional parts), seems fairly clear that the standard labor rate for this job would be considerably less than 5 hours.

Not your model year, but you may find this link helpful:

Check the 5S-FE engine section - should be quite similar to yours.

I'm planning to change my timing belt also. I have a 2000 Camry v6(1MZFE) with 95k miles. It looks like a difficult project for a beginner so I'm taking my time to try to learn as much as I can before starting. I'm worried about making mistakes like screwing up the timing, scratching the bore while trying to remove the oil seals or breaking a siezed water pump bolt. I've come across a couple of tools that should make the job easier. Since we have a couple of Camry's and Sienna's in the family, I think the tools might be worth the cost. I'd like to know how folks got through these steps without the specialized tools.

Step 1: SP Tool 96800 to help remove the Camshaft bolt. The tool allows you to hold the sprocket stationary with one hand while you turn the bolt with the other. Haynes manual suggests removing the valve cover to allow you to hold the camshaft with a wrench. Seems like removing the valve covers just to hold the spockets stationary would be a real pain... especially the cover towards the firewall.

Step 2: SP Tool 64300 to help keep the crankshaft stationary while you loosen the crankshaft pulley bolt. Haynes manual suggests wedging a screwdriver in the fly-wheel gear teeth. Are these the same teeth that the starter motor uses?

Step 3: "Shaft In Oil Seal puller"-Lisle 58430 to remove the old cam and crank oil seals. This tool is not too expensive and it looks like the right application.

Step 4: SP Tool 63800 to install the new Camshaft oil seal. I can probably use a large socket or pipe and hammer but there is not a lot of room around the rear(right) cam sprocket.

What do you use to measure the tension on the accessory belts?

My mechanic will do the entire job(timing belt,idler pulleys,cam seals,crank seal,water pump,coolant flush and thermostat) for $550. Once I have the tools, I can probably do the job for about $200 in parts and have the satisfaction of doing the job myself.

RickC

You can do the job at least as well as my Toyota dealer does it. Recently I read the Toyota manual for my '95 V6 and concluded that only a highly trained and equipped mechanic can handle the job. To sweeten the deal the service manager allowed me to observe. His top mechanic completed the job in thirty (30) minutes flat, as he explained the procedure to me. When he positioned the crankshaft by cranking the front camshaft with the old belt still in place, I nearly fainted. He never once used a torque wrench, and I'm sure the bolt in the crankshaft is over-torqued by his airgun. Read the service manual, work slowly, and you'll do a better job than a dealer. The job is relatively safe, as you don't have to crawl under the car or run the engine.

-Gordon

Gordon...I think our perceptions of dealers are similar. I'm surprised they let you watch. My dealer won't let me TALK to the techs.

DG

I did it myself a few weeks ago. It took me about a day and a half, but I did the water pump too. You'll need an impact wrench to get the crankshaft pulley off, but otherwise there are no special tools required.

There's a link to the factory manual on the forums at toyotanation.com .

Pay particular attention to the step where, after installing the belt, you rotate the crankshaft through 7/8 turn and tighten the tensioning pulley bolt. That step seems superfluous, but it's required for some reason I can't fathom. I skipped it and the engine sounded like there was something seriously wrong with it.

crankshaft pulley bolt on the six cylinder. If there's some special tool available, that may work also. I later acquired a 650 pound full polish air gun at Harbor Freight, and a 5 gal. air compressor at Kragen. Very handy to have especially if you need to remove the axle nuts at a later date. You should have a steering wheel puller to remove the crankshaft pulley. 8mm bolts I believe. 6mm for earlier engines. You'll need a seal driver for the new crankshaft seal. I took the new part to Home Depot and found a section of ABS plumbing pipe "wye" just the right size, and the side piece functioned as a handle when driving in the seal with a sledge hammer. Just tap it enough to seat evenly. The camshaft oil seal has no backing. I removed it with a hook tool fairly easily. I used one of those strap wrenches to remove the camshaft pulley bolt. It came out fairly easily. The crankshaft pulley bolt is the one that can be really tight. I use Kroil penetrant on most all bolts prior to removal - works amazingly well. For the crankshaft oil seal, there is a metal backing shell. Don't know if this is approved procedure, but doing this work the first time I was very concerned about damaging the shaft surface so I drilled a small hole in the middle of the seal and pulled it out with the hood tool. Let me know if the Lisle 58430 works well, and I may get one of those for next time. I found the oil pump seals very easy to remove and install - by hand actually, though I needed to use a small amount of grease to get the very narrow O-ring with all the wiggling contours to stay in place while reattaching the pump cover. As mentioned previously the cam seal installation tool is very helpful. I don't have a part number, but is a cup shape to fit the seal with a bolt in the center that threads into the end of the camshaft to pull the seal into position. Otherwise I understand you'd have to remove the front cam bearing cap and then reseal the edges with FIPG material to prevent oil leaks.

I agree that it can be done in about 30 minutes time with the car on the stands.

Harbor Freight's (HF) $12 torque wrench works well. A long 1/2" extension (like the ~20" one Sears sells) and $9.99 24" breaker bar from HF help. No need for air impact wrenches -- 1x4 hardwood and 3/8" diameter grade 5 bolts to make your own crank holder (I place the bolts through the openings in the pulley like a cam holder tool, not into the small bolt holes on it). Takes about the same effort as removing your wheel lug nut.

That's right, never turn the belt by cam bolts -- use the crank bolt. That's why I do the work myself.

I always use Gates Timing Component Kits, belts and hoses. I would stay away from Toyota belts now they've gone to some Bondo brand and charge you Gates prices. The Gates timing kit comes with a simple instruction sheet by AutoData. Worked for me, step by step (not many pictures as in a shop manual). I just go back to Haynes to get some additional torque and drive belt tension values not listed on the timing instruction.

Make sure you follow the instruction on tensioning the timing belt -- TO THE LETTER. NO MORE, NO LESS.

If this is your first timing belt a shop manual will help with the pictures, showing where parts are. Haynes is somewhat generic (covers many years at a time) and doesn't have as many pictures, but I find it actually pretty good especially with its suggestions. But reading multiple sets of instructions do help in highlighting the similarities and differences.

Change out the water pump (no need to change the water outlet/pump housing) and all oil seals (cam, crank, and oil pump seal). Of course change the drive belts and better yet the rad cap (Kragen's Prestone with spring loaded return valve $7.99), rad hoses and thermostat (I'd use only a Toyota thermostat) while the cooling system is drained.

I use NAPA's Airtex water pump with lifetime warranty, Fel-Pro cam/crank seals. But you can only buy the oil pump seal (like a cam seal) from Toyota. A good time to change out valve cover gasket set, PCV grommet and valve too.

For drive belt tensioning, NAPA has a Krit-it gauge that works well in determining belt tension. About $15-20.

Gates Timing belt page:

Gates belts: Gates designed and produced the industry=92s first V-belt and today is the world=92s largest manufacturer of V-belts, timing belts and serpentine belts. Learn about Gates Micro-V belts, XL=AE belts, timing belts and more. Airtex is also a tier one OEM supplier:

NAPA's Krit-it gauge is the only special tool I buy for the job. The others I basically use the "Haynes method". Plus I use the "Home Depot" method to make pulley holders with a few dollars of scrap lumber they have instead of jamming a screwdriver into the flywheel (use at least SAE Grade 5 or Metric 8.8 bolts for pulley holders help), but the V6 you might just want to buy the tool because of the higher torque needed to remove the bolts (>90 lbs cam, >160 lbs crank).

What do you use to measure the tension on the accessory belts? * NAPA has a Krit-it gauge for about $15-20. Works very well at a low cost.

50-100 lbs

--> 100-300 lbs

Oil seal puller: * Harbor Freight has one for $4.99. I use electrical-tape-protected-tip small screw-driver but would agree in using the seal puller if I ever buy one. Lube the seals before install and don't scratch the cam/crank journals!

SP Tool 63800 to install the new Camshaft oil seal. * I use a large socket and press the seal in using the side of a long breaker bar. Accurate enough in terms of seal depth.

For cam/crank pulleys, I make my own using 1x4 hard wood (cam) plus a short 2x4 (in the crank pulley). But for the V6 you might want to buy the tool because of the higher torque needed.

Well I started this project to change the timing belt on my 2000 v6 Camry yesterday but got stuck removing the crankshaft bolt. I tried to get it off with PB Blaster penetrant and a 500 ft-lbs half inch impact wrench but it would not budge.

I looked for Kroil penetrant and the local auto parts stores but no luck. Is it only sold online?

I'm going to see if a local repair shop will loosen the bolt for me and torque it to spec (159 ft-lbs).

Sorry to hear that. I bought a 345 ft-lb Dewalt impact wrench and it came off like butter for me. Maybe the yellow colour struck fear into the heart of that Japanese bolt.

Sometimes if you let the penetrating oil sit for a day on the bolt it works better, but you probably knew that.

Local repair shop should be able to loosen it easily. Told my neighbor to try that after, trying to be helpful, he broke my 1/2" breaker bar on his Honda front axle nut. He said the shop had it off in seconds. Breaker bar was a Craftsman so they replaced it under the lifetime warranty, but now I've learned its limits. I understand Kroil may also be available at gun shops. I found a 1/2" drive air gun at Harbor Freight with 650 ft. lbs. peak torque - they also had some impact sockets. (found the impact axle socket at Kragen) When I tackled the axle nut - which is tighter than your crankshaft bolt, at first I thought I'd wasted my money and it wasn't going to work. So I let the Kroil soak in for about 10 minutes, came back, and let the air gun "hammer" on the nut for around 20 seconds, and it loosened up.

Success! This past weekend I changed the timing belt, tensioner pulleys, water pump, cam seal and crank seal on my 2000 camry v6 (1MZFE). It took about eight hours but I enjoyed learning something new.

I made a couple of mistakes. Mistake 1: The water pump bolts should not be tightned too much. I was not able to feel the click on my torque wrench and I ended up overtightening two of the bolts. Both of them broke but I was able to get them out with vise grips. The auto parts store had Dorman brand metric bolts that fit perfectly.

Mistake 2: The new RH cam oil seal leaked. After removing the new seal, I noticed that there was some baked on crud in the bore. I scraped the crud off with a wooden tooth pick and installed a new seal. It's difficult to access the RH cam and I think I may have rushed through the first time. I also may have put on too much multi-purpose grease the first time. On the second seal, I only put a thin film of grease on the inside lip and outer surface that touches the bore. The Lisle Shaft In Seal Puller (58430) worked great. Only thing I didn't like about the tool is that the shaft is made of a soft metal that bends easily. After removing three seals, the tool looks nothing like it did new. Also SP Tool 63800 made installing the cam seals a breeze.

A few notables for other newbies: Water pump:

-- After draining the radiator via the drain plug, I still lost a lot of coolant when I removed the water pump. Be ready with a wide container to catch the spill. I needed about two gallons of 50/50 mix of Toyota red coolant to refill the system.

-- I purchased a Beck Arnley brand water pump. It came with a paper gasket. I decided to purchase a metal/rubber gasket from Toyota and discard the paper gasket.

-- When you remove the water pump you need to remove one of two posts that pass through the pump housing. The posts can be unscrewed with a small torx socket and 1/4 inch ratchet. Go slowly, there is not a whole lot of material for the socket to grab on to.

Timing belt tensioner:

-- I used a C-clamp to compress the timing belt tensioner. Some folks on this newsgroup suggested inserting an allen wrench prior to removing the tensioner, but the holes did not line up on my tensioner.

Power steering pump:

-- I struggled with rotating the power steering pump to remove and reinstall the PS drive belt. I found that a 22mm wrench would fit over a metal protrusion towards the bottom of the pump. It gave me enough leverage to rotate the PS pump up and down.

Timing belt:

-- I used a Gates brand timing belt. It has two marks that line up with the cams and a third line that lines up with the crankshaft timing sprocket. If the timing sprocket is at TDC, then the timing belt mark should be at about the 3 o'clock position on the sprocket.

The Gates belt also has another mark with the letters "FR" and arrows that point to one side of the belt. This is telling you which edge of the timing belt should face the FRont.

Regarding tools: I didn't need air tools. I had a local mechanic loosen the crankshaft bolt and retighten to 100 ft/lbs. It took him about five minutes to lift the car and about 1 minute on his impact wrench. He didn't recommend driving very far. I used a long breaker bar (24 inch) to get the bolt off at home. To reinstall, I used a combination of legs, feet, arms, hands and back to retighten the bolt to 159 ft/lbs. That was about the max setting on my torque wrench. I also used SP Tool 64300 to keep the crank pulley stationary.

Hope this helps someone else get through their timing belt job.

RickC