timing belt question..

|| Gonna sound silly i guess, but is there a way to tell if a timing || belt has been chanaged already on a 96 tacoma 4wd v6?

Not really... that I know of atleast...

|| whats the usual price to change one of these? i was considering || doing it myself but with 4 cams im betting its different than id be || used to.

$55 for mine...

If the timing belt was replaced by a Toyota dealer, or someone that used a new Toyota belt, there should be a label on top of the timing belt cover with the date and milage of the change. I put the label on when I changed my '97 4Runner but it is easy to miss in the packaging.

Dealer cost for replacemnt of the timing belt ~$270 but while you are in there, usually replace the water pump too as labor is a big piece of the water pump replacement cost.

As far as doing it yourself, the job wasn't that hard technically and there are a lot of instructions, including pictures, on the web. The hardest problem is removing the crank pulley nut. Lots of swearing involved. Once that's off, the job is pretty straight forward.

Paul. Phoenix, AZ

Use a socket on a breaker bar and set the handle against the frame. Then tap the starter. I think that's how pretty much everyone does it, including the Toyota mechanics that I have talked to.

Funny how nobody ever talks about how they torque these things back up, however. I use a large c-clamp on the crank pulley and let it rest against the frame of the oil pump. It would be interesting to hear other techniques as I have already had to hacksaw off one c-clamp that got bent pretty bad during the process.

Luther

The first two times I did this, I let the breaker bar contact the frame... I guess on a truck with big tires, this is the easier method. However, the method I use now is to find the biggest breaker bar I have and an impact socket and instead of using the frame to stop the bar, i use a piece of 4x4 on the floor. I turn the bar so that the second I hit the starter, it snaps free without any slop or slap (hard against the wood). Alternately, you could use a cheater pipe on the breaker bar if it's too high above the floor.

If you have a manual transmission, put the vehicle in a high gear and yank the e-brake. Put the fan belts on the engine. While using your torque wrench to tighten the crank nut, pull on one of the fan belts to help keep the engine from turning (but don't pinch yourself). This method works well for me.

If you have an automagic transmission, it's a little more difficult to stop the engine. What I usually do, if I can't pull on the belt and keep the engine from turning by brute strength (hah!), then I find the inspection cover on the transmission bell-housing and remove it to gain access to the starter ring-gear... (have never worked on a Toyota auto, so I don't know if it has a cover or not) Once you have access to the ring-gear, you have an assistant jam a large slotted screwdriver in the works to keep it from turning whilst you torque the crankshaft bolt to specification.

Honestly, I would tend to shy away from the c-clamp method... bent pulleys are not good.

the best method for me is the good old chain wrench to hold the crank pulley. ive seen some with the extra long handle for leverage. works for me.