Gotta tackle a big job tomorrow and i looked in the tech section but nothing was ever written up on it. I was wondering if there is a write up anywhere anyone knows of step by step replacement of the timing belt in a 3.0? Does anyone know besides 1 idler and 1 tensioner that I would replace while I was in there? Gonna take the 4runner to Virginia and it is going to have a new home there because I am relocating because of no jobs here in florida! Any help is appreciated...

 

water pump too, any seals you can see, then be sure the cover is sealed well. I did mine but didn't have a camera, but I think theres a writeup somewhere on here.

 

yeh i just checked on a write up at off-road.com and it gives a complete write up on it. are cam seals hard to replace? how long did it take you jeffires for the complete tear down to putting back together?

 

Oh Yeah, be sure you change that idler pulley with the water running through it (they call it #2 idler I think)- I didn't my second timing belt at 150K or so and that pulley went out several months after. That is a miserable and/or expensive job.

 

I was lucky with the seals- if you can get those pulleys off okay. It took me and my dad a long time to get it all the way apart b/c we had to go borrow tools from a mechanic. If I had to do it again, I could probably do it in an afternoon (5hrs - no air)
Good luck- I'm out for tonight

 

no jobs in Florida?timing belt no prob,put a new w/p,spin your idlers by hand to check for racket,if your seals aint leaking they probly wont start.the cam sprocket bolts are extremely tight but if you do replace the seals do not use any silicone!

 

Hey! It's not that bad of a job. The hardest part is the stupid crank bolt. Other than that it's pretty easy. You might want to replace your thermostat too while you are at it.

Well, have fun.
Daniel

BTW, If you don't mind me asking, where in VA are you moving too? I may be moving there next year. Probably to Newport News/Hampton area.

 

gotcha! thanks

 

I'm gonna be close to Roanoke. I will be in mud and snow heaven! No jobs ya ask 3yotys....not unless you are a minority and with my trade there isn't too much around.

 

Start a business that way you would not need a job!

 

Got the money for me to start it? Takes money to make money...

 

I just finished doing mine. The crank bolt and the cam sprocket bolts are very hard to remove without air tools. To get the crank bolt off, put a 19mm socket and a 16" or longer breaker bar on the crank bolt. then tape the handle under the PASSENGER side frame rail. Make sure that everything is snug, no play or possibility of it falling off, then crank your starter. Works great. For the cam sprockets I had to make a tool to hold them and then a 4 foot pipe.

 

Oh yeah, replace everything! That job sucks. H2o pump, camshaft and crank seals,both pulleys and the thermostat. The whole job took me 5 days of evenings but I had to run out and buy tools, post questions, call my mechanic friend etc. Could do it now in a couple hours. Good luck. If you have any questions, it's pretty fresh in my head still.

 

I recently did it myself too....and I had to replace all of the idlers too - they were ALL shot to hell. The only thing that didn't need swapping was the water pump.

Next time I'm getting the SST to hold the crank pully...

 

oh its a pain but it could be worse,like the head gaskets.i used to work at the toyota stealership and it still takes me 6 hours to do the head gaskets.

 

Just finished the job. Runs a HELL of alot better! Get this...As soon as we pulled off the cover we noticed the top idler wasn't toughing the belt! The top of the belt between the cam sprockets has about 1/2" of play! Ridiculous! We tried taking the cam sprockets off but there was no way without air. So we managed to get the top idler replaced and the tensioner. Had to get everything from the dealer. I didn't know it takes 4 gaskets to do all the covers. My top idler was so bad it spun freely with bad bearing noise. We had everything apart and back on within 2 hours minus the gaskets for the cover which we were waiting on since it wouldn't be at the dealer til 2:30. We did get the crank bolt off by bumping the starter and my partner held a breaker bar on it to get loose. Lined all marks up by the cams and crank. My partner checked vacuum after we got the belt on by cranking it up for a few seconds to make sure we had good vacuum. I didn't notice anything leaking like cam seals or crank seals or water pump. Used some RTV on the water bypass inlet in the top idler because the top piece comes stock with a seal on it and there is no gasket replacement for it. We did notice when we got the cover off that the passenger side cam sprocket was out 45 degrees from the other cam and crank. Now....it runs perfect! Someone had it apart once before because we noticed both cam sprockets were marked "L" and "R" with a black pen. Parts total were like $350 and I paid my partner $100 for helping me. Also replaced all 3 belts too for good measure. Oh...my timing belt was shot too. Looked it over and bent the belt and it had cracks in it everywhere!

 

Congrats.....I was going to do mine also, but the dealer had a deal for $180, so I let them do it. They inspected everything and said only the belt needed to be changed. Maybe I'll do it next time...by then I'll have 390K and won't be worried about messing it up.

 

*hi 5*

Welcome to the shot #2 idler club!! LOL Glad it worked out for ya! BTW wanna do my passenger side valve cover and pcv valve for me? LOL Im dreading pulling this intake plenum....

 

Just done both passenger side and drivers side valve covers....took me about 4 1/2 hours but i got er done! Just remember to buy yer plenum gasket and TB gasket or just do like I did on the TB and make yer own out of 2 doubled up cutout gasket material! Make sure to get yer grommet for the pcv too because the old one will probably break off into pieces on ya. By all means...HAVE FUN! I gotta tow a uhaul trailer to virginia monday and this is the 6'x12' big one! And all the snow with a heavy ass trailer....gonna be fun!

 

you are right......get a loan

I hope you don't take my comment in a bad way. I said it because I have had many friends laid off and they have became very succesful business owners, I have gone that route too and been very satisfied.