Here is my version of water pump/timing belt replacement. I
will focus mostly on the timing belt installation. I think
this is the most important step. If you dont do it right,
the whole car would not run properly and it will be very time
consuming. Its not fun to do the same job twice. So
in this supplementary article, i would like to stress the timing
belt installation. I have done this myself and I pretty
much know it inside and out by now. So here it comes.
The below pictures shows all the parts need to be removed.
The second picture is showing the crank pulley bolt. This
is the toughest challenge u will face. Lexus mentioned
about the special tool, but you would need at least 3 to 4 feet
extension in order to have enough leverage. I also tried
air gun and failed. The cheapest and fastest was would be
the "Old School" method. Yes, that is right " No school
like the Old School"
I put the 22mm socket with a wrench and placed it in a loosen
position. I placed the handle next to the frame in the
passenger side and crank the starter. I am using the
starter power to turn the bolt. After two turns, the bolt
came loose. Its almost like magical.
Honestly speaking, the hardest part is not taking out the crank
bolt, I think the hardest part was to make sure you got the time
belt on properly. Most of the parts are pretty much self
explanatory. The two pictures below I would like to
emphasize is the R means Right. The right and left
reference is from the driver/passenger prospective. So,
when the engine part marked R means Passenger side and L means
driver side.
The two pictures below show an alternator and an ignition part.
Removing them is pretty simple. The alternator has two
14mm bolts and they need to be remove and slide the alternator
out so the belt tension can be removed. The wires
connected to the alternator doesnt have to remove. Just
the two 14mm bolts. FYI, when you remove the two
Distributor Caps, they might get stuck due to time. Use a
flat screw driver and pry it out.
When u buy original timing belt from Lexus, the belt itself has
three reference points. Here are the three reference
points:
*CR - Crank DOT
*L CAM - Left Cam Pulley
*R CAM - Right Cam Pulley
Here is the tricky part and I will try to explain it very
carefully. There are two marks on the crank timing pulley.
One is a dot and other is a upside-down U. Your goal is to
align the DOT at the bottom position. Basically it will be
at the 6 O'clock position.
Once you align the crank timing pulley to 6 O'clock then now you
are ready to adjust the cam pulley to the proper position.
There are two cam pulleys and they are different. The left
cam pulley has double lips vs. the right cam pulley has single
lip. The cam pulleys also has reference mark as L or R.
U should mess them up. The two marks are clearly defined
at the pictures below. The timing marks are located in
front of the pulleys.
The picture below on the left clearly show the timing reference
marks. The R (right) cam pulley should be in the position
of 1 O'clock and the Left cam pulley should be in the 11 O'clock
position. Please reference the pictures above. The
second mark on the cam pulleys are the cam timing trigger.
The picture on the lower right demonstrated that. Please
ignore that mark. Don't get confuse with it. That is
why I took a picture to show u that. Many people use
the work reference points and the cam timing trigger is not part
of your project. The cam timing trigger is located at the
rear of the pulley.
Here is a picture of the Left Cam reference on the timing belt
aligned with Left Cam pulley. If you can get all three
marks in the proper position, then u can continue to install
parts back. If not, try it again.
NOTE: Make sure the crank timing pulley is at 6 O'clock
position and the L Cam (Driver side) is position at 11 O'clock
and R Cam (Passenger Side) is position at 1 O'clock. Slide
the timing belt according to those marks. Good luck and I
hope this detail timing belt replacement article help with your
project. FYI, if you need any of the above parts.
Please visit our Lexus OEM
store for your project.
David
