gserep1

Well gang,
I finally got around to installing the timing belt on my 99 GS4, and it was pretty intense. First off, I learned a few things...

1. Don't trust the factory Lexus manual on everything. Before this weekend, I assumed that the shop manual was the "bible" of all maintenance done on these cars. Sadly, it is not. Case in point:

a. Timing Belt Marks- The book plainly says that after exposing the timing belt and checking for marks, turn the crankshaft until the engine is at TDC on the harmonic balancer AND the marks on both left and right cams line up. THEN turn the engine 50 degrees clockwise until the pointer lines up with an imaginary line drawn from the center of the balancer bolt and the bolt of the #2 bearing. If you do that, the timing marks on both cams do not align on anything. This is to be done PRIOR to taking the tension off the belt with the tensioner. It is just plain wrong. ACTUALLY, the engine should be turned about 30 DEGREES, and the pointer will line up on a white dot on the timing cover. When you do that, both cams line up on a "T" mark in each housing. I could not believe they could make such a mistake. I went against the book and used my own judgement, and those "T" marks work great. I remember that VVT-i warned me to turn the crank about 30 degrees, and he was RIGHT. THANKS AGAIN VVT-i. I will be writing Toyota on this little blunder. They should make a correction in the manuals for those of us who have the time , and do not want to take our vehicles in for this procedure.

b. #1 DRIVE BELT IDLER PULLEY REMOVAL- The book also says to remove a drive belt bracket by removing 2 mounting bolts, and 2 nuts. What they DON'T tell you is that there are 2 MORE bolts that go through the A/C compressor bracket from the side. That bracket is not coming out until ALL bolts are removed. It also shows that the entire compressor has to drop down to gain access to the timing belt, when actually, only the front 2 bolts I talked about earlier have to be removed. The compressor stays in place. I had to figure it out as I went...that is what took me so much time.

2. Take Your Time To Avoid Breaking Things...I gave myself a couple of days to complete this project, but I got sidetracked on Saturday morning, and fell behind by about 3 hours. The do-it-yourself service center I use to do my own work closes at 5 pm on Saturdays. I had to remove the radiator and all the other accessories. I got behind, and it cost me dearly. I went against common sense, and broke the aluminum housing that holds the thermostat assembly. Part of the housing was stuck in the lower manifold until I got it all out. It looked like the housing was put in using gasket sealer, and that's a NO NO. It was definitely my fault, and the part cost me $70 bucks from Carson Toyota..LESSONS LEARNED. I am sure that putting a little penetrating oil in there and waiting a bit would have caused the part to come free.

3. Aligning the Timing Belt Marks Can be Tricky--I installed everything new in this procedure...timing belt, water pump, 2 bearings, thermostat, tensioner, and O rings. The wording relating to installing each belt is very vague at best. I tried to get the special tool to turn the cams from Toyota, but was told that they were not available to the general public...only Toyota/Lexus Factory Technicians. Those cams have to be rotated until all belt slack is taken out, but the hydraulic tensioner will cause everything to move once the pin is removed frm the tensioner, and it activates and tightens the belt. It took me 3 tries to get it just right.

In conclusion, I questioned my ability to do this job a couple times once I got started. When I broke the housing, I wondered to myself why I didn't just let Lexus do it. Now that it is done, I now have a much better understanding of how to do this job right. I will definitely do it the next time if I have this car that long.

I am sure that I could do the job in 1/2 the time... NEXT TIME Having the proper tools ready to go really helps. I now know that it takes a 22 mm socket to remove the bolt on the harmonic balancer....that fact is not covered in the manual either. I am pretty upset about this manual, but there is NO WAY that I would have attempted to start my engine unless the marks lined up exactly as they did before i removed the original belt. I finally got it right and things worked out. I KNOW I could write a better manual than those guys, ha ha.

My baby runs as good as new now.

GSEREP1

VVT-i

Wow, gserep1, you did it.. . I'm glad everything went o.k and thanks for the compliment and great wrie up.
The thermostat is a tricky part and alway make me sweat when I've to remove one. When I install the housing I have to alternately tighten one bolt for a couple of turn and then tighten the another one.
I'm glad you didn't attempt to do the cam seals, because that thing can give you a bigger headache.
Yeah, sometime the manual got some mistake in translation, because they have to translate from Japanese to English and make it understandable for us. We call it Jinglish, because some of the procedure make me ' WTF are they talking about '.
These cars are getting harder and harder to work on for sure. We've see a lot of customers that had the work done at the independent shop and end up towed the cars to the dealership.

gserep1

VVT-i,
You got it right when you said "JINGLISH". I would think that SOMEONE would do a better job of interpreting what needs to be said in an official factory manual. Trouble is: the manual writers are NOT mechanics....They are paid by the factory to write service manuals, and I'll bet they never even changed a spark plug. Maybe mechanics should write manuals, ha ha.

I also questioned the wisdom of removing all of the cam timing pulleys (timing gears) and the pulley gears on the crankshaft. I inspected them in place, and they looked fine. No marks on the teeth, and the big tip off was the fact that the original timing belt was not abnormally worn. Removing stuff unnecessarily is a recipe for disaster. I have been using synthetic oil from the beginning in this car, and I have ZERO leaks. I didn't think that the cam and crankshaft oil seals needed to be replaced.

By the looks of the belt and bearings, I am sure these can also go longer than 90,000 miles. Toyota always has a "fudge-factor" built in. I always checked the timing belt on my cheaper Toyota cars, but this is the first one I had that uses the timing belt to turn the water pump, and I got spooked. A broken belt, seized water pump, or seized bearing would NOT be nice. Major engine damage for sure. I didn't know everything was so good until I got in there.

The cooling system was IMMACULATE. The red coolant had turned slightly orange in color, but there was not a HINT of corrosion in any of the components..including the radiator. That is a sure sign that someone drained the coolant at either 30 or 60,000 miles. In fact, maybe someone had the timing belt changed at 60,000 miles vice the 90,000. I have heard of dealers recommending things before time. It looked too good to have lasted the entire 90,000 miles. NOW I know when to change it next time

I had to look really hard to find the block drain plugs to get all the old coolant out. I always use distilled water instead of tap water. Bleeding the system of air was also fun.

I have a question. How hot does your dash guage indicate when the car is running normally? My car reads just a hair over 1/2 guage, and I thought it should be UNDER the half. I put a scanner on the car, and the fans come on at 208 degrees F, and shut off at 196 degrees. I assume that everything is correct so far.

I am retired military, so I have access to the government hobby shop after working hours. I will never rush again!

Take care, and THANKS for everything.

GSEREP1

VVT-i

My temp gauge runs around 1/2 at normal operating temp. Make sure you check the reservoir in the morning when the car is cool. You may have some air pockets inside the block. I alway turn the heater on to max, idle for about 10 minutes, then keep it at 2500 rpm for about 10 minutes and then let it idle for another 10 minutes. Shut the car off and let it cool down, then check the resovoir and the radiator.
You are one of a lucky to has access to hobby shop. I know a lot of CL members would love to have this kind of access.. I can name a few, Herm, SeattleGS, Parula and etc...

gserep1

Yes,
I do feel fortunate sometimes. I guess 33 years of Federal service..(including 22 years in the military) gives me a few "bennies" or benefits as we call them. We save a lot of money doing things ourselves, while all the while having a safe (and guarded) place to keep your cars until we can get back to finish them up. No one bothers anything.....(they'd get jacked up if they did).

We get the use of all tools, disposal of old chemicals and a paint booth if we want to paint. Most bases have a hobby shop to help us pass the time when not on duty. WE retired..(or RETARDED) guys, are authorized to use it too.

Thanks for the tip on the guage. Everything looked new inside the cooling system. The car has never overheated, so "center" of the guage should be fine. My fans work fine as well.

Thaks again, and if I have any other questions, I will be sure to ask. I believe we have another retired Marine on these pages. Some of us DO have brains left after we retire.

It has been a pleasure...

GSEREP1

csaxon

You can get Toyota/Lexus special tools here. http://toyota.spx.com/hwtordr.asp

gserep1

THANKS CSAXON:
This is awesome. I appreciate your response. I would think that the dealer would know how tr get these parts, but I guess that it is to their advantage not to tell anyone, in an effort to get the service done in house.

I will check it out and see what I can buy.

Thanks again...
GSEREP1

saber

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gserep1
[B]VVT-i,

The cooling system was IMMACULATE. The red coolant had turned slightly orange in color, but there was not a HINT of corrosion in any of the components..including the radiator. That is a sure sign that someone drained the coolant at either 30 or 60,000 miles.

No, you're just witnessing first hand the Toyota coolant was uniquely formulated by the Toyota engineers to keep the cooling system immaculately clean and free of deposits even if it is never changed for many years or 100,000 miles.

gserep1

Toyota recommends coolant change at 30,000 mile intervals. NOTHING I said could be construed to mean that Toyota's coolant is designed to last 100,000 miles. In fact, if toyota wanted you to leave it in for 100,000 miles it would have said so.

If you want me to say tha Toyota makes the best parts in the world BAR NONE, I will have to pass. You can do so if you like. I refuse to argue with you any further...you win!

AlexS

Thanks gserep1 and VVT-i for the post and replies on doing a timing belt change on my '99 GS400 @ 108,000. Did mine a few weekends ago and it was quite simple from reading this thread.

Wanted to post some pictures of the T marks and the white notch at the crank pulley in case anyone else attempts this. Pictures show how simple it is. Not sure how to upload the pictures though as my browser gets stuck on the upload.