ChaoSki

Hi All,

Tackling Timing belt this week and just wanted to confirm I'm pulling the right fuse to disable ignition as I will be using engines power to crack that Crankpulley bolt.

Based on below, seems like I should be pulling Fuse 52?

http://drivers.lexus.com/t3Portal/do...3009/sec64.pdf

Just wondering if anyone else has done this or used this method (I usually do this for all my cars I do timing belt on as I don't have strong air tools).

Also, if anyone has any tips on this job it would be greatly appreciated.

PS. I'm changing all belts, timing belt, water pump, camshaft seals, crankshaft seal, tensioners and rollers.

TIA

salimshah

I use a home made tool to hold the main pulley. Details and construction are floating around in this forum.

Lets assume you are able to undo the bolt. How do you torque to spec when you put things back?

If no one answers in timely fashion you can pull a plug out and lay it on the block and test with the fuse out.

Salim

ChaoSki

I usually just mark the bolt/pulley with paint and tighten it back up to that line.

I will be renting a pulley puller at autozone too

salimshah

You can also loan a torque wrench from them. Not sure if they have the tool to hold the pulley. I have seen post by members who have purchased the tool.

You need to hold the pulley in place to tighten. Without holding it, I dont think the compression in chambers is enough to get to right torque. [The engine would keep spinning].

Salim

Drcoffee

Um. Thats a bad plan. You need to re-torque to the correct spec. Nothing more fun than losing the crank shaft pulley bolt while driving around.


Old school trick is to secure the flywheel from rotating with a long screwdriver. You might need to pull the starter off to gain access. I havent had the pleasure of doing this TB yet.

OP,

You only bump the starter. You dont need to pull a fuse because the engine needs to rotate far enough to activate the crank position sensor before the inginition and fuel system energize. So you would turn the crankshaft just far enough clockwise by hand for the breaker bar to rest on jackstand. The first pulse from the starter breaks the bolt free. Its very simple. Now re-torquing in another story.

salimshah

I think op's plan looks good for

1. Undoing the main pulley bolt. He is adding extra protection by making sure the engine dos not run by removing ingestion. Same can be done by removing all plugs/coilpack.

2. His next step of removing the pulley with the loaner tool is fine as well.

The one we are concerned about is his plan for putting things back.

a) I would strongly suggest get a torque wrench. Problem with Torque wrenches is calibration. The loaners get abused so I dont trust them much. Even the cheap ones I have, I test them with weights now and then.

b) He will need something to hold the pulley to tighten the pulley bolt. Shade tree mechanics use a hammer and abuse the ratchet-socket-bolthead to get to a pre-marked position. I do not like it but each to his own.

c) If OP plans to replace water pump, he will need special tool to undo the studs.

Salim

ChaoSki

It was one of those days Saturday.....things going wrong all day, but that's just part of working on cars hehe

First issue I ran into was the traction control nut/broke off (no biggie). It can be held with 2....

Second issue - alternator. Main bolt loosened fine but the pivot bolt, even though I was unscrewing it.....alternator was stuck on. Had to put a mullet to it as I unscrewed it.

Those 2 set the tone for the day hehe

Power steering pump/belt didn't give me any problems (thankfully).

No problems with timing belt cover bolts (lower or upper), but that waterpump bracket E8 Torx........as expected, stripped. One came off fine, the other didn't. At first I tried a stud extractor, but that didn't work very well. So I put set of good wisegrips on it and rotated it out. Called Lexus, they wanted $16.....Toyota had it for $7. Part # 90126-08012.

For the crankbolt, I took out Fuse 52 under the steering wheel fusebox and cranked the engine. It took few tries before it loosened.

Now onto the pulley.....this was just embarrassing. First, Autozone kit came with a crappy bolt, which snapped inside of the pulley (still need to get that out)....and then stupid me made a mistake no using the puller properly. I think and hope I didn't damage anything.....

Did I mention I snapped rear timing belt cover bolt as well.......no biggie, hehe

Marked the timing belt and the pulleys/cams with some white paint, let it dry, tensioner came off/replaced the rollers. To my surprise the belt looked really good, no signs of cracks or anything. I still like the better safe than sorry approach. It's over 10 years old and over 120k miles on the belt.

Water pump came off fine. I didn't remove the rear timing belt cover and was able to take down the waterpump and replace with the new one. Waterpump bolts/nuts were kind of loose....

Put the belt back on and it took little adjusting/clamps to get it aligned.

Tensioner/rollers/waterpump are all on now. Doublechecked everything and pulled the pin.

Now I'm waiting for the E8 bolts (got 2 incase) and need to drill out that snapped crankpulley bolt in one of the small holes.After that off to the covers and new Alternator and Powersteering pump belt.

Will keep you guys posted.

ChaoSki

She is done.

I used this trick to tighten the crankbolt.

I've done 4-5 Timing belt jobs so far and I must say, this one was the hardest one so far. It really tests your patience and persistence.

salimshah

That is no trick. It is a variant of the SST. I have mine made of metal instead of wood. The same can be used to undo the bolt.

By the way, I would have expected the wood tp split as the three holes are all in alignment with the grain of the wood. If worked for you .. great!

Salim

ChaoSki

Wood didn't split at all.

thaeleelyr

Did you use a standard pine 2x4, outdoor lumber, or a hard wood?

ChaoSki

I used Pressure treated 2x4 I had laying around. Note: I had to crank it EXTRA hard due to stripping of crankshaft thread (don't ask.....). Basically 1/2 the thread length I had to turn it REALLY REALLY hard.

Regardless, thankfully the bolt was hard enough to re create it's own thread and 2x4 held up and I was able to tighten it back up all the way.

I did have to put few nuts and a socket on the back end of the 2x4 (2 bolts that hook up to the crankshaft) because the leverage on the car (lower control arm) was about 1 inch off and the 2x4 would've bent etc. Wanted to keep it as straight as possible. I did also use 2 extra long bolts.........and I did stretch and bent them from the force. One broke off upon removal but I was able to twist it out with vice grips.



This job was full of frustration and headaches (many self created). But it tested my patience and persistence.....hehe

salimshah

Hardwood would give you extra strength but the basic problem is with the orientation of grains. If the grain is totally aligned with the three holes then it it does not take much to split the wood along the grain.

Flat iron wide enough to drill a hole through for the socket works better (imho) and angle iron would be preferred.

I will hunt for size of holes and distance between them. or even a link to the home made set.

Chaoski .. if you have the measurements handy please post. Folks with 2x4 lying around can try it out.

Salim

ChaoSki

I would recommend taking the measurement directly off the crank pulley. My 2x4 holes are oversized and I wouldn't really count on those measurement. Took me # of tries to make it fit hehe

Metal will work better for sure, no doubt about that. I didn't have it and needed to make things happen with what I had.

Worked like a charm hehe

lexina

Thank you for sharing. A lot of tips for someone to tackle it in the future.