jtbel

On my 97 LS400, I had the cam pulley marks aligned with the marks at the cam rear plates. And, the crankshaft pulley mark at "0". Then I turned the crank 50 degrees clockwise. I removed old belt and installed new one. I put the bottom belt mark with the circle indention on the crank pulley, then aligned the left and right cam pulley marks with the belt marks. The problem is when I rotate the crank twice, the cam pulleys are only aligned with the rear plates, when the crank mark is on the most left notch (just left of the "10")instead of the "0". I checked it twice. Is this right or what did I do wrong? Thanks

dashan

The first thing I would check is whether I have the correct belt.
Compare the timing marks on the new belt with marks on the old belt.

jtbel

I wish I could. The old belt was way past the changing table. Visible small cracks and very shiny. I bought the kit off Ebay. They said it fits 90-97 (up to 7/97). Mine was manufactured in 7/97. The idler and tensioner fit just fine. The belt just came with 3 marks. It did'nt indicate left or right cam or crank. It did have an arrow pointing one way, which I am pointing clockwise. I keep going over the steps, and it seems I did everything correct. I guess if there are no other suggestions, I will have to buy another belt that has the markings.

dashan

The old timing belt from my 1996 LS has a toyota part number on it. 13568-50010
You might want to buy the belt from a Toyota dealer.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

don't just guess on this car, if the timing isn't properly set right the motor WILL die.

deanshark

It sounds like no matter what you need to do the job over again. The difference between the 97 and 98 belts is 2 teeth. 97 has 209 and 98 has 211. You say your new belt had 3 marks, that's all it's supposed to have. It's common sense when putting it on. The farthest line goes on the crank, and yes, the arrow goes clockwise. When installing the belt you match the belt mark to the crank pulley mark then drivers side cam pulley mark (not the mark on the engine block) with belt mark then passenger cam pulley mark to belt mark. If it doesn't line up ya take it off and try again. On the crank pulley there was 2 different kind of marks they used. (Nobody knows why) In post #24 in this shows the difference; https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...e-95-96-a.html If you end up getting another belt instead of using the new belt you just put on, you can get an OEM belt which has ALL the marks and it also says L cam and R cam and I think it has CR for the crank.

billydpowe

iTrader: (1)

see my reply on LOC.

dashan

I still have the old timing belt (which was put in by previous owner and was from toyota) which I removed last time. I marked the timing marks on the belt before I took it off.
I could count number of teeth between the L and R timing lines on the belt for you, and you could make your own marks on your belt. Of course the sure way to do is to buy a belt from a dealer.

jtbel

Hey deanshark, I read that thread you gave me. I think my alignment is off just like that person. It was a little weird how he said that after the 3rd or 4th time that the marks all lined up, and he did nothing different. Anyway, there was one or two people that said they did'nt do the 50 degree rotate, and everything worked out fine. I think I shall try it without rotating 50 degrees from "0". I will use wire to hold the cams in position. Then, if it does'nt line up, I will get another belt.

P.S. If one or both of the cams is not in the correct rotation, there should be a noise right? And, if everything is correct, it should be smooth and quiet right? Thanks

dashan

Are you sure you had the correct timing mark on the crank shaft axle when you put the belt back?

deanshark

I'm not sure what you mean by a "noise". I wouldn't set it to 50* ATDC, I would just keep everything set on the correct timing marks but I've done so many T-belts over my years of mechanics. Although, the interference engine does give me the creeps. Give me an old 60's pick-up truck and I'll be happy. Are you sure you got the right belt? (209 teeth) Your best bet would be to read everything you can find on T-belt replacement, you can never get too much info. Keep your head up, you'll get it.

jtbel

Thanks for all the info guys! Yes, I have the circle indentation on the crank pulley, and the belt does have 209 teeth. It seems like several people have done it successfully without rotating the 50 degrees, so I will just set the crank back to "0", remove the belt, then align the cam pulleys with the rear plates using wire to hold them in place until I can place the belt back on. At that point, everything should be aligned, then I will rotate twice and hopefully it stays aligned. Of course, this would mean that I will ignore the left and right cam marks on the belt. Hopefully I will try it this weekend.

jtbel

Well guys I got it to work! Wow, what a difference! It drives like a brand new car. I'm pretty positive that the belt markings were off. If I were to do it again, I would'nt bother turning the crank 50 degrees. As long as you use some chicken wire going through the back of the cams to hold them steady, until you have the belt on. I would have to say that doing the timing belt seemed like it was a bit easier than changing the starter. Anyway, I had previously changed the plugs, wires, rotors, caps, and radiator, so it really drives like new. The symptoms I had were a code for the driver's cam sensor that kept coming back, would not start from cold without giving it gas, pinging during acceleration, and a miss at highway speed. I did'nt know if a new timing belt would fix it, but it was really cracked and shiny already, so I was planning to do it anyway. Either it jumped a tooth out of time, or the belt was stretching too much. Anyway, it was a very good result. Thanks especially to Paul for sending me the online manual.

deanshark

The 50* ATDC is pretty much just a safety precaution so ya don't screw up the engine, if ya have enough confidence you don't need to do it. Glad you got it all together the right way and that it's running good now. The new belt doesn't make the engine run any better then it did unless it was jumped, which yours didn't or the engine would be shot. Even if it was stretched, that's what the tensioner is for. "Good job" to Paul for sending you the manual b/c people can tell ya over and over how to do something but when you read it in the manual, that's when it all makes sense. Congrats on a job well done and getting it right.

jtbel

Thanks deanshark. Well, if the new belt did'nt make a difference, the only other thing I noticed that did'nt look right was that the crank sensor was covered with sludge. Maybe that was causing the P0340 which I think causes all the symptoms I mentioned previously.