Valve clearance and timing belt

[hilus]

Hello, this is my first post so I hope I do this right.

I have a 2002 sienna with 135,000 miles that needs a timing belt and the valve clearance checked. My plan is to change the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, tensioner, and Idler pulleys, along with any or all of the seals. While in there I would like to check the valve clearance. I have a service manual, and a membership to alldata, however I would like some input about whether I should attempt such a large job. Over the last several years I have become very proficient with repairs (wheel bearings, caliper rebuilds, emissions, thermostats, exc. However digging into the engine makes me a little nervous. I would feel better if I was well prepared. What tools will I need to complete this project? I have basic auto and air tools, and I am willing to buy any tools that I need. Any help would be appreciated….

Thanks.....

[cookiemech]

To answer your question: the only "special" tools you need are the ones to remove the crank bolt (these are the SSTs listed in the factory manual). There are other ways to do it; some people use an impact wrench, but in my experience this can be an area of extreme aggravation without the right tools.

Now to answer the question you didn't ask: Why are you planning to change the water pump, tensioner, etc. and check valve clearances? Was this vehicle properly maintained (coolant changes at recommended intervals and same for oil changes)? If so, it seems to me that you are making work for yourself. I changed the timing belt on my wife's 2001 Sienna at just over 90,000 miles and did not change anything else, nor did I check valve clearances (which is a bad job; check the factory manual). Based on my discussion with the Toyota parts man from whom I buy my parts, he has NEVER sold a water pump as part of a timing belt change on a Sienna. You can easily see whether the water pump seal is weeping when you have the timing covers off. The factory manual has a procedure for checking the tensioner, so if it's OK (and it likely WILL be), no reason to change that. So far as the valve clearances go, there is no reason to bother with that unless you have reason to believe that the clearances have drifted (do the valves rap?)

If you decide that you MUST check valve clearances, note carefully which gaskets you need and buy them before doing the job (not just the valve cover gaskets; there are more). If you note that some clearances are out of spec, you need the special Toyota tools to change the shims (unless you would like the experience of removing the camshaft(s)).

I'm assuming that you have already changed spark plugs by 135,000 miles (interval is supposed to be 60,000 miles on a 2001; I changed them at 90,000 and they looked very good, though idle quality improved with the new plugs).

Hope it goes well. The timing belt job is nothing special in terms of difficulty. As I recall, the factory manual has some nonsense about supporting the engine when you remove the engine mount necessary for the job. If you look at it carefully, you will see that this mount isn't supporting the engine vertically anyway and you can just remove the mount without any drama.

[hilus]

Unfortunately this is my wife’s car. Before we met, she was very bad with maintenance. Oil change about every 6000 or 7000 miles, coolant only changed once. Timing belt never changed, AT oil changed one time only. Only good thing is all of her mileage is highway. Now I’m trying to catch up. As far as I can tell I do hear the valves tapping so I think it’s a good thing for me to check them.

As for why I want to change the pump, tensioner, etc. My fear is that they will fail before the next belt change and I’ll have to go in and do this all over again. I have a 95 Nissan quest and have replaced timing belt, pump, seals, thermostat, hoses, and drive belts at regular intervals (4 times) and I have 240,000 miles without failure. I just hope my new Chevy truck does as well. I guess I just prefer to change things before they break and strand me somewhere inconvenient.

One last thing, the timing belt procedure has me removing the crank pulley and the cam pulleys. Would this only be required if I need to do the seals.

As for tools I believe what I should have said was that in the past I borrowed many of the tools from a friend, however, I have moved and this is no longer an option. I have air tools, and all sizes of wrenches, and sockets but I do not have any pullers. What universal sets would make a good choice for what I need to do, and could you recommend any others. That way I only need to buy SST if I really need them.

Thanks for all your help……..

[shall36]

Never done a belt on the Sienna, but there are several key things that might get you stuck. First is the crank pulley belt. If you have an impact gun and have a clear shot at the bolt, no problem. If you don't, a trick is to put a breaker bar on the bolt such that the bar will hit the frame if you were to start trying to break the bolt loose. If the engine cranks in the correct direction, you just tap the key, the engine spins, the breaker bar hits the frame, and the bolt comes loose.

I personnally would replace all the stuff you mention. Just make sure to buy high quality parts...none of that Autozone or Advanced crap. Go to NAPA or your local jobber and buy the top line stuff or order OEM stuff from one of our Toyota dealership sponsors.

I am a bit suspicious that the noise you think are valves tapping are actually valves tapping. The FSM should provide a picture of the tool you will need to use to swap shims on the camshaft followers. It will also have the thickness charts. If you have to move shims around, you ought to get a precise digital micrometer to measure the actual thickness of the shims (even though they are stamped with thickness values, it's best to empirically check). It's not a fun job, even on vehicles where the valves are easily accessible.

[cookiemech]

One last thing, the timing belt procedure has me removing the crank pulley and the cam pulleys. Would this only be required if I need to do the seals.

Correct.

I can't really think of what "sets" are appropriate for this engine, in terms of tools. You should probably have a universal harmonic balancer puller (K-D makes a good one) to remove the outer crank pulley (the one that drives the outer belts, not the timing belt). Even though you break the bolt loose, the harmonic balancer (or outer crank pulley) usually sticks and needs some help coming off the crankshaft.

The method the previous poster suggested for removing the crank bolt is fine; my question is how does one torque the crank bolt upon reassembly? Do you just dial up a certain torque on the impact wrench and run it on? (I don't own an impact wrench, though I probably should.)

Yes, on this engine/chassis you have a clear shot at the crank bolt after removing the right front wheel and access panel.

[shall36]

The question about torquing the balancer bolt is a good one. Several suggestions...some may or may not work depending on the vehicle....not sure what the FSM says to do so check with that....

In general, it will take more force to break the bolt loose than to tighten the bolt to spec. When tightening, you might get everything installed including the accesory drive belt and put a wrench on one of the accesory pulley bolts and use that to keep the engine from rotating while you torque the crank bolt. IMO, getting the crank bolt on this motor torqued to exact value isn't critical...I could be wrong. If someone has a sound rationale and/or empirical evidence to contradict this position, please share. As such, putting an impact gun on one of the lower settings should get you in the ballpark. For example, the 2 setting on my gun is worth about 70 ft-lbs. If these two options don't suite you, you can remove the inspection cover from the transmission flexplate and use a tool to hold the flexplate still while someone else torques the crank bolt. They make a tool for grabbing the teeth on a flexplate/flywheel. Alternatively, and possibly dangerously (read: could cause damage), you could use a strategically placed prybar for the same purpose. BTW, if your doing this on a manual transmission car, put the car in high gear, pull up the e-brake or have someone step on the brake, and go to town on the crank pully bolt.

The FSM probably shows using some sort of tool placed on the balancer to keep the engine from rotating while the balancer bolt is torqued to spec. This allows for one-man (or woman) installation.

I usually find a way to get it close enough. If you're building a high-revving motor or if the balancer/pulley is not a press fit, you probably ought to find a way to get the thing torqued to spec. In any event, there are ways to hold that engine still while you crank on the balancer bolt.

[smj999smj]

An old trick is to get a piston on th bottom of its stroke and feed rope through the spark plug hole as much as you can. Turning the engine will cause the piston to move up, compress the rope filled cylinder and eventually keep the engine from turning over, allowing one to break the crank bolt loose. The same method can be used to torque the crank bolt.

[shall36]

Has someone been working on aircraft engines?

That's a good suggestion, BUT remember that timing belt motors should NOT be rotated in the opposite direction of normal rotation. Can you do the rope thing whilst turning the engine in one direction only? Don't know.

For giggles, I looked at the Tundra FSM...they show a fixture that bolts to the crank pulley with a hole in the center to access the crank bolt. The fixture has a handle welded on. This is used to hold the engine in place while you torque the crank bolt. I'll bet that most techs just use an impact gun....it's a lot faster than getting the fixture from the tool crib, bolting it up, using it, and taking the fixture back.

Originally Posted by smj999smj

An old trick is to get a piston on th bottom of its stroke and feed rope through the spark plug hole as much as you can. Turning the engine will cause the piston to move up, compress the rope filled cylinder and eventually keep the engine from turning over, allowing one to break the crank bolt loose. The same method can be used to torque the crank bolt.

[wjdunn3]

Originally Posted by smj999smj

An old trick is to get a piston on th bottom of its stroke and feed rope through the spark plug hole as much as you can. Turning the engine will cause the piston to move up, compress the rope filled cylinder and eventually keep the engine from turning over, allowing one to break the crank bolt loose. The same method can be used to torque the crank bolt.

A great way to bend a valve if you don't get it right!! You have to get the piston at the bottom of the Intake stroke, and even then if you put too much rope in, it can start compressing before the intake valve is fully closed.

[cookiemech]

<quote>For giggles, I looked at the Tundra FSM...they show a fixture that bolts to the crank pulley with a hole in the center to access the crank bolt. The fixture has a handle welded on. This is used to hold the engine in place while you torque the crank bolt. I'll bet that most techs just use an impact gun....it's a lot faster than getting the fixture from the tool crib, bolting it up, using it, and taking the fixture back. </quote>

That may be, and it's why I do all my own work. I bought the Toyota tools and they work beautifully. The handle actually attaches to the fixture you mention with a pin (that way it can be used in several different positions, both for tightening and loosening). Once you own the handle, you only need to buy the particular fixture for your engine, and one fixture services several different engines. I know I have the ones for Sienna and Tundra V8, but each has more than one application.

It was an expensive tool (I recall maybe $120 for both pieces), but it is well-made and worth every penny. Consider that a dealer gets, what, $500? for a timing belt job, and this isn't such a huge expense. (It was actually a better deal for me, since when I did the timing belt job for my friend he paid for the tool, since I was of course doing the job for free.) It's likely I'll never use the tool again, since I'll never put even 50,000 miles on my Tundra (I only use it if I need a pickup for something; my last pickup had 14,000 miles on it when it was 12 years old.)

[shall36]

Cookie,

You rock! That's some serious tools for serious backyard wrenching! I wish you were my neighbor!

I guess I've just been too cheap to buy special fixtures on my own. I'll fabricate fixtures as needed....mostly for the BMW...the Toyota doesn't need much in the way of repairs!