Hello everyone. I have a '96 Tacoma 4X4 with the 3.4 Liter 5vzfe motor. Like a total dimwit I undertook a timing belt, water pump replacement project on it without doing all my homework. The crankshaft bolt was frozen as well as the crankshaft pulley. after 3 days and 3 broken wrenches I was finally able to get them both off. In the moment of victory I lost my wits in the excitement and removed the timing belt without lining up all the timing marks. I did remove the cam gears to replace the seals as well as the crankshaft timing seal and am sure things got moved a bit in the process. Now I am getting ready to reassemble and am worried about being off on the timing marks. If I line up the cam marks and the crankshaft marks individually now that the belt is off the vehicle is there a chance I can be off on the timing? Or is there a way of knowing for sure I've got my marks set properly? I am concerned of being 180 degrees off on one or both cam gears. any help is appreciated...
You can find several excellent videos that detail a complete water pump and timing belt replacement on YouTube. Or just google "replace timing belt 1996 tacoma".
To align the cams and crank, first torque their bolts correctly, then set the camshaft pulleys so that their timing marks are straight up. Then turn the crank until its timing mark is also straight up. The mark on the crank pulley can be difficult to see, so take a flashlight to make sure it's right.
Then you must somehow retract the tensioner pulley (again, see the videos for how to do this).
After retracting the tensioner pulley, slip the timing belt around the pulleys. Be patient and if you move a pulley, be sure to reset it to the top position.
After getting the timing belt on, remove whatever you used to retract the tensioner pulley, and then rotate the crankshaft 2 complete turns and check the cam pulleys again for position. Both of them should be pointing straight up (maybe a 1/4-tooth off, but no more).
Turn the crank 2 more turns just to be sure, then begin to reinstall all the stuff you removed.
thanks for the reply. I have watched numerous vids on the timing belt and water pump replacement but they all lined the marks before removing the old belt so they didn't really apply to my concerns about aligning the marks individually without the belt.
I installed a new tensioner pulley so it is retracted already with a pin holding it in. I have replaced tensioner, cam and cranks seals, new idler pulley for timing belt, new Water pump, valve cover gaskets, rebuilt the power steering pump, new wires and plugs, etc.. It has 270,000 miles and past due on some of this stuff but still ran great. I guess at this point I don't have many options but to just align the marks and put the belt on and hope for the best.
I do have a haynes manual but it deals only with aligning the marks before removing the old belt so a little different issue.
On another note my haynes manual tells me to put threadlocker on the cam bolts when reinstalling. I hadn't heard of anyone else doing this on their repairs. Anyone else heard of this?
Like everyone has said so far. Buy a OEM belt. Line the markings up with the belt and you should be fine. If you have any questions PM me and I'll give you my phone number.
I purchased the Goodyear kit from Amazon and the belt had the marks as well. Good luck getting it all lined up but it sounds like you're already half way there.
I did get the valve cover gaskets done and the throttle body cleaned up with some Berryman's carb cleaner. I was suprised how dirty the throttle body was once I got it off and was able to inspect it.
New plugs in, new wires, etc. Now to get this timing belt on and everything back together!
I do have another question to see if anyone else has run into it. I pulled off the timing case back plate to replace the cam seals and the crank seal as they were starting to leak. The metal back plate had some sort of spongy sealant stuck on the back around all the openings to seal any dirt or other contaminants from getting into the timing belt and gears from the back side to the block. I can not determine what to use to replace what was used to seal these areas. The product used before was not made to stick to the block but just provide a compressed seal. I am reluctant to use RTV because then it would stick the plate to the block and new seals. Any ideas here?
Non. If you break the belt the valves won't drop onto the pistons
A 22re however is
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