90 Camry Timing Belt Replacement

[Rarou11]

Hey guys, my car broke down a week or two ago, ironically the lot I had enough momentum to pull into was a car repair shop. They took a look at it, and said that the Timing Belt broke, and they estimated repairs to be around $525.

I'm sure that if I did it myself that it'd cost less, and I was just wondering if it'd be possible to replace everything with it still in the car, or is a Cherry-Picker really necessary?

[Doctor J]

"Cherry picker" is not necessary.

[zythr]

You will need to raise and support the engine, though, as part of the procedure. I believe it is to loosen and/or remove an engine mount

[Doctor J]

It can be done with the jack
The purpose of it to get the upper timing cover around the power steering line and to support the engine while motor mount is removed

[270+Camry]

Timing belt changing write up with some pictures

thats the good doctor's write up on changing the timing belt, i found it mighty useful

[Rarou11]

Sorry for thread necro-ing... lol

I've got the kit, a 13 piece Harmonic Balancer puller, and most of the other tools. My question comes in how to hold that pulley on the very bottom (crank pulley?) still so I can try and loosen the bolt? I know the Haynes Manual refers to an "SST" tool, but I have no clue what it is much less where to find one... The Harmonic Balancer Puller kit looks like it could fit over it (with the bolts threading in it nicely) however the puller itself prevents me from getting the socket over the bolt on the pulley.

If need be I can upload a picture of the pulley from the other day if there's any confusion.

[Grego 92]

If you're talking about taking the bolt off the crank pulley then I just did this a few days ago. I put an allen wrench through one of the holes thinking that would keep it still and went at it with an electric impact drill, came right off. Looking through all the threads and methods of making an SST and jamming a screw driver on the starter side, I think I was lucky.

Now I don't know how to get the oil seal out without buying a tool I seen online.

[white90dx]

Originally Posted by Grego 92

Now I don't know how to get the oil seal out without buying a tool I seen online.

A self-tapping screw used to get a spot to pry it out works, as does a drill and 90* pick to pull it out. Be carefull not to damage the mating surface and lube the new one before you put it in...

-Charlie

[Grego 92]

Originally Posted by white90dx

A self-tapping screw used to get a spot to pry it out works, as does a drill and 90* pick to pull it out. Be carefull not to damage the mating surface and lube the new one before you put it in...

-Charlie

Ahhh....great idea, thanks! I shall try that.

[Grego 92]

Worked great! Got home from work and took about 5 minutes.

Used a hammer and punch to make a little divot through the thin rubber and dent the metal part, used a drill with a 1/16 drill bit to carefully drill a hole just enough to get through the metal, grabbed a screw and screwed it in, and pulled it out with some pliers.

[Rarou11]

Well, I gave up on trying to get those parts off to gain access to everything, and took it to a mechanic. Put the parts in, set everything to turn over the engine, and found that at least one of the valves crashed from what he could tell. So at this point... Sadly, I'm going to have to scrap the car, cause it's WAY more money to repair than I even have. As much as I love my little Camry, it's probably time to move on from my first car...

Anyone know about how much Metal can be salvaged from these on average? I'm hoping I get a fair amount towards a new car. Other roommate is moving out soon, and he's the only one with a working car at the moment (as extremely temperamental as it is), so I gotta find something quick...

[zythr]

Originally Posted by Rarou11

Well, I gave up on trying to get those parts off to gain access to everything, and took it to a mechanic. Put the parts in, set everything to turn over the engine, and found that at least one of the valves crashed from what he could tell. So at this point... Sadly, I'm going to have to scrap the car, cause it's WAY more money to repair than I even have. As much as I love my little Camry, it's probably time to move on from my first car...

Anyone know about how much Metal can be salvaged from these on average? I'm hoping I get a fair amount towards a new car. Other roommate is moving out soon, and he's the only one with a working car at the moment (as extremely temperamental as it is), so I gotta find something quick...

Interesting. I thought the engine was a non interference engine?

[sayers74]

the fsm & gates website says that they are non interference(2.0), but theres quite a few ppl especially mechanics that say they can interfere. I guess if youre unlucky....I dont see how they could ever interfere myself since interfgerence means valves hiting pistons. It is or is not..I have seen the valve reliefs cut in the top of the piston.

When your mechanic said it hit a valve, why did he say that? What gave him that conclusion?

[white90dx]

If the mechanic put the car back together, he probably made a mistake. There is no way the valve crashed into the pistons. I have had two 3s-fe timing belts break on my (one at around 1500rpm, one around 3k rpm) with no damage to the motor.

Don't scrap the car just yet... (and make 100% sure the mechanic doesn't want to buy it from you for cheap)

What reasons did the mechanic give for saying that he thinks there's a bent valve?

-Charlie

[89Camry89]

I also had my timing belt fail in a 3SFE engine. It happened at low RPMs, around 1200 or maybe 1500. That was almost 10 years ago. My valves have been fine.

Like others have said, the 2.0L is supposed to be a non-interference engine.