Timing Belt Help Please!!

[mark#]

Hi All

98 Camry 2.2l 5fse engine

My daughter was driving and broke down with a major coolant leak and car will not start. Figured out probably a water pump failure/seizure. Started timing belt replacement and ran into the following problem. Have the top timing cover off and the belt is still on. When I turn the crankshaft to line it up to 0 the camshaft is not turning. Crankshaft turns but belt doesn't move! How do I get the camshaft and crankshaft lined up? When I take the belt off, can I turn them separately to line them up?

I have the crankshaft bolt off (used the starter bump method mentioned in these forums, worked like a charm) and will remove the pulley tomorrow along with replacing the water pump.

Also, I have the car up on stands and in park. Went to put it in neutral but shifter won't move and the front wheels move freely when in park. Does the car have to be in neutral for the timing belt change? Do I have other major problems besides the timing belt?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[fenixus]

dude, you need to fix your post. Edit it and delete everything after "Thanks in advance for any help.". you pasted half of forums interface into your post

[Chris Crash]

You can turn both the crankshaft and camshaft separately without the timing belt on there. So take the belt off and then you're good!

Also do the water pump, seals and tensioners while you're there!

[JohnGD]

So if the crank turns but the cam doesn't move, the belt is probably broken somewhere. Yes, you can line up the crank and cam separately. 5SFE is a non-interference engine. The valves won't hit the pistons.

No need to move the transmission out of park at all. Timing belt is only to synchronize the cam and the crank, plus operate a few things like the water pump and oil pump. Nothing else.

[mark#]

Sorry for all the extra junk in the post. I have no idea how it got there, but it is now cleaned up.
Thanks

[ghettosled]

like chris said, since the timing belt slipped off, broke or lost some teeth, you will have to turn both the crank and cam sprokets seperately which is perfectly normal.

like john said about the transmission. reason why the front wheels move freely when in park is because they are both off the ground. the transmission is locked and when one wheel is spun, the other will spin in the opposite direction. when on the ground, this is what keeps the car from rolling.

BTW - good job on tackeling this yourself.

quick question(s), you said the car developed a major coolent leak. where did the leak come from? did your daughter overheat the engine? im a little afraid if the coolent leaked out from somewhere other than the water pump weep hole, the engine could have overheated and then seized something in place (or blew the head gasket) but thats because i dont have the engine in front of me.

[mark#]

Thanks for information ghettosled. Pretty sure its the water pump. The signs were there that it was going, crud around the weep hole. Daughter stopped to get gas, then when she started the car she said it made some noises and quit. Tried to start it again, made some more "noises", no start. When she got out of the car there was a large amount of coolant leaking onto the ground. Hopefully nothing worse than the water pump. I checked all the hoses etc and they look fine. Will keep you updated when I work on the car again tonight.

[Rattlin_Steele]

Great writeup here in case you haven't already seen it: DIY: GEN3 Timing Belt + Waterpump + Oil Seal Change - Part 2

It's worth reading through all the posts in both threads. Lots of useful info.