Cant remove camshaft

[matman72]

Hi guys,
ive beenout of action for acouple of weeks, I was tryng to remove the idlerpulley, (it was damn tight), When it finally gave way, my hand racedup and smashed into the camshaft timing pulley. It was my first job of the day too, removing that frigging pulley. I was more annoyed that i couldnt woartk on the car than the fact i had to go tohospital and sew my hand back up. Im typing with one hand i sstill have a splint on my hand so the wound heals prperly..
Anyway, the previous day I was trying to loosen the LH cmashaft pulley, it wouldnt budge, i tried pipes for extra leverage, --nothing.
Looing back, should I remove the RH cmashaft(exhaust then intake). Any advice on this please? I tried the LH cams 1st because I havent removed the RH exhaust manifold yet, Its a real bastard to access. Any tips on doing this also?
P.S. its a 3VZ-FE, & pls excuse the typing, one hand everything until friday, i cant wipe my ass without difficulty. I think ive said more than neccessary, so i'll lkeave it at that.. thanx guys.
Matt

[Mister_Perkins]

So your trying to actually bust the bolt loose holding the camshaft in place?

The tool required :

Amazon

Amazon

You need to hold the camshaft in place while using a breaker bar. If you dont have access or money to have that tool, you can do the back yard mechanics method and Jam the pulley in place with a screw driver, chisel, etc.. This method is highly dangerous as you can bend the pulley, or break the pulley.

Worst case scenario is you may have to heat the bolt up, let it cool and try to break it loose again.

[matman72]

Yeh mate, thats it in a nutshell. Although going through the manual again. Ive stuffed up. I inserted the service bolt through the subgear, heldthe hex section of the camshaft, then tried to loosen the bolt. I think, after reading iut again thoroughly, i need to secure the camshaft pulley with tis tool to do the job. Thanx for pointing that out, Id overlooked that. Do you know if it has to be done in the order in the manual? RH intake>exhaust, THEN LH cams?
thanx heaps.
Matt

[Mister_Perkins]

Nah, the Camshaft Pulleys theres no particular order. Just make sure to either mark them with LH / RH or remember what side they came off.

if your actually removing the camshafts, Remove the intake camshaft first. Make sure to loosen the Camshaft Caps uniformly too because if you dont, it could put un-even pressure on the head and crack it.

If you just follow the manual, you will be right every time

Edit:

Hint:
1. The intake camshafts are both towards the injectors.
2. Mark the Camshaft Alignment at TDC with the Alignment marks lined up and use a paint marker and mark across the Intake and Exhaust Camgears (Subgear section). Mark both sides so when you re-install you can easily line the marks up instead of looking for the tiny dots on the gears

[matman72]

thanx again,
One more thing, thhhe pulley holder tool. Do i have to buy a specific type, for toyota, or are they adjstable, It will be cheaper to buy one locally for me(im in Oz).
cheers for the advice mate.

[Mister_Perkins]

an adjustable cam-lock tool should work just fine

You could always make one like someone did on this forum..

threaded bolts into a round plate with a Nub on the back and used a pipe wrench to hold it in place IIRC